Perhaps the most demanding of the breed, simultaneous interpreting is a setting where the linguist talks at the same time as the speaker, usually in a conference or meeting. Interpreters are normally provided with relevant reference documents beforehand. Simultaneous interpreters must nevertheless keep fully concentrated on what is being said by the speaker, as they have to convey the meaning at the very same pace.

Such performance is much more physically demanding than anyone would imagine. This is the reason why simultaneous interpreting is usually performed by more than one interpreter. 

A so-called tour-guide or conference system is used for this type of interpreting. It includes a radio microphone and booths for the interpreters and headsets for the listeners. The linguist listens to the speaker via his headset and interprets through a microphone for the foreign-language listeners who have their own headsets. The listening is easy, there are fewer acoustic problems, and absolutely no loss of time.

If during a conference or meeting a single individual requires the presentations to be translated, a simultaneous interpreter may be assigned to whisper the translation into the delegate's ear. This service is normally performed by just one simultaneous interpreter per language.
Between 800 and 1000 interpreters are available for the plenary sittings of the European Parliament, where simultaneous interpretation is provided from and into all the EU's official languages.

In principle, each interpreter works into his/her mother tongue out of the original language of the speakers. However, with 506 possible language combinations (23 times 22 languages), it is not always easy to allocate someone who can interpret from a given language into another and, in those cases, a relay system is used (whereby the interpretation from one language to another passes through a third, a 'pivot' or relay language.

Qualities of interpreters

There's a certain tendency to consider translation and interpreting as one and the same thing. Whilst the principle remains the same – conveying the content of a source language into a target language – interpreting belongs to a distinctive breed. The translator deals with static text; he'll have time to swing back and forth in the quest for that perfect sentence. The interpreter hasn't got that privilege. Decisions have to be made in real-time or near-real-time, which means the threshold between success and disgrace is even thinner.

Apart from the obvious language skills, the qualities required of an interpreter are very demanding. This section gives you and idea of what you should expect from a fully qualified interpreter and their special skills.

Language Skills

In the same way an omelette can't be cooked without eggs, language is just a pre-requisite for mastering the techniques of interpreting.

Listening and Recall

Effective interpreting requires effective listening skills. The specific kind of listening that interpreters perform is known as "active listening", which is quite different from other forms of listening, and has to be learnt by the interpreter. Having a good memory is especially important for a legal interpreter, who must retain and include in the target language message even extra-linguistic elements.

Interpersonal Skills

Despite the stereotype of the conference interpreter who spends the whole day in the booth addressing faceless bureaucrats in a monolithic voice, many conferences involve direct contact between interpreters and delegates. Moreover, the conference attendees are not always international civil servants or businessmen; they may come from all walks of life, and range from factory workers to housewives, from farmers to refugees.

Ethical Behaviour

 Although the interpreter's code of ethics has the greatest impact in legal settings, ethics are a major consideration for all interpreters. Some delicate situations can arise in international conferences, requiring that interpreters thoroughly understand their role and exercise good judgment. Medical interpreters must be particularly attuned to the importance of patient privacy issues.

Speaking Skills

Interpreters need to be able to express ideas well: effective speaking skills range from quality of voice to choice of intonation vocabulary, phrasing, etc.

Subject and Cultural Skills

Although the sentence 'You don't need to understand it, just translate it!' is quite often heard, interpreters need to acquire technical terminology and knowledge pertaining to the relevant fields, and, whenever possible, to suppress potential 'gaps' with their cultural knowledge.