Review of the Pilot Courses

Language Interpreter Training as a Stepping Stone to Work

Review of the Pilot Courses Final conference

Berlin, 10 September 2014

Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo “Danilo Dolci”

About the courses • Locations:

Sofia, Bulgaria

Palermo, Italy

Berlin, Germany

Athens, Greece

• Duration: 36 hours

1° Pilot Course

• Delivery period: September – November 2013

2° Pilot Course

• Delivery period: February – June 2014

About the participants

• Overall number: 155

• Average number per course: 12 -19

• Educational background: high school, BA, MA, language proficiency certificates

• Age range: 18 - 60

Languages covered during the 2 courses

• Bulgaria: English, French, Russian, Turkish, German, Persian, Italian

• Germany: Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, French, English, Vietnamese, Farsi.

• Italy: English, Romanian, Bangla, French, Arabic, Urdu, Iranian

• Greece: Albanian, Arabic, Pashto, Farsi, English, Punjabi, Albanian, Amarinia , Urdu

Adaptation of the training course

• Train-the-trainer course

(Hemel Hempstead - May 2013)

• Adaptation of the training materials to the local contexts:

Translation

Rearrangement of sessions and contents

Identification of topics suitable to the local context

Production of new materials (e.g. new role plays, original documents provided by the police, hospitals etc.)

Training content

• Skills & Qualities of the Perfect Public Service Interpreter

• Intervening in the Interview

• Interpreting Practice In pairs

• Note Taking

• How to Compile a Glossary

• Sight translation

• Role Play scenarios

• Structure of local and national government

Topics addressed

Law

Psychology

Medicine & health

Job centres

Health insurance

Adult care

Asylum

Police and security

Vocabulary & glossaries

Guest Speakers

• Bulgaria: expert from regional inspectorate of education, expert from forensic operation department of the ministry of interior, social security expert, medical consultant

• Germany: representative of a Job-centre in Berlin, expert from migration advice centre, doctor from the Berlin hospital, sworn interpreter

• Italy: lawyers, psychologist and president of the applied psychology academy, doctor expert in migration medicine from the Palermo hospital

• Greece: lawyer, orthodox priest working with migrants, former student from the 1° pilot course

Improvements from 1° to 2° pilot course

• E-learning options:

Wiki glossaries

Glossaries on Office Word

Use of internal platforms and e-learning material for self-study

• Change in session time and duration • More texts added, others replaced • Recording of interpreting sessions to

comment them in class • Visits: migrant advice centre, job

centre, historical archive, Municipality of Athens social service office

Feedback from participants Good feedback on trainers Satisfaction about the course Willingness to take part in similar trainings Good collaboration among students Enthusiasm about their achievements (e.g. development of the glossaries). The training will have a positive impact on their professional careers and

personal development

Feedback from trainers Positive feedback on both the courses Glad to support students Most challenging parts: adaptation of the material, correcting students without

demotivating them, keeping high their interest and grabbing the attention of the whole group in 6 hours sessions

Satisfied with student’s involvement Proud of what has been achieved

Case studies

• Ksenia (Germany): realised that she really wants to work as an interpreter, and is thinking to start-up her own company.

• Valentina (Germany): already had experience in the interpreting sector. She plans to enrol for a master program in translation to further improve her skills.

• Sidonie (Italy): student at the university of Palermo, successful in the training, she hopes to be able to take part in other courses.

• Nadège (Italy): already working as a language mediator at the Hospital of Palermo, she feels her skills have been enhanced through the training.

• Ahmad (Greece): hired by the Greek police for a centre for illegal migrants.

Has the interpreter training course widened learners’ employment opportunities?

Collaboration with the Italian Red Cross to assist migrants in Lampedusa (Italy)

Interpreting service in territorial commissions for recognition of international protection to asylum-seekers (Italy)

7 trainees decided to start a social enterprise of interpreters and cultural mediators (Greece)

Work for asylum-seekers authority (Greece)

Thank you.

Contact details:

[email protected]

www.danilodolci.org