Looking for a simultaneous interpreter?

Whether international congresses, negotiations or specialist conferences - events with foreign participants offer unique opportunities for exchanging content and personal experiences. Professional interpreters are needed to ensure that this is also successful across languages.

 

Benefit from over 25 years of experience in this field with SIMCONSULT. We advise you on the composition of the interpreting teams, organise the necessary interpreting equipment on request and ensure optimal preparation of the content for all interpreters deployed.

Consultancy and service

Looking for interpreters? Then SIMCONSULT should be your first point of contact. Because no matter whether

 

• simultaneous interpreting,
• consecutive interpreting or
• escort interpreting, whether
• whispered interpreting or
• remote interpreting,

 

we will advise you on which of these methods is the right one for your requirements. In doing so, we carefully guide you through all the important decisions, organise the right interpreting technique and, last but not least, have a large team of highly qualified interpreters at our disposal.

 

Interpreting for every occasion

Are you planning an international conference? The next board meeting or a press conference? Lengthy negotiations with international partners are on the agenda? SIMCONSULT offers you specialists with many years of experience to ensure that these and many other events are conducted optimally in different languages. Our interpreters are for example trained

 

• conference interpreters,
• simultaneous interpreters
• telephone interpreters or
• liaison interpreters.

 

Because each of these situations requires a different approach and presents its own challenges. That's why you should rely on SIMCONSULT, ideally for every occasion.

 

Interpreting in all subjects and specialist areas

A supervisory board meeting or general meeting, a medical consultation or even arbitration proceedings are exemplary situations in which literally every word counts. It is therefore all the more important to have a professional interpreter who can accurately translate technical terms or jargon into the target language. SIMCONSULT therefore also employs

 

• medical interpreters,
• sworn court interpreters,
• interpreters for market research

 

and specialist interpreters for many other subjects, who are also used, for example, at international specialist conferences or congresses in science and research.

 

Types of simultaneous interpreting

Simultaneous interpreting is the interpreting mode of choice for international events (face-to-face, hybrid and virtual events). All forms of simultaneous interpreting require the utmost concentration from the interpreters, because they must simultaneously

• listen to and understand the source text 
• transcribe it into the target language and speak it 
• operate the technology in the booth 
• and, if necessary, communicate with the booth partner or the technicians.

In addition, there is the strain on the interpreter's voice. For these reasons, simultaneous interpreters interpret for a maximum of about 40 minutes at a time if the event ends afterwards or there is a longer break.

 

At international events, teams of two for each language direction are therefore common. The interpreter who is not interpreting at the time supports the interpreting interpreter in his or her work. For example, by researching terminology, writing down data that has been presented so that the interpreter does not have to keep it in his/her memory, etc.

 

Another advantage of a team of two is that the second interpreter can stand in if the first interpreter is absent (sneezing, coughing, etc.) or can address the technicians in case of technical problems.

 

Interpreting in booths

Simultaneous interpreting in booths is the most common form of simultaneous interpreting at international events. Here, the interpreters interpret in permanently installed booths or mobile booths that have been set up just for the event in question. Most of the time, the booths are for two interpreters, but there are also booths for one or three interpreters.

 

The interpreters listen to the original sound of the event in the booth via headphones. The interpretation (the interpreter's spoken word) is transmitted to the participants on headphones. A separate audio channel is used for each language, which can be individually set on the participants' headphones. This means that only one language can be heard per channel.

 

One booth is set up for each language into which interpretation is provided. The reason for this is simple: if several interpreters were to interpret into different languages in one booth, the microphones would pick up the entire room sound of the booth. The participants would therefore hear several languages simultaneously on their headphones.

 

The booths are soundproofed so that the interpreters can interpret undisturbed and in turn do not disturb the participants and attendees. The minimum requirements for interpreting booths are regulated in the ISO 2603 and DIN 56 924 standards.

 

Interpreting with personal guidance equipment

A personal guidance system consists of a microphone into which the interpreters speak and wireless headphones for the participants. The participants listen to the interpretation via these wireless headphones. In locations with a high noise level (e.g. factory halls, construction sites, etc.), the personal tour system can also be supplemented with another microphone for the speaker and headphones for the interpreters so that the interpreters can hear the original sound (of the speaker) acoustically well.

 

As the name person guidance system suggests, they were developed for guided tours of small groups. Guided tours are used when it is not possible or economical to set up a booth. The prerequisite, however, is a smaller number of participants. As a rule of thumb, a cabin should be used for groups of 15 or more.

 

Whispered interpreting/Chuchotage

Whispered interpreting is a form of simultaneous interpreting for one or two listeners. In whispered interpreting (also called chuchotage from the French verb chuchoter, to whisper), the interpreter sits offset behind one or in the middle behind the two listeners and whispers the interpretation.

 

In whispered interpreting, the interpreter does not actually whisper because whispering puts a lot of strain on the voice, but he or she speaks very softly. This is also very stressful for the interpreter's voice. As a result, the duration of use in whispered interpreting is limited.

 

The interpreter also has to sit very close to the listener(s). Over a longer period of time, this can be perceived as pleasant by both the interpreter and the listeners.

 

Often other participants also feel disturbed by the interpreter's "whispering". This is why we recommend the use of a people guidance system even when there are only one or two listeners. A further advantage of interpreting with a tour guide system compared to whispered interpreting without a tour guide system is that the interpreter can move freely around the room. The interpreter can work where the speaker can be easily heard and seen. And the interpreter does not have to be so "close" to the listeners.

 

The most frequent field of application for whispered interpreting is court interpreting. In this case, everything said is whispered simultaneously for the foreign-language participant in the proceedings. Speeches by the foreign-language participant are then interpreted back consecutively.

 

Remote interpreting

The term remote interpreting is used to describe different types of interpreting where one or more participants are not present in the same room as the other participants. A special form of remote interpreting is remote interpreting, where the interpreters work at a different location. The remote interpreters may be in another room or even on another continent. Remote interpreting is often used in video or telephone conferences, webinars or other virtual event formats. The term "online interpreting" is also often used synonymously.

 

The most common form of remote interpreting is so-called Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI). This interpretation takes place simultaneously, i.e. parallel to the spoken word in real time.

 

Relay interpreting

Relay interpreting is a form of simultaneous interpreting in which one interpreter's interpretation is used as the basis for the transmission into another language. For example, an interpreter works from Arabic into German. This German interpretation is then used for a transmission into French, because a direct interpretation from Arabic into French is not available.

 

Relay interpreting must therefore be used in a few cases for rare language combinations or when a team of interpreters cannot interpret a language combination directly. Relay interpreting can lead to a loss of time and meaning.

 

Sign language interpreting

Sign language interpreting is a non-oral form of simultaneous interpreting. Sign language interpreters mediate between spoken language and sign language The sign language interpreter stands or sits next to the main speaker, depending on the type of event.

 

As with interpreting in general, the sign language interpreter must be able to hear and see both the speakers and participants well. There are different sign languages. Interpreting between different sign languages is also possible.