A summary of our July 13th, 2020 Virtual Coffee-Side Chat for Conference Interpreters
OVERVIEW
This article is a summary of our most recent Virtual Coffee-Side Chat for Conference Interpreters - biweekly sessions where professional conference interpreters come together in an informal setting to share their RSI experiences, learn more about RSI and help shape the future of the market. Hosted by DS-Interpretation, Inc., your ally for successful Remote Interpreting services.
This week's session focused on hearing what interpreters have to say. We had over 125 participants from around the world for this interactive discussion, plus four sets of polls to find out about RSI Realities. We heard from Qing Chen (Gent, Belgium), Yulia Tsaplina (Paris), Michael Wasserman (Chicago), Gurdeep Chawla (Los Gatos, CA), Cyril Flerov (Washington, DC), Sarita Gomez Mola (Houston), Carine Kennedy (London), and many interpreters who shared their personal experiences, provided tips and advice, and asked questions of their colleagues.
POLL SET #1 COMPARING THE WORKLOAD TO 2019
While most of the responses in this poll set were unsurprising, the one stand out response was that 52% of respondents indicated that their workload was 90-100% less in June of 2020 vs. June of 2019. The overall consensus is that there is simply much less work available, including RSI, than in the past. Most interpreters are not working enough. While there has been a definite increase in online events in the market, it remains a fraction of the workload pre-pandemic.
QUING CHEN, Conference Interpreter from Gent, Belgium
Working from a Hub in Brussels and surviving multiple lockdowns
Quing has been through three lockdowns and in 3 different countries since the pandemic started and only recently was able to work in a booth for the first time in 2020. She worked in a hub in Brussels in a single booth during an official institutional meeting. The attendees were remote as were most of the presenters. She was thrilled to be back in the booth. This event was hybrid and allowed her to use Televic Conference equipment in the booth connecting via an RSI platform. She mentioned the extent to which there was plastic everywhere - everything was disinfected and covered in plastic to ensure its safety. Despite the distressing amount of plastic, the level of cleanliness was reassuring. She was able to see her partner and they decided to send signals via waving smart phone flashlights to avoid using an app to communicate. They monitored each other via a second console and headset.
Quing reminded everyone about what Naomi said in the last coffee chat: Interpreters love to learn and they are good at it, and this is a very important point in dealing with RSI settings. She mentioned that Naomi's Coffee Chat has been very helpful for connecting to colleagues. Three questions she asks herself after a job are: What have you done right? What have you done well? What could you do differently next time? She advises to BE READY at all times- have your spare equipment in place, have your primary equipment in place and hone your skills through practice.
In her recent experience she felt they did a very good job in dealing with the adverse conditions. She expressed that sometimes it is more important to get the job done than to do it perfectly. Quing reminded everyone that we all need to be a bit more forgiving of ourselves during these times. She advises that there will be acoustic difficulties. Using phrases that indicate you cannot interpret and remembering that the market is more forgiving during these times are both important when adapting to these new circumstances. Many factors are out of our hands when working remotely. Finally, for interpreters working remotely in a hub: don't forget to bring your own coffee, as it's BYOC when working in most hubs!
Naomi added that working in a hub does not necessarily mean things will be easy - there will still be acoustical issues, connectivity issues etc., but hubs certainly provide an improved work environment for most.
Yulia Tspalina, Conference Interpreter from Paris
Experiences Working from a hub in Paris
Yulia shared her experiences working from a recent hub with only interpreters and technicians on-site - all participants were remote. They used Zoom connected to regular, conventional equipment with full relay. This made it much better for the interpreters. One thing that worked very well was that participants were really able to effectively communicate remotely and have conversations vs. other remote meetings where it seems to be more of a series of statements with little true interaction. The Zoom platform, after some practice for this particular group, lent itself well to true communication.
One of the problems suffered was that the volume level varied significantly and required constant adjustment, despite the hub setting. This can be very tiring and difficult to work with. Some interpreters could hear well enough while others could not hear well enough to do the job. This is often a matter of personal opinion or individualized ability and she suggests a team leader should make the call to avoid issues for the client. Similarly, doing sight translation of documents when sound quality is insufficient should also be determined by a team leader and can be much easier than struggling with poor audio quality - when a speech is provided.
