Hi Viginia, I'm sorry but I don't know any companies doing those sorts of conferences, or any translation/interpretation companies. The best I could recommned would be to do some web searches for companies that provide interpretation, and then contact them (preferably companies that are near you, although a lot of work is done by phone or web these days). Someone at one of those companies could tell you what qualifications are usually necessary, and how you could get training, where to get a job interview, etc.
Billl, I get really excited by this time when I think of those pure literature academic meetings. I want to interprete from Chinese to English for one of them. Do you know who hold those meetings, and if I can get a chance to do it, if my friends, including my boyfriend are willing to help me with their utmost efforts? I can speak in a literature style of English. I believe my pronunciation is good, my voice also good, when it is delivered through a microphone system. I want it so much. People who attend it will wear headphones to choose their favorable language, and interpreters speak to some complicated machines in some private rooms, each of which deals with one language. Who hold those meetings? Will they listen to my friends, if I do have the ability? Will they give me a chance to be tested verbally?
Yeah, you might be able to find different paths and options to get where you want to go. One reason to get training is so you can show people a diploma or certificate or something. However, I knew a person who did a lot of translation and interpretation (professionally), and if you haven't done it before (or have only done short and informal sessions), you might be surprised at some of the challenges--and that's another reason to try and get some training, I think. Those are the two points I think I know enough to make on this subject, although I can't know your exact situation well.
To study for two years about translation skills is really tedious. However I will get a master degree in literature, I hope after half a year. When I read the information about a professor's experience, I learned that she did some interpretation related to literature after she got a phd degree in literature comparison. I do not think I can get an opportunity to use a microphone and a private room above all now, but I will try getting it. Perhaps I will start from the very beginning.
Actually, I just noticed that you were talking about English interpretation... When you mentioned "a fancy scale" and "performance", I thought it might've been some other kind of "interpretation". Not of language, but of some art, or of the meaning of some topic or something. Basically, my advice was mostly about doing an oral "presentation". I think it really would be a good idea to see if you can get some sort of practice/certification if you want to do interpretation. I'm sure you would do a great and useful job in a casual or unexpected situation. But if you are going to try to do professional work, you'd probably be more confident if you had a little practice/training to prepare you for it. In a professional situation, an employer can sometimes be so demanding that only someone with a lot of experience could do it well. I'd say, try to get some certification, and maybe get some experience in settings that aren't too serious/demanding, to start with.
Thank you, Billl.
Hi Virginia, I'm not sure about your speaking/oral abilities, of course (you know that), but I do know that you can write very well and accurately in English. I would recommend that any new experience you try with doing a presentation (in any language, but especially in a second language) should probably be brief and not too complicated. A lot of the things that I have read that you have written on the forum are maybe sort of philosophical or are concerned with personal experience. Doing a presentation, I think you should just make sure that you don't "bite off more than you can chew", don't test the audience's patience, and make sure that your topic will be something that both you and your audience will like (e.g. something humorous, or something that you know they are interested in).
Hi Billl, do you think I am capable of doing oral interpretation in a fancy scale? The ability to paraphrase in a good style of English is all one needs, in terms of doing a great performance of interpretation. Two years of learning about how does not help at all, I think, though a diploma is almost a requirement. I believe in miracles. Perhaps I was wrong?
