Working as an interpreter-Anxiety related thread
October 7, 2023 11:15 AM Subscribe
I'm a mess. I've been a translator for a while and I've also been working as a simultaneous interpreter for 2 months now (not much practice since I only work for a couple of hours each week) and I've recently got the chance to work as a consecutive interpreter for an agency.
It doesn't pay much much but I've been looking job for a while and is the only thing I could manage to find, also is significant more in my country since we have a *** economy (I'm from Argentina). The problem and the point of this post is that I have no short memory, none. I cannot even retain two sentences apparently. Even with board games in which you have to remember where is each piece when you flip it, I just don't have that sort of memory.
The first meetings that I had to interpret in the simultaneous gig I was trembling and at the end of the session I was completely with sweat. The trembling I believe it went away. But now is pretty much the same, I tested the waters and with a single call I was trembling completely, is even more pressure since the OPI is in a medical setting and I'm unsure what to do. They are a lot of factors and things that can go wrong (and to learn) but the pay is decent and like I mentioned I can't find anything else especially in my country. I stopped taking my medication before all this because I know they have long term consequences and I want to be healthy at least in that aspect but not sure if I should go back. Also to consider the agency I work in they don't have a set limit of hours that I have to work, so at least there's that. No idea how people manage to work 8/9 hours daily in a job like this.
I've read and read about how to train the short term memory, exercises and all that but when it comes to actually do it I feel all that goes away. Most of all, it gets me really mad an upset because I know/feel I won't be able to find a job like this, remote, that pays like it does. I know I have to do it but at the same time is so stressful and part of me feels is not worth it
Sorry for all the rambling, guess I want to let it out since I don't really have anyone to talk about it and well advise me or something
It doesn't pay much much but I've been looking job for a while and is the only thing I could manage to find, also is significant more in my country since we have a *** economy (I'm from Argentina). The problem and the point of this post is that I have no short memory, none. I cannot even retain two sentences apparently. Even with board games in which you have to remember where is each piece when you flip it, I just don't have that sort of memory.
The first meetings that I had to interpret in the simultaneous gig I was trembling and at the end of the session I was completely with sweat. The trembling I believe it went away. But now is pretty much the same, I tested the waters and with a single call I was trembling completely, is even more pressure since the OPI is in a medical setting and I'm unsure what to do. They are a lot of factors and things that can go wrong (and to learn) but the pay is decent and like I mentioned I can't find anything else especially in my country. I stopped taking my medication before all this because I know they have long term consequences and I want to be healthy at least in that aspect but not sure if I should go back. Also to consider the agency I work in they don't have a set limit of hours that I have to work, so at least there's that. No idea how people manage to work 8/9 hours daily in a job like this.
I've read and read about how to train the short term memory, exercises and all that but when it comes to actually do it I feel all that goes away. Most of all, it gets me really mad an upset because I know/feel I won't be able to find a job like this, remote, that pays like it does. I know I have to do it but at the same time is so stressful and part of me feels is not worth it
Sorry for all the rambling, guess I want to let it out since I don't really have anyone to talk about it and well advise me or something
If the medication you were taking was a benzodiazapine, then you're right to be cautious with it. But if it was an SSRI, there is little evidence that negative effects outweigh positive.
Other thought is: I assume you take notes as you go? Perhaps learning or creating your own shorthand for fast note taking would help?
If your short term memory weakness is not being caused by your current astronomical stress levels, it's likely being worsened by it. So meditation, yoga or aerobic exercise, perhaps talk therapy could help.
But I will say this: my immediate recall is very poor. I'm certain it's genetic. I can work around it with notes and reminders but I will never be a person with a good memory. Sharing that to say: this may be a real problem you're going to have to navigate in this position. Find your work-arounds where you can.
posted by latkes at 1:13 PM on October 7, 2023
Other thought is: I assume you take notes as you go? Perhaps learning or creating your own shorthand for fast note taking would help?
If your short term memory weakness is not being caused by your current astronomical stress levels, it's likely being worsened by it. So meditation, yoga or aerobic exercise, perhaps talk therapy could help.