There is, essentially, a great deal of coordination required in a remote setting. This coordination is hard for interpreters to manage because they need to focus on the interpreting which requires all of their attention. Naomi added that a company like DS-Interpretation, Inc. provides this level of service to interpreters and to clients and is quite essential for successful meetings. Naomi also mentioned that sound levels in a hub setting should be better controlled by the technicians using sound processing equipment than the situation that Yulia described - it is possible that some technicians may simply be unaware of the huge differentiation and the need to provide consistent levels to the interpreters. Talk to the technical providers about this.
After the session, Naomi reached out to a representative from the ISO committee on distance interpreting to discuss this point. Objective standards for determining when an interpreter cannot work is being incorporated into the new ISO standard for distance interpreting delivery platforms (ISO/PAS 24019:2020) to reduce ambiguities for all parties.
POLL # 2 RSI BEFORE THE PANDEMIC
The poll results indicate that the majority of interpreters had not worked in a hub prior to the pandemic. However, many interpreters probably have worked in a type of a hub, but were unaware of it. DS-Interpretation, Inc. has long used hubs, particularly on-site in the venue vicinity where the actual meetings took place - in another location in the same city or even the same venue but at quite a distance. It is not a surprise that the majority had not worked using RSI platforms or other web conferencing platforms prior to the pandemic.
Michael Wasserman, Conference Interpreter from Chicago.
Does Domicile still matter?
Michael talked about the concept of domicile while working with RSI platforms. He was not enthusiastic but has been doing this for over a year and now it is the only way. He has worked with Interprefy which is "what Interprefy is called in the USA". [Note from Naomi: Interprefy uses its own name in the USA and Interprenet is an independent company and Interprefy partner, similar to DS-Interpretation, Inc.]
Most of the events are based in Europe and often involve working in the middle of the night or early morning due to time change issues. This is challenging. He finds that it has been difficult to negotiate conditions and the market is a "take it or leave it" situation. In most cases the conditions have not been at reasonable standards and he has discovered that other interpreters outside of the US are accepting much lower compensation rates which accounts for the domicile issues in many cases, presumably. Lower rates and deteriorating conditions are a major concern. However, he does like the feeling of teamwork with colleagues in different domiciles and the sense that everyone is in this together.
He related an experience where his partner could not be heard, and this resulted in the realization that interpreters MUST be present at their workstation at all times - there are no breaks possible as in a conventional situation where you can leave the booth to get a short break. This makes the work more taxing - you must be fully engaged all the time.
He expressed that the market and the clients have lower expectations and are more forgiving of things like sudden dropouts - the focus is on the overall service and not small glitches which are expected in this environment. Due to the current pandemic and lack of work, interpreters seem to be in a position of accepting conditions that are less than what they would normally accept. Naomi added that the issue of domicile is still important to DS-Interpretation, Inc., and the Company is trying to provide the most reasonable experience for the client and the interpreters. So using interpreters from the time zone where the meeting is held is the goal to the extent practical, to avoid difficult working hours for interpreters.
Naomi agrees that a sense of teamwork is possible and positive even when interpreters are spread across borders and the collective effort to work effectively is essential. There was discussion about the differentiation of conference interpreters to OTP (Over the Phone) interpreting - a market sector where charging by the minute is practical and typical, and qualifications of interpreters are very different. It is up to the conference interpreting profession to differentiate between conference interpreting and OTP interpreting.
Gurdeep K. Chawla, Conference Interpreter from Los Gatos, CA
RSI Experiences with the WHO
Gurdeep shared her experiences working with the WHO press briefings. She was working with a Blue Yeti microphone and using it successfully but had not learned much about how it really works. In the middle of one of her sessions (and technical tests prior to the meeting were fine), and as soon as she needed to work she was unable to hear anything and asked her colleague to take over.
In another incident, nobody could hear her suddenly and her Blue Yeti was blinking yellow. She reached out to Naomi for help and Naomi diagnosed the problem and sent her a YouTube video provided by her technically skilled son, who works with a Blue Yeti regularly. By following the video she was able to change her microphone settings in her computer and get everything working properly again.
In some cases the Blue Yeti needs settings changed due to conflicts with settings in Zoom. Gurdeep pointed out that having an independent line of communication with her partner was essential to ensure continuity of interpreting. Naomi encouraged all interpreters who own a Blue Yeti to do a little research on a blinking yellow light to ensure that interpreters do not end up with any issues during a meeting. Another interpreter suggested additional USB voice-over style microphone choices to the Blue Yeti including models by Rode, Apogee and Beyerdynamic.
