It is for the first time that remote interpretation in a conference of this scale is organised by the private sector in Lithuania. So, what are the modern solutions that will be chosen to fully ensure the quality of the event?
The challenges of working from home
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives dramatically. One of the greatest changes is that all possible work has been transferred to home. Many of us have already realised that, while working from home, it is important to agree with family members in advance on the work area, rest and working time. Employees with children face even bigger challenges. And what about all those virtual meetings?
Conference interpreting is no exception. Many interpreters have small children, so they cannot work properly from home. Even the best headphones cannot mute the children's laughter and background noises coming from outside or from the neighbours' apartment under repair, etc. All of this hinders concentration, which may affect the quality of work of even the most professional interpreters. In addition, if soundproof environment is not ensured, clients listening to interpretation will hear all the background noises, which never happens while working in traditional simultaneous interpretation booths that comply with ISO standards.
Another important aspect is related to the fact that a lot of processes are happening remotely, but mostly through platforms that are not suitable for the work of interpreters.
"Of course, interpreters doing simultaneous interpretation have to work together in one place - this is crucial for teamwork and ensures a consistent and satisfying result", - says Monika Matulevičiūtė, a co-founder of Metropolio vertimai UAB.
The translation agency Metropolio vertimai UAB was founded by two professional conference interpreters back in 2001. Successful business activities resulted in the growth of the company and helped attract more professionals.
"Today, we are a reliable team of professionals. Our translations are not just words. They also convey the thoughts and ideas of our clients. Therefore, we decided it was time we moved to the next level and thus created conditions for the emergence of the first remote conference interpretation hub in Lithuania" - says Monika Matulevičiūtė, the leader responsible for interpretation.
A pioneering hub for remote conference interpreting in Lithuania
The company has been fostering the idea of setting up a remote interpretation hub for quite some time, but it was the COVID-19 pandemic and the "Our Baltic Conference" event with some 10 thousand listeners that prompted us to turn it into reality.
"Virtual interpreting platforms have become very popular. The fact is that they have been developed to cater for clients' needs, but, in order to achieve a good result, it is crucial to ensure good working conditions to interpreters as well. And, as I said, this is usually not possible at home.
This event was scheduled for March and was due to take place in Palanga in a traditional setting, but as the pandemic continued, the decision was taken to transfer it online. As a result, Metropolio vertimai UAB had to change the interpretation arrangements overnight. A special interpretation platform developed by a Lithuanian start-up will be used during the event and for this our company will transform its premises into a remote interpretation hub with all the conditions for the interpreters to do a professional job - each of them will have a work station with all the necessary equipment" - says the representative of Metropolio vertimai UAB.
According to Monika Matulevičiūtė, it is essential that the organisation of the interpreters' team be entrusted to a professional interpreter-consultant experienced in bringing together multilingual interpreters' teams.
The professional with many years of experience in organising multilingual interpretation teams said that in the virtual event "Our Baltic Conference" due to take place on 28 September the team of 16 interpreters will work in nine languages: Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Polish, German, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and, of course, English. Six interpreters working from and to English, German and Danish languages will be located at the above-mentioned temporary interpretation hub. The interpreters of the team formed by Monika Matulevičiūtė work with 3-4 or more languages and are EU-accredited conference interpreters who also work for the EU institutions.
It takes time and effort to acquire the competences of an interpreter. Apart from having excellent knowledge of a language and its cultural aspects, a good professional must also be skilled in using different interpreting technologies and techniques. The craft is acquired, skills are developed, and experience gained through diligent work and critical evaluation of your own knowledge.
Therefore, we hope that this pioneering remote interpretation hub will become an ideal space for coordinating interpreting services in a dynamic and professional way.
This unprecedented solution will quite likely be increasingly employed in the future and will become the norm providing interpreters with all the necessary conditions to deliver a quality service" - hopes Monika Matulevičiūtė who has 21 years of experience in the field of conference interpreting.
The conference will be webcast live on Monday 28 September 2020, 9.00 (CEST)
Watch the conference here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/events/our-baltic-conference_en
