Professional interpreter

Professional conference interpretation in every language

Professional interpreter

Professional conference interpretation in every language

Hiring a professional interpreter ensures:


– Comfort for all participants, allowing each person to express themselves in their native language.

– A clear understanding of speakers, ensuring that all participants grasp the points being made without misinterpretation.

– Productive exchanges through the nuanced transmission of each other’s words.

– A positive overall impression: a high-quality interpretation service contributes to smooth exchanges, leaving participants with a favourable impression of the event and its setup.

What exactly does it mean to be a professional interpreter?

5 Q&As

I live abroad, I speak the country’s language really well, and I’d like to work for you

That’s a great start! The path to professional interpretation begins with a love of foreign languages and a dedication to learning them, which often begins at a very early age.

However, speaking a foreign language fluently or even mastering it completely does not make you an interpreter.

The interpreter listens to and understands the message in one language (the ‘source language’) and converts it into another language (the ‘target language’), using the appropriate terms, grammatical structures and order of ideas, along with necessary adaptations in the target language.

Crucially, there is the ‘understanding’ phase between ‘listening’ and ‘speaking’. In fact, one of the most common questions we get is, “how do you listen and speak at the same time?”.

To do this with clarity, fluidity, elegance and precision, the interpreter must be reactive, have mastered the technique and be able to cope with stress (which is a common occurrence). When it comes to consecutive interpretation, they must also be able to take notes to relay a speech without interrupting the speaker.

How do you become an interpreter?

By studying interpretation!

The interpretation of a wide range of often complex subjects requires the interpreter to have good general knowledge and have mastered the interpretation techniques.

A future interpreter can only access professional training in consecutive (with note-taking) and simultaneous (in a booth) interpretation after completing other studies.

Degrees in political science, economics or law provide the interpreter with a foundational knowledge base that they will further enhance throughout their career.

What professional training is required to become an interpreter?

To be accepted onto an interpretation course, you must have completed other studies, spent extended periods of time in the countries of the languages learned, and passed the entrance exam for an interpreter school, such as ESIT in Paris or FTI in Geneva.

You must also have an excellent command of the foreign languages you wish to work with. Study will help refine these skills but there won’t be time to learn the languages from scratch!

Over a two-year period, students are trained in the professional techniques of simultaneous and consecutive interpretation. The courses are taught by experienced interpreters who are actively working in the field.

What career path after graduation?

A young graduate interpreter has completed at least 5 years of studies, including two years of training with the best professional interpreters in their language combination.

They’ll continue to refine their skills throughout their career by completing assignments with more experienced colleagues and build knowledge in various fields.

An interesting and relatively unique fact about interpretation is that the young graduate will immediately start working alongside interpreters who were once their teachers.