Additional comments were made by interpreters regarding the challenges of RSI; this mode of interpretation is often more difficult than regular interpreting. Rates negotiated by interpreters also factor in costs such as taxes, continuing education and training, retirement contributions and other expenses including equipment for RSI that professional independent businesses must pay for.
-------
The issue of acoustic injury was raised when an interpreter relayed an experience in a hub where her particular console had a setting issue creating a toxic sound and amplification incident causing an injury that took many days to recover from. Everyone should be aware of issues, and just because you may work in a hub does not mean that you are necessarily safe. Engage with technicians to ensure you are safe. Additionally, the secondary form of communication between interpreters must be agreed upon ahead of time by all interpreters involved, since not all interpreters prefer to work using the same secondary method.
Cyril Flerov, Conference Interpreter from Washington, DC Executive Secretary of TAALS (The American Association of Language Specialists)
An overview of a recent TAALS seminar with Dr. Fligor, an audiologist and WHO expert on headset design.
While dirty or toxic sound does not immediately damage our hearing, its effects can potentially accumulate over time. Telephone operators are a reasonably good profession to serve as a proxy for conference interpreters in analyzing effects.
A paper in the Egyptian journal of occupational medicine published in 2010 stated that there is a high risk of sensorineural hearing loss in telephone operators compared to non-telephone operators. 46.6% of the telephone operators suffered sensorineural hearing loss compared to the controls which were depending on the group 3.3% to 13.3%. This translates to about a 4-5 fold increase due to headset use. Dr. Fligor considers it high-quality research. You can find the research here: https://ejom.journals.ekb.eg/article_691.html
If we have become the victim of an acoustic incident or acoustic shock some things that we can do to protect yourself after include: limiting exposure to other high-level sounds thereafter; putting yourself in quiet conditions; hydrating yourself well; eating leafy green vegetables, specifically vegetables that are high in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and high in magnesium; avoid smoking because reduced oxygen flow is harmful to hearing; get your hearing tested as soon as possible. An ENT surgeon can prescribe steroids, which can help your situation. It is not necessarily a rescue medication, but some ENT specialists feel that they may be appropriate but not all of them agree.
Here is a verbatim quote from Dr. Fligor: "The data that we have do not suggest that dirty or toxic sound is any more dangerous or damaging to our hearing ability than a natural acoustic sound. It is more annoying, and it is more difficult for task performance because of loss of bit rate, because of loss of bandwidth. But it is in fact the annoyance, more of an emotional response." However, Dr. Fligor also agreed that overall degraded performance should be taken into consideration when we talk about the toxic sound, not only hearing loss, per se. Even though the data are not available, it does not mean that the dirty sound, increased peaks etc. have absolutely no potential to deteriorate hearing slowly over time if listening at maximum levels.
Dr. Fligor also conveyed that using only one side of a headset to listen to interpretation can negatively affect hearing capability over the long run. Listening with one ear causes one to turn up the volume and the brain is designed to process sound using two ears. Not doing so can lead to hearing damage over time. Two ears are better than one. It is also recommended that all interpreters get a hearing test as a baseline.
TAALS will be offering seminars by Dr. Fligor and also by sound technician Rob Dickson in August. Here is a link to a recent article Cyril wrote on toxic sound in RSI.
---------
Another issue is the ongoing concern that clients and presenters do not use dedicated microphones and often rely on internal computer speakers. How can we best convince clients that interpreters need better audio quality to interpret than listeners do to hear?
DS-Interpretation, Inc. works hard to educate clients. We have a document that we provide to clients, but far better than providing a document (which few actually read) is to show them - take your mic off for a few seconds and use your computer - explain that interpreters have to listen and speak at the same time. However, many clients feel it is impossible to ask listeners to use dedicated microphones - they may not be able to have access to such equipment and this is something that we must endure. We must therefore focus on primary speakers and continue doing what we can to educate clients.
