Скачать или смотреть The Need for Dual Interpreters for Your Event

Simultaneous interpretation (SI) is an extremely demanding profession. It requires interpreters to maintain **unwavering attention to detail and to analyze and synthesize information. Furthermore, simultaneous interpreters must adapt to constantly changing linguistic, cultural, and geographical situations, and they must always keep up with the latest linguistic and cultural trends to accurately capture differing styles of communication.

If you are planning an event, such as a conference, that requires simultaneous translation, you should strongly consider hiring more than one interpreter, especially if the event lasts longer than one hour.

Here's why two interpreters are essential:

*Preventing Fatigue:* Simultaneous interpretation requires such a high degree of focus that interpreters typically only work for *15–20 minutes at a time* to prevent mental exhaustion and potential translation errors. It is crucial for interpreters to remain focused throughout the event because they represent you or your speaker to the non-native participants, and losing focus risks missing vital words or phrases.
*Ensuring Quality:* Although hiring two interpreters involves a financial cost, failure to do so (or failure to schedule very frequent breaks) will likely be detrimental to participants who are not native English speakers due to the interpreter's high level of mental fatigue.
*Rotation System:* With two interpreters, they can alternate translating and resting as needed. While one interpreter is resting from active translation, they are still monitoring the original speaker and their colleague's work, often taking mental or written notes to ensure they are prepared when their turn resumes. The standard 15–20 minute speaking period serves as a good guideline for how often interpreters should rotate.

Have you ever used an interpreter for an event with non-native speakers? Share your experience below—especially if you used more than one interpreter and felt it enhanced the experience for the participants!