PART 2: How to become an interpreter? (Please note that this only applies in the UK)
Part 1 of this series explained the difference between interpreting and translation and the different sets of skills required to carry out the two jobs. Just to recap: interpreters work with spoken language and attend various places to facilitate communication between two people who can’t understand each other due to a language barrier. Interpreting requires good public speaking skills, confidence, excellent memory, note-taking skills, and multi-tasking skills (you’ll listen, digest, transfer and speak at the same time!). So if you decided that this career is for you, here are the basic requirements:
- Language. This is a rather obvious one – you need to speak a foreign language to an advanced level, with excellent writing, reading, listening and speaking skills. It’s good to have a degree in languages, but it is not always required.
- Specialised knowledge. There are various pathways you can choose for your career so it is advantageous to have at least basic knowledge of the specialised field you want work in. For example, you might have a degree in law and therefore become a legal interpreter, or experience in medicine or health care and therefore specialise in medical interpreting. This, again, is not always required and interpreters often learn from experience or prepare for a particular interpreting session once they know its subject matter. It is, however, highly desirable.
- Qualification. You will need to obtain an appropriate qualification and this depends on where you want to work, i.e. whether you want to become a public service interpreter or a conference interpreter. So if you meet the previous two requirements, here is a detailed explanation of what the options are in terms of qualifications:
Public service interpreting
This is when you work within the public sector, for example, police, probation, courts, education sector, health care, social services, local government, etc. in the UK.
To become a public service interpreter you will need to obtain EITHER a qualification called the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting OR a postgraduate degree in interpreting and translation.
The Diploma in Public Service Interpreting is set at an undergraduate level (NQF Level 6) and requires a good command of the source and target languages, good understanding of cultures in question, competence in interpreting and translating techniques, knowledge of professional terminology, and the ability to act professionally and impartially in all situations. There are 3 pathways you can choose from: law, health care and local government. It is awarded by the IoL Educational Trust and is an officially recognised interpreting qualification. The exams take place once a year in June and you can find out more here: http://www.iol.org.uk/qualifications/exams_dpsi.asp. You can attempt to take the exam on its own, and it is not required that you attend a preparatory course. However, it is beneficial if you do because a well-structured course will help you develop your specialised knowledge, interpreting techniques, and interpreter’s code of conduct. You can find out more about courses here: http://www.smartoffice-uk.com/interpreter.aspx. The exam fee changes every year – this year it was £625. The course fees also vary, but range between £517.00 (online courses) and £957.00 (weekly face to face sessions and practical exercises). These fees apply to both home and international students. The course duration is 8 months.
Alternatively, you could obtain a postgraduate degree in interpreting and translation and here are some links to the universities that offer such degrees:
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/ma_pgdip_pgcert_british_sign_language_english_interpreting_and_translation.php
http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/pg/programmes/ma-in-inte-and-tran
To enrol on such a degree you are required to have a degree in languages or be bilingual but have a degree in any other discipline. The structure of each programme varies so please have a look at the links provided for more information. Every university has different fees, but they vary between £5,000 – £6,000 for Home and EU students, and £10,450-£13,900 for International students. A postgraduate degree duration is normally 12 months.
Conference interpreting
As the name suggests, conference interpreting is when you interpret at conferences – many conference interpreters work for the European Union or United Nations. It is a specialist skill that must be learnt so all aspiring interpreters must obtain a postgraduate qualification in conference interpreting or gain significant professional experience in this field in order to pursue this career.
Most conference interpreting courses are at a postgraduate level so you will need to have a bachelor’s degree in order to enrol. This degree does not have to be in languages. The structure of each programme varies so please have a look at the links provided for more information. Every university has different fees,but they vary between – £3,950-£6,300 for Home/EU students and £12,500-£13,000 for International students. The duration of the course is normally 12 months.
Here are links to some of the universities offering conference interpreting programme in the UK: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/taughtdegrees/courses/atoz/course/?code=08505&pg=all http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125053/centre_for_translation_studies/1803/cts_taught_programmes/3
After obtaining your qualification
Once you obtain your qualification, it is a good idea to obtain professional membership of the relevant associations/societies. This shows your professional status and gives you additional work opportunities. Some of the professional memberships worth obtaining are (they all have certain membership requirements you will need to meet before granting you a membership so please read carefully)
- Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIoL)
http://iol.org.uk/membership/default.asp
- Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI)
http://www.iti.org.uk/become-a-member
- National Register of Public Service Interpreter (NRPSI)
http://www.nrpsi.co.uk/joining.php
- Association of Police and Court Interpreters (APCI)
http://www.apciinterpreters.org.uk/
- International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC)
http://aiic.net/page/4045/joining-aiic/lang/1
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You might think that becoming an interpreter is a large investment, and it is. But here are some statistics that might convince you that it is worthwhile:
- On average, there are 4 requests for each language made by UK courts every day (72,043 requests for interpreters were made by HMCTS between February and August 2012 – this is approximately 396 requests per day. There are 101 languages on the National Register of Public Service Interpreters, meaning that on average, the UK courts request each language 4 times each day. SOURCE: “Statistics on the use of language services in courts and tribunals” Statistical Bulletin, 30 January 2012 to August 2012.)
- There are on average 50-60 EU meetings every day that require a conference interpreter
- The EU employs 600 staff interpreters and requires 300-400 freelance interpreters per day
- In 2010, the EU spent €130,000,000 on interpreting services
- In 2011, 65% of interpreters earned over £25,000 pa (15% over £50,000)
- In 2011, NHS spent £17 million on interpreters (a 15% increase on the previous year)
- As an EU beginner freelancer your net daily rate is about €310
- Local authority spending on interpreting, e.g. Sheffield – £ 209,030, Glasgow – £ 757,960
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We hope this has given you all the information necessary to start your interpreting career. If you have any questions about something we haven’t covered, please get in touch at info@smartoffice-uk.com.
