10 TheLinguistAUGUST/SEPTEMBERwww.iol.org.ukFEATURESInvaluable advice on how to pass the EU accreditationtest, from David Smithof DG InterpretationTalk to any student interpreter about what thefuture holds, and it won't be long before theword 'test' pops up in the conversation. Likeit or not, testing is something you have to gothrough if you want to become an interpreter,whether during your course or when applyingfor a job, if only because, as an interpreter,you go live from day one, and any mistakesyou might make can't be corrected.In this article I will be talking solely aboutthe way in which the EU institutions testcandidates for accreditation as freelancers.While we are basically looking for the samequalities as any other employer, we have ourown specific requirements and our ownproven methods for selecting staff.So, to begin at the beginning, whom dowe test? Our eligibility rules are explained onour website (http://bit.ly/LlrOFY), but basicallyyou must either have completed a course inconference interpreting or be able todemonstrate sufficient experience in the field.The language requirements will varyaccording to which languages you work into.The current requirement for candidates withEnglish as their main language is that theyshould be able to work from at least twoother official EU languages into English. We are often asked which languages weare most interested in. It's clear that in anorganisation with 24 official languages wewould like our staff to have as manylanguages as possible, but realistically wecannot expect university graduates to offer usfour or five languages including Polish andHungarian. What's more, the languages mostspoken after English - which is the mostfrequently used - are French and German, sowe give highest priority to candidatesoffering at least one of those two languages.Ticket to EuropeApplying for a testAssuming you meet the eligibility criteria, thefirst step is to apply for a test online athttp://europa.eu/interpretation/accreditation_en.htm. You will be asked to submit your CVand copies of any relevant qualifications. Ifyou are following an MA course inconference interpreting and have passedyour final interpreting examinations, you canapply for the test even if you have not yetreceived your diploma, providing that theuniversity supplies confirmation of your results.Your application will then go to a screeningcommittee made up of interpreters from thethree institutions that have interpretingservices: the European Parliament, theEuropean Commission, and the Court ofJustice. The committee, which meets twice ayear, verifies the eligibility of each applicationbefore drawing up a list of candidates toinvite to the next round of tests. Selection isbased, above all, on current priorities withregard to language combinations, as well ason academic record.If you are selected you will receive aninvitation for a specific time and date. If not,you will be informed either that you do notqualify (and why not) or that you are eligibleand may be invited at a later date. Onemight wonder, especially since the EU hasgiven a lot of attention to recruiting Englishinterpreters in recent years, why we don'tsimply test anyone who qualifies. The answeris one of cost - organising tests is anexpensive business and our resources arelimited, so we have to be selective.Once invited to a test you will be givenaccess to the 'speech repository', an onlineresource which offers practice speeches forstudents and exam candidates, if you haven'talready got access through your university.You may also write to the relevant head oflanguage unit to request a few days ofdummy-booth practice in Brussels during therun-up to the test. This is at your own expense,but it can be very useful preparation, notleast because it will enable you to familiariseyourself with the test environment. The test itselfTests are held in Brussels, and consist ofmorning and afternoon sessions. It is usuallya good idea to arrive the day before, evenfor an afternoon exam, to avoid unnecessarystress. On entering the room where the test isWhy don't we simplytest anyone whoqualifies? Organisingtests is expensive, sowe have to be selective

to be held, you may be surprised by thenumber of people on the other side of thetable: two jury members from theCommission, two from the Parliament andone from the Court of Justice, plus thespeakers for the various languages andpossibly some additional assessors. Justremember that they are all there to ensureyour performance is fully and fairly assessed.The test consists of a 6-8 minuteconsecutive interpretation and a 10-12minute simultaneous interpretation from twoof your working languages. At least one ofthe speeches, which are all given byspeakers in the room, will be on an EU-related topic, so as to find out what youknow about your future employer, but noneof the speeches will be on highly-specificsubjects requiring specialist knowledge.They are all intended to be 'do-able' by awell-trained, well-informed interpreter, andwill generally not be very different fromthose used at final university exams,although the assessment criteria may bemore rigorous. You will have to pass all fourtests to gain accreditation.What is the jury looking for? In a nutshell,they will want to be sure that you haveunderstood and analysed the speaker'smessage and conveyed it effectively to thelistener. One jury member may be asked not to listen to the original in order toascertain whether the interpretation makessense in itself. Next, the jury will look at whether thespeaker's message has been distorted - hasthe interpreter actually changed the ideasexpressed by the speaker or altered thelogic of the original? - before looking atwhat has been omitted. Minor omissionsmay be discounted, but the jury will want tosee all the essential elements of themessage included. The message has to beproperly presented: if the listener cannotfollow the interpretation without difficulty,nothing has been achieved, however wellthe interpreter has understood the original.This means that the interpreter has to behighly articulate, with a wide vocabulary anda good grasp of different registers ofspeech. Lastly, the jury will be looking for apleasant voice, a confident delivery andnatural intonation. Delegates sometimeshave to listen to interpreters for hours onend, so these qualities are important.To sum up, then, the points weconcentrate on are mother-tongue, languageknowledge, analysis, presentation - andunderlying all that, general knowledge.Preparing for the testMost candidates will already have attendeda training course at a university, whetherpostgraduate or undergraduate, where they should have acquired the requisite skillsand knowledge. But whether you alreadyhave a qualification in conferenceinterpreting or simply have extensiveexperience as a conference interpreter, itmay well be worth your while attending oneof the summer courses some universitiesnow offer as preparation for the EU and UNaccreditation tests.As far as your own preparation isconcerned, I would suggest the following:. Get as much practice as possible, bothduring your course and afterwards. Use thespeech repository or any other recordedresources you have access to. If at allpossible, work together with othercandidates - making speeches for others isitself a highly beneficial exercise, but evenmore importantly, you need to work for acritical audience. Practising alone for hoursmight sound like a good idea but maysimply reinforce bad habits and make youdepressed as you get tired and make moreand more mistakes. Actually working as aninterpreter, for example as a volunteer for anNGO, is immensely useful, so take anyopportunities that are offered. . Record your performances and listen tothem critically: Did I make sense? Did Isound natural or was I just following theoriginal structure? If I missed things, why?Was it because I didn't understand orbecause I simply didn't hear, or because Igot too far behind?. Spend as much time as you can in thecountries where your languages are spoken.It doesn't matter what you're doing there -picking grapes, working in a bar - as long asyou're immersed in the language. And if youcan't be abroad, use the available resources- internet, DVDs, podcasts, internet radio -to maintain your languages. That will alsohelp you to keep abreast of current events.Vol/51 No/4 2012AUGUST/SEPTEMBERTheLinguist11FEATURESRemember that thejury members arethere to find newinterpreters, not toeliminate themUNDER PRESSUREAn EU interpreter working in Brussels (left);and a candidate for the accreditation testdemonstrates her skills to the jury (far left)