Preparatory Material for Interpreters

Freelance interpreters work in a wide range of specialist fields. Even if every interpreter has his or her specialist field (technology and engineering/business/medicine, etc.) exclusive specialization in only one field isn’t as a rule feasible. To ensure smooth communication and optimal quality, the interpreter depends upon close cooperation with the conference organizer, as every interpreting assignment necessitates extensive preparation.

For this purpose, the following materials are of great assistance to every interpreter during the pre-conference preparation stage:

  • conference programme
  • agenda
  • presentations, scripts, abstracts of the papers
  • relevant reports
  • corporate profiles (annual reports, corporate history, company brochures, etc.)
  • product catalogues and brochures
  • competitive environment
  • relevant legislation (national and international laws, EU legislation)
  • relevant websites and links
  • trade magazines, special-interest magazines
  • relevant standards and industrial standards
  • subject-related publications
  • minutes or publications of earlier meetings and events
  • list of conference participants, speakers and a short description of their career biographies
  • all kinds of documents referred to in the papers or which may come up during discussions: drafts, expert opinions, correspondence, statistics, etc.
  • in-house terminology data bases

It is in the best interests of the conference organizers to provide the interpreter team with such documentation well in advance of the event since this allows each interpreter in the team to study the materials and the subject matter of the conference in depth and in detail.

And by the way: all the time the interpreter invests in preparing the materials and in acquiring awareness of the subject-matter upon which the conference will be focusing is all included in the interpreter's fee.