Interpreting

Speaking as someone else

• A tolk works with the spoken word, a vertaler with written text. Professionals care about the difference: calling an interpreter a vertaler is a classic faux pas.
• The modes: simultaan tolken (in a booth, with headphones, almost in real time), consecutief tolken (after the speaker has finished a passage, using notes), fluistertolken (whispered, for one or two listeners) and gesprekstolken (in a conversation, e.g. at the doctor's or the police).
• Interpreters speak in the first person: the speaker says Ik ben het hier niet mee eens, the interpreter says I don't agree with this, not He says he doesn't agree. When interpreters speak for themselves, they use the third person: De tolk vraagt om herhaling.
• A slip is corrected openly: Correctie van de tolk: niet dertig, maar dertien procent.
• In Dutch courts and at the police, beëdigde tolken (sworn interpreters) are used, registered under the Wet beëdigde tolken en vertalers. They must render everything getrouw, including insults and hesitations.