Conference or Court Interpreter? What’s the Difference and Why You Should Care

Having some knowledge of various interpreting genres will help you to choose the right linguist for your event and avoid many unpleasant surprises

Finding the right language professional for your international event might be challenging.

As the brilliant Catherine Tate has so aptly portrayed, inviting your multilingual employee to perform interpreter’s duty is not the best solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNKn5ykP9PU

That's why it is vital to seek professional–i.e. credentialed–interpreters.

There are several types of interpreter certification and qualification exams in the United States:

• Court interpreter examinations administered at the state and federal levels
• Two types of examinations for healthcare interpreters
• Conference interpreter examinations conducted by the U.S. Department of State or by international organizations, such as the United Nations

Since conference and court interpreters are predominantly working in simultaneous mode (speakers don’t need to pause or stop speaking for the interpretation), consumers often assume that these two types of professionals are interchangeable.

Indeed, many interpreters successfully work in both fields, but their roles and scopes of practice differ significantly depending on the setting.

Imagine an international panel discussion on educational policy. A frustrated school superintendent from one of the U.S. states laments, “Twenty years ago, we were told not to leave any child behind. Ten years ago, we started racing to the top. And what exactly are we doing now?”

Ideally, the speaker would clarify his statement for international panelists who might be unaware of the two doctrines he is referring to. If in the heat of a debate, he forgets to do so, a competent conference interpreter will weave in an explanation, “Twenty years ago, we were told not to leave any child behind. Ten years ago, we started racing to the top. And what exactly are we doing now? No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top are the signature education initiatives of our past two presidents.”

In a court setting, however, the same interpreter must refrain from providing any explanations or clarifications, even if a non-English-speaking party doesn’t understand the meaning of legal speak.

This doesn’t mean that the linguist is not rendering the discourse accurately. By some measures, her rendition is even more precise: unlike a conference interpreter, it should relay not only the full content but also all paralinguistic elements of the speech, such as hedges, hesitations, repetitions, and filler words. This standard of accuracy is called legal equivalence.

Why is there such a difference in approaches?

Because there are two distinct types of settings: collaborative vs adversarial.

Conference participants and presenters, students and educators–all have common goals: to share knowledge and best practices, to learn,to come up with solutions.  

In litigations or negotiations, parties are competing: one of them will win, and another will lose.

This criterion–whether the interpreter is part of a collaborative or an adversarial communication event–determines what interpreters must, should, can, or cannot do.

An Interpreter is an Interpreter is an Interpreter

All professional interpreters must render an original message accurately and completely, without omitting, changing, or embellishing anything. The interpreted speech should produce the same effect on the audience members as would have been achieved if the presenter spoke their language.

All interpreters must remain impartial and unbiased. Our own opinions and attitudes should not transpire through our performance.

All interpreters must treat the information they learn in the course of the interpretation session as confidential.

All professional interpreters must have in-depth knowledge of the subject matters they specialize in.

All of us are striving to work in the least obtrusive manner and create an effect of direct communication.

And all trained, competent interpreters are keenly aware of their role and scope in any given communication event.

Court Interpreters Are Repeaters, Not Explainers

In adversarial situations, be it a court procedure or a negotiation, the only role any interpreter can play is that of a language conduit.

We cannot give legal advice.

We cannot clarify or explain anything, even when the session is over. All questions should be directed to licensed legal professionals.

If an attorney speaks English Legalese, for example, we are converting his speech into the equivalent Russian Legalese, even if a defendant is not familiar with legal jargon. Accuracy trumps elegance.

If a speaker makes an obvious error, we do not correct this error in our rendition.

We must interpret everything that is said on the record. If you don’t want something to be translated, don’t say it out loud or say it off the record.

We cannot educate our clients on the culture of the involved parties.

If the judge asks the interpreter, “Madam Interpreter, is it true that Russians are wearing their wedding band on the right ring finger, not on the left?” the interpreter must demur. “Your Honor, the interpreter would like to respectfully remind,” she would say referring to herself in the third person so the court record would reflect that she is speaking on her own behalf and is not interpreting, “that the Court Interpreter Code of Conduct prohibits judiciary interpreters to serve in a capacity of a cultural expert.”

Legal interpreters are repeaters, not explainers.

Conference Interpreters Are in the Business of Clarity

In collaborative situations, however, linguists may (if warranted and using the appropriate protocol) be clarifiers or cultural brokers.

At conferences, our delivery is not constrained by the standards of legal equivalence. We can smooth over some imperfections of the presenter’s performance. There is no need to burden our listeners with repetitive content or non sequiturs.

We might condense or expand certain units of information depending on the context and on the speaker’s rate of speech.

We can slice long, convoluted sentences into several short ones.

Our translation should be idiomatic, natural, and organic. We shouldn’t make you, our clients, work hard on deciphering awkward phrasing and clumsy constructions.

Pleasant voice, lively intonation, cadence–all these qualities are very important for a conference interpreter. How many times has a dull, monotonous drone put you to sleep? This should not be the case if you employ a highly skilled language professional.

Conference interpreters are in the business of clarity and effective communication.

But don’t forget that in every setting we serve as messengers. A great presentation starts with great content and diligent preparation.

Happy communicating!