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.

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...

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...

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...

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!

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!

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)...

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...

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.