Troublesome Terps

When in Rome - or London as it were - why only settle for one live event when you can have two? On November 17th, hours before the big podcasting event at The Roebuck, the two Alexes were invited by Danielle D'Hayer, course leader of the MA Conference Interpreting at London Metropolitan University, to join her and a group of students in their language lab for a lively Q&A session. The students contributed many questions ahead of time and even "on the fly" on the day and had an interesting discussion. Questions include (among others): most difficult speakers, how to prepare for an assignment, how to deal with stressful situations or how to best chose a new language you want to learn. Thanks again to Danielle D’Hayer and London Met alumnus Hugo Menendez who helped put this event together.

Giving and receiving feedback is a crucial part of not only becoming an interpreter, but also continuously improving yourself, your business habits and your interpreting skills. Aline Casanova and some brave fellow interpreters joined forces and introduced the world to InterpretimeBank, a platform by and for interpreters. InterpretimeBank is for honing your skills, as well as giving and receiving feedback from a feedback partner. Aline joins the Troublesome Terps to talk about why it is important to keep on trying to improve yourself, what makes good feedback good and how to both, give and receive it. Special Guest: Aline Casanova.

Ask and you shall receive - and ask you did! For our very first Ask Us Anything episode, we received a ton of questions that kept you up at night. From speedy speakers to ABC language combinations, listening to your gut feeling and creating interpreting standards in the Arabic interpreting world - you sent us a wide range of questions that we relished in answering! Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this episode and let us know what you thought of our answers and if you have any other questions for a potential "Ask Us Anything - Part 2" episode!

Certainly research is important in every discipline or field of work, but surely you have also sometimes wondered: actually, why should I care? Surely, it's not like in depth analysis of the voice-to-ear-span or complex and highly complex communication models help you be a better interpreter "out in the field", right? Well, luckily Jonathan and the two Alexes are here to help and discuss exactly why you SHOULD care and what research does do for you. Let us know what you think and let's continue the conversation!

Have you ever laughed your head off in the booth or have you been gobsmacked by a joke that was thrown your way by a "fun" speaker? Interpreter and professional funnyman Matthew Perret joins the Troublesome Terps to shine a light on what silk purses, Mae West and German structure have to do with putting the fun in fundamentally difficult to interpret jokes. After all, not all jokes are a laughing matter! Special Guest: Matthew Perret.

Travelling is just as much part of an interpreter's life as speaking another language and dealing with a casual work-related caffeine addiction. Jonathan and the Alexes discuss the pros and cons of plane vs. train, hot chocolate vs. coffee, travel iron vs. water spray and a ton of other absolutely crucial travel aspects that will make your professional life (or just your upcoming summer holiday) so much easier! So buckle up, join us on this wild ride and let us know how YOU travel!

The Troublesome Terps are all in their feelings with guest host Caroline Lehr. Caroline not only has a PhD in emotion psychology, but also a keen interest in the influence of emotions on interpreters and the interplay between them and our performance in the workplace. A heady and insightful episode! Special Guest: Caroline Lehr.

Why should conference interpreters care about joining an interpreting specific association? What can associations do for the interpreters, but also vice versa: How can conference interpreters contribute to a productive life in associations? To discuss this very timely and important topic, the Troublesome Terps are joined by Sarah King, Secretary of the German Region of AIIC, and Karin Walker, Chair of the German Association of Conference Interpreters (VKD). Together, we discuss why it is absolutely worth joining an association, why wer are stronger together and talk about some very interesting projects, that AIIC and VKD have been working on, some of them even representing a collaboration between two of the largest conference interpreting associations. Special Guests: Karin Walker and Sarah King.

Many interpreters and translators are members of one or more professional associations. But why? What do professional associations actually do for the interpreting community and why should interpreters care? To discuss these and many more interesting points, the Troublesome Terps are joined by Corrine McKay, President of the American Translators Association and Sarah Griffin-Mason, Chair of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. They both provide fascinating insights into the projects professional bodies take on, the work that goes into it, why we should care and why it matters. Don't miss out on the this interesting topic and feel free to join the discussion! Special Guests: Corinne McKay and Sarah Griffin-Mason.

