Whatever Could Be Said

On September 10, 1934, a speech was made in Nuremberg that would change the world forever. Thousands of fanatical German youths stood in well-trimmed phalanxes on Zeppelin Field as an awe-inspiring and eloquent Adolf Hitler brought the 6th Nazi Party Congress to a close. Hitler had made a series of public appearances that week, his […]

My stint as a medical interpreter

I am ushered through a backdoor by a Korean who calls himself Francisco and who happens to speak near-perfect English, Spanish and Portuguese. He is a regular and quickly shows me around. I sign myself in and stand at a busy intersection of narrow corridors, on occasion leaning out of the way to dodge a […]

Avoid Embarrassing On-Air Bloopers

If you have been a conference interpreter long enough you may have found yourself in a situation where comments or jokes privately shared with a partner in the booth eventually got across to the audience. I once had it happen twice in a single week. Luckily I was only making suggestions to my booth mate. […]