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Kathleen’s quest for the holy stamp

December 18, 2018 by Kathleen Parker 1 Comment

At the end of last year, I began a two-year part-time vocational training course that would qualify me to take the state examination to become a court-sworn interpreter and a certified translator. Why? Because I want a bureaucratic stamp!

That’s what it’s all about in this country, after all – you know you’ve made it when you have your own official bureaucratic stamp. Bonus points if it has a Berlin bear on it.

In all seriousness, vocational training courses in Germany are not for the faint-hearted. This course is designed to accompany a full-time job – 12 contact hours a week plus plenty of private study. Fittingly, I’ll be specialising in Rechts und Behörde (law and public authorities). The course covers the following topics:

  • C2 level English and German
  • technical translation
  • translation theory
  • notation techniques
  • bilateral, unilateral, consecutive and simultaneous interpreting
  • regional and cultural studies of Germany, Britain and the USA
  • law
  • economics
  • marketing, and
  • telecommunications.

Here are some things that I have learnt and taken to heart:

  • Interpreting is the third most stressful career in the world, ranking just after astronaut and air traffic controller. And here I was thinking nothing could be more stressful than being an opera singer.
  • Interpreters are not walking dictionaries that can just wing it on the day (OK, I knew that already).
  • In the interpreter’s booth, the concentration required is so intense that you can only interpret simultaneously for around 20 minutes before your brain explodes, which is when you swap out with a colleague (hopefully just before your brain explodes).
  • Notation is an entirely new language in itself, a combination of symbols and abbreviations structured in a unique way.
  • Terminology in German civil law is completely different to terminology in German criminal and/or public law.
  • Listening and reproducing orally with a half second delay while writing down the answers to mathematic equations with one hand and soothing a grumpy baby with the other simultaneously is near impossible.
https://www.euroakademie.de/fileadmin/ea_dateien/standorte/berlin/aktuelles/2018/simultandolmetscher/20181116_142454.mp4

Here are some of us in action in the lab – that’s me in the back row.

Getting the stamp and certification I so dearly desire is going to be a long journey. My vocational training (Ausbildung) finishes in September 2019. The entire course is designed to pass the state examination. You get two chances in a lifetime to pass the state examination. I’ll be taking the written part in March 2020, followed by the oral component in October of the same year. Then, I apply to be court-sworn. Assuming I pass the exam with flying colours, I should get my coveted stamp by mid 2021. Wish me luck!

Filed Under: About Red Tape Translation

Welcome, Katie
Our proud new family

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Comments

  1. Andreas Moser says

    December 25, 2018 at 1:33 am

    Respect for going through that ordeal!

    Reply

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