POLL SET 3 - CURRENT RSI SITUATION
The majority of interpreters have not worked on more than one platform to date. Of interpreters who have worked in a hub and at home, the overwhelming majority prefer a hub and, not surprisingly, nearly all interpreters feel RSI is much harder or somewhat harder than working in a booth. Discussion ensued regarding that Zoom remains the most common RSI platform, despite its shortcomings with the interpreting module. Many interpreters have created handover workarounds that are reasonably successful, though never easy. Consensus is that any meeting conducted on Zoom requires additional assistance to help the client effectively use the interpreting module. Support for the client during the meeting and support for the interpreters during the meeting is necessary. This cannot be done by interpreters, as they are busy interpreting. DS-Interpretation, Inc. offers this support services by providing experienced Client Success Support Specialists. Interpreters agree this is an essential service. One additional issue with Zoom is that many non-professional bilinguals are attempting to interpret in Zoom meetings, creating a problem in the market in that effective interpretation services are simply not delivered.
Sarita Gomez-Mola, Conference Interpreter from Houston, TX
Remote Interpreting for the Federal Courts
Sarita shared her experiences working for remote criminal proceedings. Each judge can choose their own methods for conducting the proceedings. She has participated using Zoom and Cisco Jabber (a telephone plus video platform), and shared how this is done via slides. It is extremely complicated in terms of audio and video signal routing that includes interpretation. Muting and unmuting is required by participants using a telephone line. Both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting are used.
One of the biggest issues is that the defendants are required to wear masks. This creates compromised sound. If there is more than one defendant, it is very difficult to tell who is speaking. Protocol needs to be used to identify who is speaking, which is not easy. Sarita expressed a need for clear masks or face shields instead of masks, so that lip reading is possible! This work is very complex, very difficult to do well and definitely increases the interpreter's cognitive load. However, it is essential for ensuring language access for some of the most vulnerable people in the world right now, including those held in detention centers who do not speak the language of our country. There is a strong need for technical improvements in this sector of interpreting services.
POLL SET 4 - FUTURE OUTLOOK
The results of this set of polls indicates that interpreters strongly feel that RSI platform companies are not meeting interpreters' needs or clients' needs, well enough. The outlook for future work is not optimistic for the short term: returning to pre-pandemic work levels is difficult to predict, but those who venture a guess feel it will be the second half of 2021 or even after 2021.
Most do not expect to be able to work in a hub before the end of the year. RSI is here to stay for the foreseeable future. While Europeans are working in hubs more regularly, it is assumed that given the late time in Europe, many of our European participants dropped off before this poll was run, so this is assumed to be based primarily on North American participants. Hubs remain the preferred way to provide remote interpreting, providing a better experience for all stakeholders.
Carine Kennedy - Conference Interpreter from London.
Working with an unknown partner
Carine shared her experience working with unfamiliar partners from other countries, and being paired up by agencies, companies and platform companies which are not aware of the delicate needs of conference interpreters working with partners. Overall the experience has been better than expected. In all cases the partners have been pleasant, team-work oriented and focused on successful outcomes, and this has been a nice surprise. But in some cases the skill level of the interpreters has not been taken into account - only their skill level in navigating the platform at hand!
In this RSI world, it seems that the skill, knowledge and expertise a particular interpreter has is sometimes overlooked, especially with programs that 'certify' interpreters for their platform skills with no regard for their interpreting skills. Interpreters around the world convey a sense of teamwork and openness to working with new partners to help us all get through this. Naomi adds: as all of us in this profession know, simultaneous conference interpretation is a highly specialized and rare skill set. But many companies seem unaware of this. It is our collective job to continue to educate clients and platform companies on this topic.
CONCLUSIONS
The overall sense is that the work available is still significantly below pre-pandemic levels. The work is challenging in many cases, but interpreters are finding creative and effective ways to cope with adverse conditions and are working together to achieve success. Naomi ended the chat by sharing that there is indeed more work available now than a few months ago. Her company (DS-Interpretation, Inc.) is far busier now, and she speaks regularly with interpreters whose workloads are increasing. Companies are continuing to increase their remote engagement as they realize it is the only way to engage. And the workload is expected, of course, to continue to increase. She shared that an interpreter she knows recently completed a multi-week on-site interpreting project. So while most of us are only working remotely, there is still on-site work out there, as rare as it may be. In the meantime, remote interpreting is the norm, and hubs, where they are possible and available, provide superior outcomes.
To find out more about the professional services DS-Interpretation, Inc. provides for clients and interpreters to successfully engage during the pandemic, or to join our mailing list for future Coffee-Side Chats for Conference Interpreters, please contact us.
Follow DS-Interpretation.com on LinkedIn and on Twitter
Next Coffee Chat: Monday, July 27th at 10:30 am Pacific, 7:30 pm Central European Time Topic: Platform Deep Dive with Interprefy