Refresher Simultaneous Interpretation Courses for working interpreters

Who is this course designed for?

The course is intended for interpreters with at least a high intermediate level of Spanish, who desire to use it as a passive language. Interpreters who have worked for several years that want to improve their language classification from Spanish. Interpreters that would like to benefit from professional interpreter's advice and feedback. Interpreters that would like to update their Spanish interpretation skills.

The syllabus for interpreters aims to develop students' listening skills, using material in Spanish in order to be able to interpret from Spanish. To enroll in these courses, the following classification is required: English A or B and a very good command of Spanish.

About the Course

This intensive simultaneous interpretation course English/Spanish/English analyzes the differences and peculiarities between the two languages by means of a comparative study, providing thematic glossaries, and perfecting the interpreter's performance in the booth. Students will listen and interpret digital recordings on a variety of current topics, in a laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment.

We use course material that is a mirror image of the typical conference. The course relies on digital conferences, recorded exercises, containing PowerPoint presentations and terminology transparencies. Moreover, students research the anticipated subject matter in the same way that an interpreter studies the terminology before a conference. In addition, our laboratory, which uses overhead and multimedia LCD projectors, projects PowerPoint presentations from seminars, imitating the conference environment.

Objective of the Intensive Course

The course objective is to prepare interpreters so that they can work in a booth, utilizing Spanish as a passive language. The course covers the terminology, expressions, and structures most commonly used in conferences. During class, students will listen to digital recordings, translate them into English-Spanish, discuss their difficulties in groups, and share any concerns that arise during class in the laboratory with their professors and their fellow interpreters.
This is the ideal course for experienced interpreters, who wish to improve their skills in Spanish interpretation, and to use it in their professional careers.

Syllabus

1. Terminologies and vocabulary specifically in Spanish
2. Oral expression in Spanish
3. Spanish grammar, common errors from translation and dramatization
4. Auditory training and listening comprehension of different Argentinean and other Latin American accents
5. Passive and active simultaneous interpretation, to and from Spanish

Infrastructure

Beginning on the first day of classes, students work in a laboratory booth. The material in the laboratory is based on digital recordings of actual conferences, grouped according to their speeds and subject matters. Our continual participation in conferences enables us to incorporate new material each day so that we can offer our students the most challenging and varied subject matters.

Interpretation booths

The laboratory is equipped with 18 simultaneous interpretation booths with a mixer, microphone, and tape recorder in each booth. It also includes a digital main audio mixer that allows two professors to monitor students. The technical floor, suspended and sealed for cabling, allows signals to be distributed to every booth without any interference.

Multimedia (LCD) projection

The projection equipment for transparencies helps students learn to interpret with visual material. The laboratory relies on two types of projection systems, one for transparencies and another for multimedia, both of which are indispensable for teaching students the importance of visual aids in events.

Microphones

The lab has professional microphones with on/off and mute switches. The lab has two recording systems, central and individual, both of which come with the most reliable GE equipment. Students can record their interpretations from each class in order to monitor their performance.

Wi-fi Access

During the course, all students can have wi-fi access within the premises of the building and even inside their booths.

Schedule of Classes

The course is scheduled from February 15 to 19, 2010 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Fees

Tuition fees are USD 995. Fees include: 30 hours of formal tuition per week, simultaneous interpretation equipment and printed material, and coffee breaks. A full deposit shall be made to reserve your place. Fill in the application form and wait for the approval, then make your deposit.

Additional expenses to consider

Hotel accommodation expenses (approx. USD 90- USD 150 per day). Meals and transportation in the city.

Accommodation within walking distance

The refresher course will be taught in downtown Buenos Aires. Students can stay at these convenient hotels located within 200 yards away from our training venue:
a) Bristol Hotel (100 yards away) http://www.hotelbristol.com.ar/espanol/home.htm ; b) Obelisco Center (150 yards away) http://www.obeliscohotel.com.ar/espanol/home.htm ;   c)    Hotel NH Latino http://www.nh-hoteles.es/nh/es/hoteles/argentina/buenos-aires/nh-latino.html

Tourist attractions within walking distance

The Teatro Colón (Spanish) (Colón Theatre) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is one of the world's important opera houses. The present theatre, the second with that name, opened in 1908 after twenty years under construction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_Theater

San Telmo is the oldest barrio (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina and also a fairly well preserved area of that constantly changing Argentine metropolis and is characterized with a number of colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique shops line up the cobblestone streets, which are filled with artists and dancers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Telmo

Several tourist excursions are organized in the afternoon and evening. Most of them are within walking distance from the training venue. Some require shuttle transportation and entrance tickets to Museums and Tango Shows. Attendance to these extra curricular activities is optional. The cost of these excursions is not part of the course tuition fees.

Course Director

Martin Soriano. Martin is an AIIC Spanish English Interpreter, based in Buenos Aires. Martin Soriano is the author of Simultaneous Interpretation Challenges 1 (Desafíos de la Interpretación Simultánea 1), a package of advanced Spanish interpreter-training material, which he intends to continue, publishing his next book (Simultaneous Interpretation Challenges 2) during 2008-2009. His background includes several seminars and classes taught at the University and consecutive and simultaneous interpretation classes at McDonough, as well as hundreds of conferences interpreted so far.