Portable Interpretation Equipment: What to Get and Why
Portable interpretation systems get a bad rap, and the names used to designate them leave no doubt: tour-guide system; bidule (the thingy); valisette (the briefcase). Yet there are settings where they are the only practical solution available, which explains their increasing popularity with many international organizations for use on field missions and in meeting rooms […]
The CAT is Out of the Bag. Now, is it Alive?
I am old enough to remember the days when translators relied solely on paper dictionaries and when a CAT was just a home pet. And being the dinosaur I am earns me the right to be stubborn, too. So, when the innovation called Computer Aided Tools (CAT) started to get traction in the professional translation circles, in the mid-1990s, I […]
Tenha Seu Próprio Equipamento (in Portuguese)
Em alguns círculos profissionais, a reputação dos sistemas portáteis de interpretação não é das melhores, sobretudo na Europa. E os termos usados para designar um equipamento móvel não deixam dúvida quanto a isso: bidule (treco); valisette (malinha); tour-guide, etc. Contudo, há situações em que o equipamento portátil é a única solução prática, o que explica sua crescente popularidade junto a várias organizações […]
Are You The Best of the Best?
“Welcome to the largest multilingual summit this office has ever organized. Congratulations on making it here. You are the best of the best.” With these words, the chief interpreter of a top international organization greeted a team of 70 interpreters in Washington, D.C. Gathered around the u-shaped table, they were briefed on the Summit they would […]