Interpreter training program to end soon

More than 40 students and professionals are wrapping up six weeks of intensive instruction in the art and science of communicating words, ideas and concepts between cultures at the University of Hawaii Center for Interpretation & Translation Studies.

In its 13th offering, the biennial Summer Intensive Interpreter Training program, which began July 3, is again providing concentrated study in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and French to participants from across the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia.

The participants are working with experienced interpreters — including United Nations interpreter James Nolan and European Parliament and Commission interpreter Corinne Imhauser, to hone essential skills like note-­taking and simultaneous and consecutive interpreting.

Many of the participants come with significant credentials of their own and experiences that emphasize the need for continual maintenance and refinement of their skills.

In a release issued after the start of the program, participant Emiko Toriyama of Japan recalled her personal experience of consecutive interpreting (waiting for periodic breaks in speech before interpreting for the audience) for an ambassador who was scheduled to speak for a few minutes but ended up speaking for a half-hour.

“I was so concentrated on what the ambassador was saying, to make sure I interpreted everything correctly, that I didn’t even notice that an ambulance came and took a girl who fainted in the audience.”

The program concludes Friday.