Conference interpretation

Language classification

Interpretation, like translation, occurs between two languages: the 'original language' and the 'target language', e.g. from Chinese (original) into English (target). Professional interpreters translate orally from one or more original languages (passive languages) into one or more target languages (active languages).

Conference interpretation is such a difficult task and requires such enormous concentration, that there is no time for the interpreter to 'fish' for words. The appropriate words, that convey the same meaning as the speaker's message, must automatically come to the interpreter's mind in the target language. For most people this occurs first and foremost in the mother tongue, which is why for most interpreters the first 'active' language is their mother tongue, or the language which they grew up speaking and in which they were educated. For many people, it is the language in which they dream.

Some interpreters have an international background. Their parents may be of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, or they may have lived in different countries as children, or they may have migrated to another country with a different language. Sometimes, they have acquired a mastery in a second or even third language in addition to their mother tongue, and can also use it as a 'target' language.

In Asia most conferences use English and one or more Asian languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai. So almost all Asian conference interpreters work from English into their mother tongue. However, since there are relatively few western language interpreters who can interpret from Asian languages into English or another western language, it is the same Asian interpreters who must interpret from their mother tongue back into English. Most of them have, therefore, acquired a very good command of the English language or another language such as French, Spanish or German.

A conference interpreter's university degree in interpretation states the graduate's active and passive languages. Interpreters who sit for an admission exam with one of the international organisations (EU, UN) get approved for work with a specific combination of active and passive languages.

Candidates who wish to become members of AIIC indicate the language combination for which they are qualified on their application and the peers who sponsor them vouch for that combination. AIIC's Committee on Admissions and Language Classification (CACL) checks the declared language classification to ensure that the peers have the same or a superior language combination to be able to sponsor the candidate. When admitted, every AIIC member's name is published in the Directory with her/his language classification: A, B, C.

'A' language is the interpreter's mother tongue.

'B' languages are other active languages in which the interpreter is absolutely fluent.

'C' languages are passive languages which the interpreter understands perfectly but does not interpret into.

Language combination is the set of languages, with their respective classification, used professionally by a conference interpreter. Thus, an interpreter may have a combination of:
A. English; B. Spanish; C. French, Russian

This means she/he will usually interpret into English from the other languages, but may be called to interpret into Spanish from English.

The language combination of most Asian interpreters would be, say:
A: Japanese; B: English; C: French
or
A: Chinese; B: English

In the first case, the interpreter would work from English and/or French into Japanese and from Japanese into English. In the second case, the interpreter would work from English into Chinese and from Chinese into English.

Use of language classification

When putting together a team of interpreters, the consultant interpreter (CI) needs to know the active ('A' or 'B') and passive ('C') languages of the interpreters.

For instance, if the conference languages are English, French and Japanese, the CI needs to find native English interpreters (English 'A') working from French and/or Japanese, native French interpreters (French 'A') working from English and/or Japanese and native Japanese interpreters (Japanese 'A') working from English and/or French.

Every two languages used at a conference form a pair which needs to be covered by interpretation. A conference with three languages, say English, French, Spanish has the following six language pairs to cover: English-French, English-Spanish, French-English, French-Spanish, Spanish-English, Spanish-French.

At some conferences, there are more passive languages than active ones. For instance, when Japanese, French, Spanish and English are spoken by delegates, but simultaneous interpretation is provided only into English and Japanese. In that case, the English 'A' interpreters will have to interpret from Japanese, French and Spanish, while the Japanese 'A' will have to interpret from English, French and Spanish. As these four languages call for an interpreter with a very rare language combination, the relay system would have to be used. Thus, Spanish would be interpreted into English and again from English into Japanese because most Japanese interpreters do not have Spanish in their language combination, while the opposite would be the case for Spanish if it were an active language at this conference.

Summary

An interpreter's language classification is extremely important. It shows users and other interpreters which languages an interpreter works from and into. An understanding of the language classification is therefore crucial when recruiting interpreters and making up a team with several languages. A good consultant interpreter will recruit the right interpreters whose language combinations will cover as many language pairs of a conference as possible.

Jean-Pierre Allain