246 interpretation students from 28 universities took part to the event
The interpretation services of the European Parliament and the European Commission, DG LINC and DG SCIC, came together for the second time to organise a joint virtual class. Agnieszka Durlak-Moskal (DG LINC) and Anabela Frade (DG SCIC.B1) co-chaired the event and welcomed 246 students from 28 universities from all over the EU, as well as Türkiye, Ghana, Lebanon and Kenya.
Three staff interpreters, Ute Pauna (EP), Dounya François (EP) and Andy Upton (SCIC.B1) alternated between giving speeches and taking consecutive notes, while being filmed live. Students could choose to watch the note-taking or interpret the speeches themselves. The “note-takers” then gave an extensive debrief of their notes and answered questions. It was a lively morning full of tips and suggestions for practising consecutive.
For the students, it was an opportunity to see professional interpreters taking notes, to understand that every interpreter faces challenges in consecutive and to hear experienced colleagues share their reactions to various types of difficulties encountered in speeches.
All in all, it was a very fruitful collective endeavour by the two institutions and one that was hopefully useful for the interpreting students in the partner universities.