But I will say this: my immediate recall is very poor. I'm certain it's genetic. I can work around it with notes and reminders but I will never be a person with a good memory. Sharing that to say: this may be a real problem you're going to have to navigate in this position. Find your work-arounds where you can.
posted by latkes at 1:13 PM on October 7, 2023
Interpreting IS challenging beyond what people who have never done it can imagine. It's essentially triple tasking: receiving and understanding the message in the first language, analyzing the meaning and finding equivalent words for that meaning in thr second language, and then producing that polished message (quadruple tasking if you're also monitoring the receiver of your interpreting message for understanding or confusion). So my first piece of advice is, give yourself some grace!!!
My second advice is that as the interpreter, YOU are in control of the communication. This means you can tell the people involved to slow down, stop, keep going, repeat, wait, ask for clarification, or check for understanding. This is ESPECIALLY true in medical settings (less so in like, speeches at the UN or something). As an interpreting student, I often felt so overwhelmed because I felt like I had to keep up and interpret perfectly while being invisible. But EVERYTHING improved when I started taking control in a more (politely) assertive way. By everything, I mean my own internal stress levels, the quality of the interpretation I could produce, the quality of the interactions between all parties involved, the improved communication that happened, etc. The term "simultaneous" is often misleading here - you can change it to consecutive whenever you need to, you can take notes and pause, and people are usually grateful for some guidance and that communication ends up being easier and better from the interpreter taking more control. So, I would say you should practice things like note-taking, holding up your finger/hand to gently force people to parse their message into smaller chunks, and slowing it down to consecutive whenever needed. Reiterate that this is so medical outcomes are better if people do ever get huffy/impatient.
And my third advice is that memory does improve the more you use it, and that you get better at analyzing what the important parts are and dropping the fluff, so you are taxing your memory less. In translation, you have the space and time to consider and include everything, but interpreting is just about the important points. Drop the WORDS as soon as you register understanding and focus on retaining only the meaning. If you can handle two pieces of meaning/information at a time, that's when you ask the speaking party to pause so you get them out. Eventually, practice holding onto three. But depending on content, you also shouldn't expect to hold a ton of complex information, our working memories just don't have that capacity.
I can't advise you on the medication piece, but I definitely support the idea of self-care, so that may be an important part of that for you! Other people's suggestions of exercise, yoga, or meditation are always good options as well. But also, practice not letting your inner critic get so loud it distracts you from the interpreting process in the moment, because that just adds noise that makes it even harder. Tell the critic you will analyze things later, and then get back to the work.
Hope that helps - interpreting is such a challenging task and most people don't realize just how difficult it can be, but don't lose hope!
posted by carlypennylane at 1:46 PM on October 7, 2023 [11 favorites]
My second advice is that as the interpreter, YOU are in control of the communication. This means you can tell the people involved to slow down, stop, keep going, repeat, wait, ask for clarification, or check for understanding. This is ESPECIALLY true in medical settings (less so in like, speeches at the UN or something). As an interpreting student, I often felt so overwhelmed because I felt like I had to keep up and interpret perfectly while being invisible. But EVERYTHING improved when I started taking control in a more (politely) assertive way. By everything, I mean my own internal stress levels, the quality of the interpretation I could produce, the quality of the interactions between all parties involved, the improved communication that happened, etc. The term "simultaneous" is often misleading here - you can change it to consecutive whenever you need to, you can take notes and pause, and people are usually grateful for some guidance and that communication ends up being easier and better from the interpreter taking more control. So, I would say you should practice things like note-taking, holding up your finger/hand to gently force people to parse their message into smaller chunks, and slowing it down to consecutive whenever needed. Reiterate that this is so medical outcomes are better if people do ever get huffy/impatient.
And my third advice is that memory does improve the more you use it, and that you get better at analyzing what the important parts are and dropping the fluff, so you are taxing your memory less. In translation, you have the space and time to consider and include everything, but interpreting is just about the important points. Drop the WORDS as soon as you register understanding and focus on retaining only the meaning. If you can handle two pieces of meaning/information at a time, that's when you ask the speaking party to pause so you get them out. Eventually, practice holding onto three. But depending on content, you also shouldn't expect to hold a ton of complex information, our working memories just don't have that capacity.
