In the Classroom

Abstract

Choosing to include the health sector, the legal sector and the business sector as core courses is due, as we explained in the Introduction, to the fact that these are the main areas in which interpreters work in the private and public sectors. They are also appropriate for pedagogical reasons: the variety of terminology and domains adopting the same basic technical interpreting mode provide the student with both a sound anchoring in the necessary skills and a varied repertoire. Including all three sectors would however imply more than could comfortably be included in a short course, if it is to be done thoroughly. Depending of course on the number of hours, this might require sacrificing various items selectively. The basic structure of a course programme can easily be built around the same core features with introductory lessons in a lecture format. Once these basic parameters have been established, the trainer can then move on to more specific terminology and institutional language and register, and lastly to practical exercises in groups. At the beginning of the course students are not usually familiar with technical (especially medical and legal) terminology, even in their mother tongue.