Work Experience as a Translator (Interpreter) - Essay Example

Work Experience as a Translator (Interpreter) Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Thesis ment 3 Things I Learnt 4 Things I Did Well 6 Things I Need to Improve 6 Conclusion 7 Work cited 8 Introduction I worked as a translator (interpreter, in other words) during my internship at the embassy of Saudi Arabia in the United States in a medical attaché and was responsible for translating news as well as information from English to Arabic. The internship was for two weeks during which I acquired immense knowledge about the procedures of interpreting as well as communicating information to the people of Saudi Arabia. During the internship, my task was to translate information about the medical reports of patients from English to Arabic for the Saudi Arabian people. The job of a translator or interpreter is to translate language for the purpose of convenient communication of information. There were 60 patients in the medical attaché in the Saudi Arabian embassy of United States where I interned (Information Office of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC, “Home”). Thesis statement The discussion will emphasize on the knowledge as well as skills that I achieved during my internship in the medical attaché of Saudi Arabian embassy. It will also emphasize on the skills in which I excelled in the course of my internship and the skills on which I require to improve. Things I Learnt My internship as a translator or interpreter in the medical attaché of Saudi Arabian embassy in the US helped me to gain vast knowledge about the job. My job was to interact or communicate with the overseas citizens about the patient in the embassy. I acquired knowledge regarding numerous skills pertaining to effective communication as well as the need for team work along with time management which are considered to be the essential elements for the effectiveness of the job of a translator. Individuals engaged with this job should possess good communication skills with a soft voice. I found that effective communication is important for smooth interpretation of information. An individual should also possess the skill of translating language from English to Arabic for smooth flow of information. In order to develop effective communication skills, I used to observe other employees regarding the way they communicated and my supervisor too assisted me with the techniques required for effective communication. The internship program helped me a lot to improve my communication skills. The employees engaged with this kind of a job needs to perform their activities as a team. I observed that team work was essential for the successful performance of the activities related to the job of a translator. I was required to perform in accordance with the team in order to get accepted as a team member. I was required to complete all the activities which were assigned to me for being a part of the team. I also obtained vast knowledge from the team members about the varied requisites which were necessary for performing the activities. Therefore, team work is considered to be quite essential for the effective performance of the task of a translator or an interpreter. The internship in the medical attaché also helped me comprehend the importance of time management skill. This skill is important as it enables a person to complete a task within the specified time. It helps in managing all the activities which are to be performed as well as performing those activities with utmost priority in a timely manner. This skill is considered to be quite vital for ensuring enhanced performance of an individual and to perform all the assigned tasks in an effective manner. It even facilitates an individual to perform several tasks in an effortless manner along with performing the tasks in accordance with their standards. An individual possessing the time management skill is able to handle excess pressure of work in an efficient manner and remains disciplined while performing the activities. The information about the medical reports of the patients is needed to be interpreted as well as communicated to the overseas citizens within an appropriate time. Therefore, it is necessary for an individual responsible for the job of an interpreter or translator to possess this mentioned skill for performing the tasks effectively. These are the skills which I learnt during my internship program as a translator or an interpreter in the medical attaché of Saudi Arabian embassy. These skills are essential for an individual working as a translator or an interpreter of information about patients for the purpose of effectively conveying the information as well as news about the patients to the overseas citizens. The internship has helped me in acquiring all these skills and improved my communication skill to a great extent. Things I Did Well My internship as a translator or interpreter in the medical attaché of the Saudi Arabian embassy assisted me in gaining vast knowledge as well as skills about the varied operations performed while communicating information about the patients. The internship greatly enhanced my communication as well as team work skills. My communication skill has improved to a great level and has enabled me to communicate with others in an effective manner. The experiences from the internship have helped me to make quick decisions as well as suggest views while working as a team. I have also learnt that in the professional life it is important to maintain better coordination as well as cooperation in the workplace. It has also facilitated me to think creatively for explaining the academic cases in a better way as well as enhanced my understanding concerning the existing relationship among the academic theories and practical life. The internship has developed my personality and the experiences gained from the program would greatly help me in my future professional life. I also acquired knowledge regarding the importance of team work for the effective performance of an organization. Things I Need to Improve The internship has facilitated in gaining knowledge as well as skills and has helped me to gain an insight into the professional life. The experience from my internship program has aided to improve my communication skill as well as to work in an efficient manner as a team. The time management skill still requires a certain degree of improvement as I have not efficiently acquired the skill of managing as well as performing the activities in a timely manner. The time management skill is important for performing numerous tasks and therefore, I strongly need to improve in this skill. I need to coordinate as well as increase my speed of performing all the activities to achieve this skill. Performing activities on time will help me to manage the activities in an efficient manner especially during the time of surplus pressure of work. The attainment of all the mentioned skills would help me to scale heights in my professional life in future. Therefore, it is important for an individual to possess all these skills as it relates in a better way with all the academic theories as well as enhances the professional life. Conclusion The internship was conducted in the medical attaché in the Saudi Arabian embassy of the US and involved the role of a translator or an interpreter for providing information about the medical reports of the concerned patients to the overseas citizens. The internship helped me to gain knowledge as well as acquire skills for understanding the activities performed as well as the academic theories. The job in the medical attaché was to translate the information about the patients from English to Arabic and communicate the information to the foreign citizens. The internship greatly aided me in acquiring the skills of effective communication as well as importance of team work along with time management skill. Work cited Information Office of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC. Home, 2012. Web. 05 Oct. 2012. Read More