Todd: OK, Deanne, so you are a translator?

 

Deanne: Interpreter.

 

Todd: Interpreter.

 

Deanne: Yeah.

 

Todd: What's the difference between a translator and an interpreter?

 

Deanne: The interpreter serves as a medium between two different people and it's done spoken. Translators work on their own and they translate documents and sometimes they use dictionaries but interpreters follow people and they translate from one language to another for two people who don't speak the same common language.

 

Todd: OK, so you're a translator?

 

Deanne: Interpreter.

 

Todd: Interpreter. I'm sorry.

 

Deanne: It's OK.

 

Todd: OK, so you're an interpreter.

 

Todd: OK, and what languages are you an interpreter for?

 

Deanne: I do English and French and Italian.

 

Todd: And you can do any combination? You can do English to Italian and Italian to French, et cetera?

 

Deanne: Yes. Yes.

 

Todd: Wow, that's pretty amazing.

 

Deanne: Yes, I love languages.

 

Todd: What language are you most comfortable with?

 

Deanne: I'm most comfortable with English but also French because I grew up in a French province so I've always had French in my education, so English, yeah, more comfortable with English but French is pretty much there too.

 

Todd: OK, and how do you become an interpreter?

 

Deanne: How do you become? Well, you have to study. Well, first you have to learn the languages. It helps if you're native.

 

Todd: OK, but like, assuming that somebody already is bilingual. They're really good at languages.

 

Deanne: OK, well you study it. You can do a certificate. You have to find a, for example in your university, at a nearby university or a particular translator-interpreter school, they have programs where you can study. I don't - the one I took was about three years. Sometimes you can even do a degree in Hispanic Studies if you want to become a Spanish interpreter. You don't necessarily need the title immediately but if you have the abilities and the complete knowledge, the vocabulary you can. You can. People will hire you. You don't necessarily need the qualification depending on where you're applying for a job. It depends.

 

Todd: OK, cool.

 

Todd: And you know, what's the best thing about being an interpreter?

 

Deanne: Well, the fact that you meet different types of people. And you know what everybody's talking about. You never feel left out because you're the one who has to transfer the information. And interpreter is a really fun job because sometimes you escort people to fun places like to parties, to restaurants, train stations. You can be a tour guide. I've done that too. You can do lots of really fun things and just because you speak the languages which they don't so it's really fun and you eat good food cause they pay for that, so.

 

Todd: Sounds cool.

 

Deanne: Yeah, it's real fun.