Looking up published judgements to practise their interpretation skills, shadowing senior interpreters and attending “mock court sessions” are among the activities that help new interpreters get up to speed. 

Mr Tay underwent a six-month induction programme, including “competency training” to familiarise himself with common English and Chinese terms used in court proceedings at the Family Justice Courts. 

“(We might simulate) a mock court session on a case, perhaps about maintenance applications … So our seniors will roleplay as the parties (and) come up with certain dialogues that are quite representative or reflective of the situation in court. We practise accordingly to gain our confidence,” he shared. 

The courts also provide in-house programmes and specialised external training to help interpreters hone their techniques, including note-taking. But a bulk of the learning happens on the job and is often self-motivated.

Most of their time is spent doing background research for the cases they are assigned, because interpreting is more multifaceted than “just going to court and rendering service”, said Ms Nabilah. 

She familiarises herself with case-specific information – names, numbers and places are important – so she can pick them up instantly when she is required to interpret simultaneously. 

Court interpreters also look out for any concepts or vocabulary unique to the case that they should know, she added. For example, sexual offence or murder cases usually contain “a lot of medical terms and body parts used to describe the injuries”.

“As professional interpreters, we must possess a good range of vocabulary, good knowledge of legal provisions and concepts, idiomatic expressions, cultural nuances, as well as a good mastery of grammar and syntax,” she reiterated.

Ultimately, however, the best interpreters are those who interpret “in a way that sounds very natural”, noted Ms Nabilah.

She learnt this pertinent skill during her sharing sessions with senior interpreters. 

“Sometimes, they will say I sound like I am reading from a text because I’m very formal. Just because you’re a good interpreter doesn’t mean that you have to sound so classy and elegant. You should also be able to make sure that your parties understand what you’re saying,” she said. 

“There is no point if you know all the technical words, but you’re not able to break it down for the person listening to you.”