9/11/2011

DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERPRETATION

DG SCIC

Multilingualism and Interpreter Training Support Unit

Claude Durand

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Who are we ?

• One of the three EU interpretation services

• Largest interpretation service in the world• 835 permanent staff (590 interpreters)• Over 3.000 accredited free-lancers for 65

languages• EU Institutions account for more than 65%

of interpreting work worldwide ( UN=11%)

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Institutions and bodies served by DG SCIC

• Commission +/- 40%• Council +/- 50 %• Economic & Social

Committee• Committee of the Regions• E.I.B.• Agencies & Foundations

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Multilingualism

Does it make sense?• EU policy of multilingualism based on the

Treaties• Essential for EU’s democratic legitimacy and

transparency of its decisions• Language identifies each of us and connects us

with our own culture-”Unity in diversity”• Cost: barely 3 Euros per capita in the EU

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Languages

• In EU 23 working and official languages (including Irish)

• More to come, following future accessions

BUT ALSOo Languages of the EU’s main trading partners

Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian …….

• Spanish co-official languages : Basque, Catalan, Galician

Other ones when needed and even sign language

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Volume of work in 2009

• 111.372 interpreting days • 67.425 contract days for free-lance• 60-90 meetings per day • 500-900 interpreters assigned per day

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How can we make it work?

• Quality is the key• Rigourous standards for professional

qualifications and selection procedures• Annual appraisal for staff/quality monitoring for

ACI • Appropriate working conditions agreed with staff • Career-long training• Documentation & terminology support

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The broader pictureInterinstitutional co-operation

• Inter-institutional general competitions• Inter-institutional accreditation tests• Common list of free-lance• Staff exchanges

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A pro-active and comprehensive approach

Presentations,

information,advice

Grants to Universities

Studybursaries

Inter-Institutional tests /

competitions

Integration programme

Training assistance

Externalexaminers

Dedicatedtraining

tools

Study visits

Workshopsseminars

conferences

Benchmarking

I. Raising Awareness

II. Financial support

III. Pedagogical Assistance

IV. Entering the Profession

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Raising Awareness

• Contacts with universities

• Missions to candidate countries

• Information seminars for Senior officials

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Grants to Universities

Annually DG INTERPRETATION (and the European Parliament) give grants amounting to 475.0000 € to support interpretation courses

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Bursaries to post-graduate students

Bursaries of 1500 € (candidate countries) to 2200 € (EU-27) for a grand total of about € 350.000 annually

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Pedagogical AssistanceDG SCIC provides pedagogical assistance to partner universities• sends experienced interpreters to universities to improve

training

• sends interpreters to sit on examination boards

• provides teaching tools developed by DG SCIC

• organises study visits to DG SCIC for students ofinterpretation

• Annually, some 600 days of pedagogical assistance to different universities

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International dimensionSCIC’s expertise is recognised world-wide :

Training Chinese government interpreters for more than 20 years already Training Vietnamese government interpretersTraining Macanese government interpreters Co-operation with UN-family (member of IAMLADP)Co-operation with schools in Russia, China, USA, Africa…

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Future challenges

After the successful 2004 and 2007 enlargements (+12 countries,

+11 languages in total)

• New enlargement challenges (candidate and pre-candidate countries)

• The next generation (la relève)

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How to cope?through quality

RECRUITThe best professionals, either

Officials or accredited free-lance

HELP UNIVERSITIES TRAINHigh standards graduatesIn conference Interpreting

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A Conference Interpreter

• NOT a translator• NOT multilingual

secretary• NOT a contact/liaison

interpreter• BUT interpreting in

multilingual international meetings

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Over 50 years of experiencehave shown:

• Training at post-graduate (Master’s level) is best

• Not only graduates with language degrees• An intensive, hands-on programme based

on practice, not theory• The EMCI blueprint (with EU financial

support)

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The European Master’s in Conference Interpreting

• An intensive full-time Master’s programme • A practice-oriented programme (75%

practice, 25% theory)• Taught by practising and experienced

interpreter-trainers• Common standards for rigorous selection

and assessment

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Adapting to new circumstances

• Language professions on the move(new profiles and qualifications, new technologies, language industry:10% annual growth)• International co-operation, also in

academia, joint degrees

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Regional co-operation

• Working together to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in training

• Pooling scarce resources

• A win-win situation for all