A two hour course

This course is for people who work with public service interpreters (not conference interpreters.) It covers both face to face and telephone interpreting.

Is this training for you?

The course is designed for people who work in the public sector and charities. For example –

• Health care
• Social work and advocacy
• Immigration
• Education
• Legal and judiciary
• Policing

You need to make things as easy as possible for your interpreter

Because interpreting accurately is difficult. Unfortunately, many people make things harder for the interpreter by using their intuition and common sense to guide them. You may be in for some surprises when you learn how to work in harmony with an interpreter.

Among other things you will learn-

• ​Where to seat everyone
• How to communicate appropriately
• Common mistakes: how not to drive your interpreter crazy
• How to brief and debrief
• Questions you shouldn’t expect your interpreter to answer
• Tasks you shouldn’t ask your interpreter to do.

You need to be able to spot good interpreters

Because in the UK the role of interpreter is not a protected profession. Unlike lawyers or doctors, there is little to prevent unqualified people from working in this field. For this reason we’ll teach you-

• ​Which qualifications to ask for
• Signs that your interpreter is skilled and trained.
• Things an ethical interpreter would never do.
• Red flags that indicate your interpreter is not skilled
• How and where to complain if necessary

You will love our posters

They each tackle a misconception around interpreters and there are 12 in total. They are included in the course, along with a handy one page guide to getting the most out of interpreter services.

Are you from outside the UK?

Then unit 8 will not be relevant but most of the course will be. If you work with public service interpreters (not conference interpreters) you’ll get value from this course – most of the content is universal.