Abstract: Sight translation has been considered as a part of simultaneous and consecutive interpretation. However, due to recent developments in the fields of business, finance, international trade, science and technology and due to changing market demands, sight translation has gained an extra place beyond consecutive and simultaneous interpretation. This paper aims at laying a groundwork for teaching sight translation, based on concepts and strategies of skill training.

This article discusses six phases in teaching interpreting in a classroom atmosphere using semi-authentic and authentic teaching materials to bring the students close to both English and Indonesian real-life environments and exposed to different discourse genres and different English dialects and accents. Phases 1 and 2 are warm-up activities for preparing students to move up to phases 3 and 4. Up to this level students are exposed to a semi-real life situation where they are listening to different English native speaker dialects and non-native speaker accents through the prepared tapes/CDs and VCDs and they are also listening to different Indonesian discourse genres. The last two phases are the most challenging ones for the students because each student will demonstrate his/her strategies and capabilities in performing an interpreting work in a set-up real-life situation using electronic devices.

The President of Brazil visited Africa in early November 2003 and made certain statements during his stay in that continent. The contents of the statements themselves need not concern us: he did not talk about translation and this is not the Poughkeepsie Review of International Politics.

An interpreter translated what he said and that concerns us, because this, as you very well know, is the Translation Journal. Whether interpretation is a species of translation or a sister discipline may be a matter of some dispute in certain quarters, but I daresay both activities are very close kin, and interpretation of Presidential speeches is news fit for the Translation Journal to publish. If it is not, the publisher will deal with this article in the appropriate manner.

HENDERSON, G. (1955) "London Association of Conference Interpreters (L.A.C.I.)." Mitteilungsblatt fur Dolmetscher und Ubersetzer 2, 1955, S.19.

PFISTERER, Hans-Jurgen. (1962) "Translators in the Federal Republic Now Accorded the Same Official Rates of Pay as Interpreters." Babel 8:2, p.33.

AUERBACH, Hakon. (1965) "Professional Translators in Sweden." Babel 11:4, pp.175-178.

---. (1973) Report on the Survey of Interpreting and Translating Needs in the Community. Department of Immigration, Canberra, 1973.

---. (1977) The Language Barrier. A Report Submitted by the Committee on Overseas Qualifications by its Working Party on Interpreting (1974). AGPS, Canberra, 1977.

London is an international melting pot of language and culture which has resulted in an increased demand for interpreters. As an interpreter, London is now an attractive city in which to work. It is now possible to find opportunities in a variety of exciting areas for interpreters to ply their trade.

It is estimated that over 300 languages are spoken in London. This would not come as a surprise to London residents as they witness daily the great diversity of nationalities and cultures that live and work in the city.

Interpreting the differences

There is a tendency for people who aren't involved in the language industry to use the terms "interpreting" and "translating" as if the two were one and the same thing, and yet there is a very fundamental difference which divides these two linguistic disciplines. Granted both are processes whereby one language is transferred into another, and both require a high degree of understanding in the two languages in question. However, interpreting involves the spoken word and is thus a faster and more immediate transfer process whilst translation describes the written process of transferring one language into another, usually entailing a slower and more considered approach.

This article presents some strategies derived from my actual personal experience and observations that can be beneficial to new interpreters. These strategies are used before an interpreter steps up on stage, while on stage, and after being on stage. A new interpreter has to equip himself beforehand with linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge and interpreting skills to be well-prepared while on stage where he has full self-confidence to improvise and make adaptations according to the actual conditions he is facing on stage; then he steps back to assess his performance before stepping up on stage again for another assignment

Abstract: This article is a presentation of ECOS, Traductores e Intérpretes por la Solidaridad (ECOS, Translators and Interpreters for Solidarity), an association based in the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Granada. It reviews the history of the association, its philosophy and current lines of work. After a brief explanation of what we at ECOS understand by social commitment in translation and interpreting, it proceeds to an outline of the boundaries of this concept: who the volunteers are; how, when and where they do their work. It explains, too, that community interpreting is not the same as volunteer work, and reviews volunteer organizations in translation and interpreting, both in Spain and at the international level. Then it discusses the relation between social commitment and training in translation and interpreting, defending the view that translators and interpreters must be trained for society and not just for the market. Finally, the authors conclude with a call to create networks of volunteer translators and interpreters, to supply a consistent standard of work at the local and world level, in the framework of international social forums.