"My friends call me '3M,'" says Charlene Huang, forty-two, who has three master's degrees: one in seismology and one in journalism from National Taiwan University, and one in geotechnical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Such an educational background has allowed Huang, who lived in the United States for eight years, to become an interpreter, primarily for technology-related assignments. Why is Huang's job attractive to her? She half-jokingly says that her work is great because it has three advantages by which people in Taiwan define a really great job: handsome pay, a light workload, and a workplace near home. Besides, an interpreter can rest well and "wake up naturally." Perhaps this is only the general public's impression of self-employment. Yes, it is great to have an office at home, but Huang has more to say.
I used to work for a research institute in Taipei. After it moved to Hsinchu, I had to leave my home in Taipei for work at 6:30 in the morning and not get home until 7:30 in the evening. I had to spend a total of four hours traveling to and from Taipei and my new workplace. At the time, my son was only seven years old, so I needed time to take care of him. As a result, I quit the job in 1991 and found another one with flexible work hours.
At this point, I had also started to study journalism in graduate school at National Taiwan University. Before I received my master's in journalism, I had already written for foreign magazines. I graduated in June 1993, and felt I could make use of my bilingual abilities. My career as an interpreter had thus begun.
Today I'm still a "stringer," writing for foreign magazines interested in Taiwan's information technology industry. Some times I play the role of bilingual emcee for different occasions. But I think you want to know more about my career as an interpreter. Well, I've done this job for about six years, which is two-way interpretation mainly between Mandarin and English. Occasionally, Taiwanese is included. The case I feel most proud of to date is the one involving eight scholars who came to Taiwan from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998. They were visiting Taiwan to talk about the research frontier of computer science. Prior to their speeches they had already talked to me and given me complete information related to their research. My simultaneous interpretation went quite smoothly, and I was glad that I had thoroughly conveyed their ideas to the audience.
But not all speakers are so well prepared. Some just don't plan their speeches, so I have to interpret their improvisations as they go along. I think if speakers want to have the audience benefit most from a speech, they had better help the interpreter, who acts as a bridge of communication by providing sufficient information in advance.
The length of time I spend preparing for an assignment varies with the degree to which the speaker can help me. Anyway, I do extensive reading on ordinary days, and when I have a case to take, I focus on it and start to collect related data from sources like the Internet and the organization that holds the activity, as well as others familiar with the issue to be discussed. I must accumulate related knowledge quickly and have a good grip on the logic of the speaker, as I have to communicate his or her message to the audience in quite a short time.
For me, every new assignment is a new challenge because it means a new speaker, a new topic, and a new audience. Yes, simultaneous interpretation is a very challenging job because it requires a lot of concentration. When I do it, two parts of my mind are operating: I must listen to a speaker using one language, and at the same time convey what I'm hearing to the audience in another. This process is a real burden on my brain. Every time a day's work is over, my brain just goes dead.
That's why this type of work is usually shared by two people. You know, everyone's mental powers have a limit. And for interpreters, twenty minutes' work is rather exhausting, so we must take turns doing the job. Many people respond with a "Wow!" when they learn how much an interpreter is paid, but they must understand that this is not an easy job.
In the area of simultaneous interpretation, one is generally paid between NT$9,000 [US$273] and NT$12,000 [US$364] for half a day's work (three hours), and between NT$16,000 [US$485] and NT$18,000 [US$545] for a day's work (six hours). The amount of pay depends on whether the organization in charge knows how brain-taxing this work really is.
Anyway, I've always found it interesting to be an interpreter. You know, I'm interested in many things, and this job allows me the freedom and time to look after my career and family life. Also, I like to tinker with words and to perfect my craft, which I look at as the ultimate challenge.
I don't think differences in gender can affect the performance of an interpreter. But in this line, women do outnumber men. I think this is because you can't get a pension after retiring from self-employment. A flexible schedule means a flexible income, and we interpreters also have boom and slack seasons. For example, when government organizations are trying to use up their budgets before the end of the fiscal year, they often hold more international conferences. On the other hand, in February when everybody is preparing for Chinese New Year, we don't have many cases to take. Men usually have to support a family. I think the unstable financial situation of being an interpreter may make them hesitant about taking this job.
What's the future of this occupation? I think the competition in this line is becoming fiercer, as more people capable of doing the work are trying for a career in this field. At the same time, Taiwan's internationalization is inevitable, and simulta neous interpretation will surely be required at more and more conferences. I think if you want to hold an international event and maximize its effectiveness, you should know that today it's essential to offer this service as a cultural bridge for the audience.