I can't advise you on the medication piece, but I definitely support the idea of self-care, so that may be an important part of that for you! Other people's suggestions of exercise, yoga, or meditation are always good options as well. But also, practice not letting your inner critic get so loud it distracts you from the interpreting process in the moment, because that just adds noise that makes it even harder. Tell the critic you will analyze things later, and then get back to the work.
Hope that helps - interpreting is such a challenging task and most people don't realize just how difficult it can be, but don't lose hope!
posted by carlypennylane at 1:46 PM on October 7, 2023 [11 favorites]
My wife worked as a medical interpreter for awhile. It's tremendously hard, and she experienced the same sort of stress and sudden forgetting that you are having. Just a couple tips from her experience:
* As carlypennylane says, control the pacing. People, especially doctors, will run on forever if they're allowed to. You have to stop them (and maybe remind them that if they don't, what they're saying is being lost).
* Take notes, working out quick abbreviations. My wife had training videos to help with this. If you haven't been provided any, there are Youtube videos you can try.
posted by zompist at 4:31 PM on October 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
* As carlypennylane says, control the pacing. People, especially doctors, will run on forever if they're allowed to. You have to stop them (and maybe remind them that if they don't, what they're saying is being lost).
* Take notes, working out quick abbreviations. My wife had training videos to help with this. If you haven't been provided any, there are Youtube videos you can try.
posted by zompist at 4:31 PM on October 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: I probably wasn't very clear about this. I've been doing simultaneous interpreting for 2 months now, yes I did get nervous and still do but I'm doing just fine in that part. The problem is that I was hired by an agency that provides medical interpretation OPI (over the phone interpretation). I feel that consecutive is much more stressful especially since you're intepreting tecnical terms and the bar is much more high if you don't do a decent job.
Thanks for the comments by the way, yeah, I've been going through a lot of videos about interpreting but I feel when I was in the call (I only did one call so far) everything goes away, the practice, notes etc. I'm making use of the accesibility funtion to show captions in chrome so that's helpful too. @latkes I used to take both yeah, benzodiazapine have tons of side effects, I started taking SSRI's since yesterday again.
posted by Crazyfaith at 5:32 AM on October 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Thanks for the comments by the way, yeah, I've been going through a lot of videos about interpreting but I feel when I was in the call (I only did one call so far) everything goes away, the practice, notes etc. I'm making use of the accesibility funtion to show captions in chrome so that's helpful too. @latkes I used to take both yeah, benzodiazapine have tons of side effects, I started taking SSRI's since yesterday again.
posted by Crazyfaith at 5:32 AM on October 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
I did use interpreters a few times. So I could be an example of your customer.
I _really_ needed to know what people were saying; and I also needed them to understand me.
I truly didn't care about anything else (how would you look, how would you sound, if you take some breaks to take notes...) I also was enormously grateful for these few times when interpreters helped me.
Perhaps it will be a little bit easier for you if you think not about yourself and your difficulties, but about people for whom you are interpreting? How their life gets a little bit easier when someone else – you– will do the heavy work of translating for them?
... And yes, your short term memory will get better if you'll keep exercising it :)
posted by Sky12 at 9:51 AM on October 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
I _really_ needed to know what people were saying; and I also needed them to understand me.
I truly didn't care about anything else (how would you look, how would you sound, if you take some breaks to take notes...) I also was enormously grateful for these few times when interpreters helped me.
Perhaps it will be a little bit easier for you if you think not about yourself and your difficulties, but about people for whom you are interpreting? How their life gets a little bit easier when someone else – you– will do the heavy work of translating for them?
... And yes, your short term memory will get better if you'll keep exercising it :)
posted by Sky12 at 9:51 AM on October 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
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Interpreting is tough! I believe simultaneous interpreters usually work in pairs, so that they each can get a break. Can you arrange for a partner within your agency?
By the way, since you haven't been fired, it appears you're doing well at a very hard job. So maybe you can find a way to worry a little less? (Easier said than done, I know.)
Beyond that, you probably need to go back to your anxiety meds (or get a new prescription if needed for the unspecified "long term consequences"). That's what they're for. And therapy. Your perceived lack of memory may just be your anxiety talking.
Good luck and congratulations on being employed in a tough market.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:41 AM on October 7, 2023 [2 favorites]