Issue : 4 March 2014

Version Two of the LITSSW training course

Following up on the first highly successful interpreter training course, version 2 is shortly to take off in the various LITSSW partner countries. Twelve pre-selected students per partner will attend a 36-hour course that will include both classroom- based and e-learning options, networking opportunities and visits to public sector agencies. Recruitment will be targeted to attract speakers of the languages most required in the locality.Several partners have had to set up waiting lists due to the high level of demand, demonstrating a strong interest from local people in interpreter training.

Language Interpreter Training as a Stepping Stone to Work

Success story: Ksenia from Berlin

LITSSW is characterized by the high level of diversity of both partners and project participants. The pilot version of the interpreter training course involved 54 learners from various social and cultural backgrounds, which were reflected in the languages covered during the course. All four partners covered English, three (Germany, Italy and Bulgaria) covered French, two (Germany and Bulgaria) covered Russian and two (Germany and Greece) covered Arabic. The other languages covered were Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Bangla, Turkish, Albanian, Pashto, Farsi and Vietnamese.

What´s the idea behind the LITSSW training courses?The two courses delivered within the LITSSW project were designed with a specific objective in mind: training migrants who are already proficient in the local language to become interpreters, therefore enabling them to in turn assist other migrants and reducing communication difficulties between migrant communities and public institutions and administrations. The second TC, building on the first, will include e-learning as well as face-to-face actvities alongside visits to public insititutions. This will allow learners to improve their knowledge of the public sector and discover related employment opportunities and services available to migrants.

Ksenia, a Russian citizen, has resided permanently in Germany since 2001 and works as a social worker and a project manager. She speaks Russian, German, Spanish and English fluently.

Before participating in LITSSW Ksenia had had some experience as a translator and was considering a move into a career as a professional interpreter. The course introduced her to the theoretical and ethical aspects of the profession as well as essential tools and methods such as glossaries and note-taking.

She stood out as one of the most dedicated and thoughtful participants, improving not only her technical skills and identifying her strengths and weaknesses but also gaining in self-confidence and learning how to set boundaries with future employers. She intends to attend other courses in order to further improve her skills and realize her ambition of becoming a professional interpreter.

Language Interpreter Training as a Stepping Stone to Work

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held

responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Project LeaderDacorum Council for Voluntary Service,working name Community Action Dacorum ,48 High Street, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP1 3AF

www.interpretertraining.eu

What have we (DCVS Community Action Dacorum) achieved from Transfer of Innovation?

Language Interpreter Training as a stepping stone to work

Satisfaction, contentment and being rewarded. Our training model is based on moral ethics which serves the purpose of migrant communities and bridges gaps between services, authorities and the public. The idea of this project was to deliver UK innovation and the results a year later show that it has not just been a successful innovation but has actually given the students and partners much food for thought.

Feedback from our Partners

The Greek partner mentioned that three people found employment with the Police following the training. The project has opened doors for people and some of them are looking to take it to the next level by creating an enterprise. They have gained professional skills which enable them to help members of communities. In Italy a student wanted to study the full Diploma course (DPSI) Diploma in Public Service Interpreting. In Bulgaria three students progressed onto learning to provide careers advice. In Germany local authorities were involved with this training and were able to observe the benefits of it.

Reaching out

In all partner countries professionals from various sectors (including public sector) were involved with this training, giving students getting the opportunity to see these services from a front-line delivery perspective. For Project partners it was a reflection process as well about interpreting as a profession, which like others requires boundaries and a code of conduct.

The project has not only equipped bilingual people with professional skills but also prompted Dacorum CVS to consider using the interpreting training course to open franchises in partner countries.

LITSSW: A First in BulgariaThe Runi Center delivered the first training course for public service interpreters in Bulgaria, while in other Western European countries, such as the United Kingdom, different organisations have been training public service interpreters for many years.

The first learners, who completed the 36-hours Pilot Training Course, have received their certificates. The participants were from various professional fields and ages, which is an indicator for a person's desire for live long learning. The learners were fluent in English, French, Russian and Turkish language as well as Bulgarian. Part of the training was delivered by guest speakers, mainly representatives of different public service agencies who presented the structure of various departments in the agencies where there is huge demand for qualified professional interpreters and translators.

Such training courses will contribute to the better reputation of the “public service interpreter” profession in the public sector and the governmental institutions.

What Makes a Great Interpreter? CSC Danilo Dolci, PalermoOut of 19 participants Sidonie, 27, from Cameroon stood out because of her enthusiasm and involvement. She had been living in Italy for 1 year and three months to study at the University of Palermo. She speaks French and Italian fluently. She found out about the training course through an advertisement on the internet, and she decided to apply out of curiosity and interest in learning something new. The course gave her the possibility to learn necessary interpretation techniques. She intends to use her newly-acquired skills to work as a mediator between people speaking different languages and finding it hard to communicate.

We chose her for the case study because of her motivation: after completing the pilot she achieved good results, becoming aware of what it takes to become a good interpreter, and acquiring new interpreting skills. This case study allowed us to define a suitable participant profile for this kind of course: young people are more keen to learn and flexible so find it easier to learn new techniques such as note taking, interpreting and sight translation compared to seniors.

Nevertheless, personal attitudes make a huge difference, and there are no universal rules to decide in advance who can become a potentially good interpreter.