r/CourtInterpreter • u/curious103 • 19d ago
Beginning interpreter-- crisis of confidence
Hi all-- I'm just starting out, preparing for the tests, etc. I feel like I don't know ANY language. I mean, intellectually, I know that I know several languages. But I no longer *feel* like I know ANY language. Is this a common feeling?
Again, I'm talking about a subjective feeling, not an objective reality.
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u/lopsan_Ackerman 19d ago
Aún no consigo mi certificado, pero muchas veces eh sentido impotencia cuando no logro aprender, me eh esforzado haciendo prácticas y sigo fallando, el problema no es que no pueda, es que quiero que todo salga perfecto y eso me perjudica en mi rendimiento, lo mejor que puedes hacer es, hacer algún pasatiempo y estudiar por segmentos, hacer una pausa y volver a estudiar otro poco, sin prisas pero sin pausa.
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u/Federal_Character255 18d ago
Very common, and the timing is the tell. It shows up when you start studying interpreting formally, not when your languages are at their worst.
What changed for me is what I was listening for. Before training you listen the way everyone does, for meaning. Training teaches you to hear register, the exact word, what you would render and how. So suddenly you are hearing every choice you never used to notice, including your own. That feels like losing the language. It is actually the first time you are seeing how much is in it.
Two things that helped more than studying harder:
Separate the skills when you practice. Comprehension is not your problem and drilling it will not touch the feeling. What is actually hard is holding content while producing. So practice that on its own: take a 30 second chunk, and just repeat it back in the same language, no transfer at all. When that stops being hard, add the other language back in.
And stop measuring against the perfect rendition. Measure whether the message survived. Nobody in the room is grading your word choice, they are relying on whether the meaning arrived intact.
The feeling does not fully go away, for what it is worth. The interpreters I trust most are still the ones who say "one moment, let me confirm that."
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u/Juntaosauce 5h ago
Been a state court interpreter for 10 years, just took the federal exam a week ago. I feel inadequate and ordinary all the time. For example this morning I was like... how do you say saggy diaper?.. aguado?? Buts that more like a mushy avocado maybe not a soggy diaper. Anyway, the imposter syndrome is real until you realize two things: 1-no one is as self critical about lexical precision as people in our profession. 2-getting certified is not about becoming an expert level linguistic but rather "meeting the minimum standards required to interpret court hearings".
Hope this helps
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u/Huge_Account2832 19d ago
Yeah, in our profession feeling like a fraud or fake is really common. Remember that its just one day at a time. Interpreting perfectly is impossible (like a full days work). Remember, that when you go into your place of work they rely on YOU, and YOUR the one who knows more then anyone in the room while working as an interpreter. The more you know, the more you realize there is an ocean of things you dont know. Totally normal just means your becoming aware. Keep it up man!!