The best reads for an interpreter

Where can you find books that every (student) interpreter will find useful?

Surely at some moments in your professional working life you feel the need to look up certain topics related to your field of interpreting, to find tips on improvement or specifics to do with your interpreting specialty.

You might want to have the following books on your shelves to look into from time to time:

One book that has to be mentioned first is Roderick Jones’s Conference Interpreting Explained: Translation Practices Explained (2014). A must-have for every consecutive and simultaneous interpreter, it is also a great reference book for anybody with an interest in the interpreting business.

For all consecutive interpreters Andrew Gillies’ book Note-Taking for Consecutive Interpreters: A Short Course (2005) is a good read, especially for students and self-learners. Each chapter explains a different technique and has exercises to complete.

James Nolan’s Interpretation: Professional Interpreting in the Real World (2012) is a practical guide for interpreters, particularly for students preparing for conference interpreting in international governmental and business settings.

As I mentioned on Twitter last week, if you are interested in OPI, read Telephone Interpreting: A Comprehensive Guide to the Profession (2008) by Nataly Kelly. This book offers a wealth of information for interpreters, educators, training professionals and consumers of interpreting services within the fields of health care, legal services, public safety, finance, social services, insurance and numerous other industries where telephone interpreting services are used.

For more information about the different fields of interpreting I suggest The Interpreter’s Resource (2001) by Mary Phelan. In this book she explains the different types of interpreting and their uses, and also provides a number of codes of ethics.

If you want to know more about interpreting, check out my new blog in 2 weeks’ time, in which I’ll be shedding light on the latest developments in video remote interpreting.

Meanwhile, happy reading!