Dialogue Interpreting

I started reading the book Dialogue Interpreting from St. Jerome Publishing. The introduction starts with this :

"Dialogue interpreting includes what is variously referred to in English as Community, Public Service, Liaison, Ad Hoc or Bilateral Interpreting - the defining characteristic being interpreter-mediated communication in spontaneous face-to-face interaction. Included under this heading are all kinds of professional encounters: police, immigration and welfare services interviews, doctor-patient interviews, business negotiations, political interviews, lawyer-client and courtroom interpreting and so on."

It is the first time I read such succinct stance that so much fits the format of the professional service I provide. Interpretation is seemingly monopolized, in the mind at least, with conference interpreting, meaning in terms of technique, simultaneous. Simul is king, whereas consec is a leftover and a stain telling you are not up to, not competent to do better. The literature around community interpreting is putting some weight in the balance but equilibrium of the two - not fundamentally - different although cousin activities won't be reached any time soon. The literature doesn't take into account the possibility that you may mainly work between B and C, or to be more precise, between B1 and B2. I doubt I am alone working mostly between two foreign languages. But as long as the interest for community interpreting grows - which includes in the broad sense "business interpreting", things will get better.

The scene goes like this. An interpreter is called at a scene where two people need a conduit to speak and understand each other. That's a standard triadic exchange. The interpreter takes out of a her bag two light headsets and invites the two others to done on. She already wears one of her own. Now the conversation can start. She delivers mostly in simul mode but sometimes switches to consec. In such setting, the flow management is an essential part of the interpreter's job. Switching between simul and consec, while keeping the interaction in proper order - avoid overlapping - is a demanding task and one that distinguishes amateurs from professionals.

End of the scene.

End of year, nothing to do except working on shadowing and intense listening.