Feature -- by Mark Sproxton

Illustration by Kathy Lycka

Imagine a job where you get to speak while others are speaking. And add to the mix the fact you're in meetings with Prime Minister Jean Chretien or other world leaders with NATO speaking at the same time as them. Then imagine, if you weren't speaking at the same time as others, you wouldn't be doing your job.

"I like the variety and the challenge, and the fact I get to learn so much about so many different fields," explains Susan Ouriou, a simultaneous or conference interpreter who runs her own interpreting business in Calgary. "You have to work well under pressure and have a very broad education. You have to able to translate a poet or politician or a neurophysicist."

Sitting in a booth with headphones and microphones, simultaneous interpreters play a vital role in multilingual conferences. Taking in the words from a speaker, interpreters must relay those statements in another language keeping in mind context, jargon and accuracy. Ouriou interprets from English to French and French to English. Some interpreters work only from their first language into another, but not the other way around.

Similar to translators, who transcribe written documents from one language to another, interpreters have to be faster on their feet. "In interpreting, you have to able to respond quickly," said Ouriou, who also translates novels. "With translation, even if you have a quick turn-around (deadline), you still have time to consult dictionaries or ask the experts."

Seeing simultaneous interpreters first-hand turned Ouriou's attention to the profession. "I always loved languages," she said. "When I was a teenager, we went to New York and went to the UN. I saw the interpreters and thought it was something I would like to do."

And do she did. First moving to France to work as a nanny, Ouriou studied French before going to college in Quebec and then returning to France to complete a bachelor degree in applied languages. More recently, she completed a masters degree in translation. She said most interpreters require at least a degree in translation and specialized training in interpreting. (Court interpreting is a different type of job without such specific training requirements.)

With her qualifications, and over 20 years experience, Ouriou travels frequently throughout Western Canada, and sometimes overseas, for work. She is certified to interpret for the Canadian government and is on the contact list of the International Association of Conference Interpreters. Through these connections, she is contacted for work, usually at three or four-day conferences. She is paid on a daily-rate basis.

"The federal government has a roster of certified interpreters and I'm on their roster," Ouriou said. "Other interpreters will call me and ask me to work with their clients." Living in Western Canada where French isn't as common as in Eastern Canada, the work is not full-time. Ouriou said conference interpreting averages out to about 10 days of work a month for her. If she lived out East, however, she could work closer to full-time hours if she desired.

When travel is required, her day typically begins with catching a plane to the city hosting the conference, checking into a hotel and preparing for the intense work ahead by reading and re-reading any conference notes and material related to its subject matter. Once the conference has started, an interpreter's day would begin between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and run until about 5 p.m.

"There are normally three interpreters working and we spell each other off every half-hour because it's so intense. If you didn't, I think your brain cells would burn off." While being spelled off, Ouriou said she spends her time listening in, or looking up vocabulary, or finding a conference organizer or speaker to obtain a copy of upcoming presentations.

Prior to the conference, interpreters spend considerable time familiarizing themselves with conference material, going over presentation notes and learning new vocabulary. While the travel can at times get to be too much, Ouriou loves the work. "If you love languages and learning about the world you live in and are willing to continue learning, it could be a (great) field."