Several of the NNIC’s over 300 interpreters volunteered their time on the showroom floor interpreting between finalists, judges, and the public in various languages. Although the project exhibits were all required to be in English, many of the young scientists had had them translated in their home countries and did not actually have a command of the English language themselves. Added to the challenges of cross-linguistic communication was the challenge of highly-specialized vocabulary in all branches of mathematics, engineering, and science – terms that the majority of native speakers of any language have no reason to know or use on a daily basis, making the job of the interpreter that much more demanding.

Outside of the exhibit hall, in the grand hall, three interpreters working in booths and speaking into microphones handled the simultaneous interpretation of the three major events: the Grand Opening Ceremony, the Nobel Laureate Question-and-Answer Panel, and the Grand Awards Ceremony. Each of the three interpreters – one in Russian, one in Spanish, and one in Mandarin Chinese – transmitted on a specific channel that was picked up by pre-tuned headsets provided to speakers of each language. For these interpreters, surely the most demanding moment in the entire week was the thirty-minute keynote speech delivered on opening night by Tejinder “Jim” Virdee, particle physicist and professor of physics at Imperial College, London, and scientific associate at the Physics Department, CERN. Professor Virdee spoke about the Compact Muon Solenoid Collaboration (CMS, of which he is a founding member) operating at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. It is believed that results from this research will provide insight into physics beyond the Standard Model and change our perception of nature.

Feedback from participants and community members alike, as well as local and international press coverage, was overwhelmingly positive and the 2009 Intel ISEF will without a doubt live on in the young finalists’ and winners’ memories as an event never to be paralleled in their lives. Its inspiration will certainly live on in our community. The Northern Nevada International Center hopes to continue to be a part of this worthy endeavor when and if it should pass by “The Biggest Little City in the World” again.

– Jessica Escobar, Spanish/French interpreter and translator, NNIC Language Bank

[*]An interpreter differs from a translator in that the job of interpreting is always “live” and oral (even “sight-translation,” which is the out-loud translation of a written document), whereas a translator deals with written texts and has at his/her disposal dictionaries and sometimes even specialized translation software. What quality translation has of painstaking, quality interpretation has of thinking-on-one’s-feet. Be it consecutive interpretation (in which the interpreter translates each statement after the speaker) or simultaneous (in which the interpreter translates the speaker’s statements as they are being said), interpretation requires a great deal of mental agility, total concentration, and an excellent grasp of both languages involved. Speaking two or more languages fluently does not automatically give an individual the particular skills needed to be a good interpreter.

For more information or to register as judge, interpret or volunteer, visit www.isefnevada.com.

This course is given over a five-week period, during one full day per week (all days are on a Saturday) and is meant to give prospective interpreters with an interest in serving in the medical field a leg up, by introducing and laying out a foundation of necessary skills and knowledge that are essential to become a highly valuable resource for our community. By following this training, those interested in pursuing further specialization as a fully qualified Health Care Interpreter shall also understand the path that lies ahead to become a fully qualified medical interpreter.

Why is health care interpreting different?

Like other modalities of professional interpretation, the medical field is rife with highly specialized jargon, an understanding of which is essential to succeed. Unlike other interpretation, however, there are certain other aspects – e.g. manifest in professionally acceptable conduct – that set the medical / health care interpreter apart from other interpreter specializations, such as in judicial (court) or education (community) settings.

Qualified health care interpreters are much in demand!

To introduce the field of medical / health care interpretation to those interested in entering this fascinating, challenging but also much demanded and needed specialization, this course is tailored to those who already have a practicable level of mastery of both target and source languages; although it’s not strictly necessary to have experience as an interpreter, it does help so as to better understand the specific and practical challenges of this rewarding profession.

Therefore, if you’re already working as an interpreter, and would like to expand into this much-valued specialization: this course is specially for you!

• Why:  To improve your Medical Language Proficiency, and become familiar with medical interpreting, ethics, and protocols.
• Who:  Trained or untrained interpreters in any language; anyone with an interest in medical interpreting; Bilingual Health Care Staff
• Where: St. Mary’s Regional Hospital, Reno, Nevada, Auditorium A (map / driving directions)
• When: Saturdays March 7th, 14th, and 21st, April 11th, and 18th 2009, 8 am—5 pm

For more information, please see the pertinent announcement on the NITA website.