Hungry for more podcast? This month, the Terps are looking for trouble with the tasty Vocal Fries! Together with Vocal Fries hosts Carrie Gillon and Megan Figueroa, Jonathan and the Alexes discuss a wide variety of different topics from linguistic discrimination to gendered language to code switching and what's up with French in Canada or with Spanish in Arizona. Special Guests: Carrie Gillon and Megan Figueroa.

Jonathan and the two Alexes have invited interpreting and translation entrepreneur Judy Jenner, co-author of "The Entrepreneurial Linguist" alongside business development expert and CEO of Castle Strategies Ewan Menzies to talk shop. In this episode we really get down to business! Both Judy and Ewan share their insights into what makes clients tick, and discuss with the Troublesome Terps how to assert your service's worth and be the best entrepreneurial interpreter you can be. Special Guests: Ewan Menzies and Judy Jenner.

The three troublemakers sit down to look back at a rather troublesome year. We talk about the episodes we put out in 2017 and about trends and developments in the interpreting space. Plus: The very first edition of our Tops and Flops Awards! (Photo by Ariel Besagar (https://unsplash.com/photos/HkN64BISuQA?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/search/photos/trophies?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText))

Revisiting the subject of our very first episode, we will fulfil our brief to cover the topics that keep interpreters up at night. In this webinar, we tackle the controversial topic of Machine Interpreting. “Universal translation” apps, gizmos and gadgets from small startups and even heavyweights like Google have been mushrooming recently. Many people in our industry are wondering whether it is only a matter of time before interpreters made of flesh and blood will be replaced by machines. Jonathan and the two Alexanders confront the ghosts of interpreting past, present and future and give their two cents (or pence, plus VAT) on how technological progress will impact professional interpreters. The video recording of this episode is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjGU_lmXFKo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjGU_lmXFKo).

Jonathan and the two Alexes have invited Justine Mason, formerly a mental health nurse and currently senior lecturer in health and social care at Wrexham Glyndwr University. She has completed a part-time MA in translation studies and written a dissertation about public service interpreters in health settings, particularly emotional difficulties and coping strategies. Justine and the Troublesome Terps discuss the mental health that interpreters can face in their profession. Special Guest: Justine Mason.

The three troublemakers have invited interpreting student Hugo Menendez to discuss social media and how interpreters should or should not use it. Special Guest: Hugo Menendez.

The three troublemakers discuss the ins and outs of the different kinds of remote interpreting, sharing their own on-the-job experience along the way.

Roberta is not only a Portuguese/English interpreter, but she also experiences the most outrageous things in the interpreting space! From peacocks in the booth, to talking to her younger self, falling in love with Frank Sinatra and what an eject button would do for her sanity. For your comfort and safety, we have split the episode in two parts that are published simultaneously for the curious ones among you! All the links to Roberta's articles can be found in part one of this episode: http://www.troubleterps.com/14 Special Guest: Roberta Barroca.

Roberta is not only a Portuguese/English interpreter, but she also experiences the most outrageous things in the interpreting space! From peacocks in the booth, to talking to her younger self, falling in love with Frank Sinatra and what an eject button would do for her sanity. For your comfort and safety, we have split the episode in two parts that are published simultaneously for the curious ones among you! Special Guest: Roberta Barroca.

Our guest Franz Kubaczyk regularly interprets Donald Trump for German news channels. The two Alexanders have invited him on to discuss the challenges of media interpreting in general and of rendering a difficult speaker into another language. Special Guest: Franz Kubaczyk.

Camille and the three gentlemen continue their discussion of gender issues in interpreting with a deep dive into Camille's research on the topic. Special Guest: Camille Collard.