A Community of Practice for Interpreting: the missing link

T ime has come to let go of secrets. Mine is simple: every year, at the same period, I feel stressed out and lost. Make no mistake, it always coincides with teaching a new cohort of interpreting students... More than 40 postgraduate interpreting students have entrusted me to bring them through a personal and professional journey  of learning and discovery. They have paid money and made sacrifices with the hope that their interpreting career can take off and allow them to earn a living, gain satisfaction and make progression. Every year, the same symptoms creep in about one week before the teaching starts; I feel I do not know anything. A spiral of thoughts and doubts bombard my confidence and I am reduced to a nervous wreck. I anticipate the joys, think about the students I interviewed, the work we will do together and the development of professional lives including mine. What is normally positive becomes paralysing. However hard I try, I cannot convince myself that it will...

This week, on the 11th and 12th September, I attended a very good interpreting conference in Newcastle University:   talking to the world . Two days of inspiring presentations and discussions, networking and socialising with interpreting on centre stage. I always feel it is a privilege to take part in such forums. One presentation in particular grabbed my attention; t he role of the educational interpreter: A dynamic model by  Herculene Kotzé,  North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa . Herculene explains how at a superficial level the role of the interpreter seems to be well defined in most codes of conduct, despite some controversies. In South Africa, there are 11 official languages . As such, universities face the true challenge to decide on their language strategy and choose official languages to use in the classroom and still remain inclusive. North West University, Potchefstroom decided to use English and Afrikaans. As such, educational interpreters ...

Photo taken from NewTrendsinManagement:  http://newtrendsinmanagement.wikispaces.com/Communities+of+Practice The summer holidays are now officially over. Even though I have worked all summer on PhD research and admissions of interpreting students for the master's interpreting programmes at London Metropolitan University, I have enjoyed the flexibility, balanced meals and the luxury of eight hours sleep of the August period. It is now time to get ready and juggle with the numerous balls in the air...  timetable... language combinations...  resources... conferences... communication with students... Facebook page... staff meetings and so on. I have to confess that I actually love it! Y esterday I received an invitation to speak at Hogeschool Universiteit Brussel  HUB  about the  Communities of Practice spirit that enhances a collaborative approach in interpreting courses. When speaking to the course leader asking for further details on what parti...