A day in the life of an interpreter...
At Vandu we got the pleasure of speaking to one of our interpreters, here she gives us a fascinating insight in the day to day life of an interpreter…
My name is Hiam and I have been an interpreter for two years. I first started interpreting as a volunteer to help people from my community. There was an introduction day for an interpreting course held at the Vandu office, this is where I first met the team and was keen to work with Vandu. Since then I haven’t looked back. It is immensely rewarding knowing that you are giving people a voice and enabling all members of society to be heard when it matters the most.
I usually start my day at 8am every morning by taking my 9 year old son and granddaughter to school. After that, I come back home and complete any tasks that need to be done.
My phone is always near me so Vandu are able to contact me at any time during the day or night to attend an assignment. This means I always have to be prepared and ready if I am needed. If Vandu don't contact me, I carry on with my normal life. I enjoy going shopping with my daughters and granddaughter and visiting friends to drink coffee where we can catch up.
As an interpreter I have to perform high quality, accurate work .To achieve this I should be impartial, patient and a good listener. This is because not only am I interpreting but I also have to take into account the language barrier between the client and service provider, there is often a culture difference between living abroad and living in the UK.
Being an interpreter is a very stimulating job, however I am a mother of four children, (three grown up daughters and one younger son) and a grandmother, which means that I am very busy in my personal life and have many responsibilities. On the other hand, I am always able to balance between family and work life.
We have a big Coptic Christian community here in Brighton so when we all meet together, I talk to my peers about being an interpreter and how it has changed my life.
Through my work with Vandu, I have learnt a lot of things including; good communication skills, trust and respect. As a very outgoing person, I love adventures and pushing myself to new limits because I believe life is a big school and we can all learn a lot from it.
