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Sponsor’s Guide

The opinion and signature of the sponsors is the single most important determinant in the assessment of the candidates for membership to TKTD by the Admissions Committee. Therefore, members of the Association should be extremely meticulous in this regard.

A few reminders about sponsorship:

  • In order to be a sponsor, you must have been a member of the association for at least five years and have held the relevant classification in the language(s) you are signing in for at least five years.
  • For A language, a person with the same working A language can be a sponsor, and for B and C languages, a person with the same working A or B language can be a sponsor.
  • It must be borne in mind that you are sponsoring not only the professional but also the personal and ethical competence of the candidate.
  • Listening to an interpretation performance in a single meeting or for a short period of time may not be sufficient to assess an interpreter. You may prefer to listen to the person you are sponsoring in at least several meetings on different topics in the language(s) you are sponsoring.
  • The candidate you are sponsoring should be open to professional and personal development and should interpret in accordance with the working conditions and rules of TKTD.
  • Please contact the Admissions Committee (AC) for your questions.
  • During the one-month period in which a candidate’s application is pending, all members, including sponsors, may lodge an objection with the AC. The AC shall inform the candidate about the content of the objection without disclosing the name of the person lodging the objection.

 

With their signature, the sponsors declare that the candidate acts in accordance with the rules of the Association in terms of both professional performance and professional ethics.

 

 

The following criteria may be taken into account in order to help sponsors make an assessment when giving a signature to a candidate:

Performance

Vocabulary:

  • Correct use of terminology.
  • Word choice reflecting the language and style of the speaker.
  • Command of language and its usage in technical/specialised subjects and fields.
  • Adequate level of general culture and knowledge

Fluency:

  • Interpreting at a natural speaking pace and style
  • Repetition, no pauses, pauses are not accompanied by sounds such as “erm, erm”.
  • Interpreting in complete sentences.
  • Not trying to cover the deficiencies in meaning and content with a false fluency.
  • Ability to follow the speaker with a reasonable level of synchronisation.
  • Reflect the overall meaning, organisation, and logical links of the speech.
  • To convey the speech as a whole by analysing the general meaning.
  • To deliver interpretation suitable for relay by other booths when necessary.

Structure:

  • Sentence structure in accordance with grammar rules
  • Reflect the speaker’s style of expression as much as possible
  • Do not use excessively short or long sentences regardless of the speaker

Accuracy:

  • No change or shift in meaning
  • Reflecting the content correctly, accurately, and fully
  • Conveying details, nuances, and style
  • Conveying humour and cultural elements as appropriate
  • Not making up unintelligible passages

Presentation:

  • A confident, relaxed manner of speaking
  • A lively, non-monotonous tone of voice
  • Ability to speak the target language without accent and pronunciation errors and as close to the mother tongue as possible
  • Ability to adjust the language used according to the audience and context
  • Language competence appropriate to the language category (A-B-C) for which a signature is required
  • A tone of voice and volume that is comfortable to listen to
  • Coping with difficulties in speaking (conceptual content, unknown or difficult words, speed, personal style, etc.)
  • Ability to communicate with the audience in consecutive interpreting (eye contact, style of address, presentation, body language, etc.)
  • Ability to take notes effectively in consecutive interpreting and to be able to convey information from these notes

Personal Attributes

  • Viewing interpreting as a profession
  • To have a style of dress and behaviour appropriate to the nature of the meeting
  • Good personal hygiene
  • Ability to establish co-operative, positive, and professional relationships with employers and technical staff
  • Continuously striving for self-improvement
  • Not accepting jobs that are not in his/her field of expertise and for which he/she does not have adequate knowledge and skills
  • Concentration, stress resilience, flexibility, etc.

 

Professional Ethics

  • To know and comply with the working conditions of TKTD
  • To get information about the meeting he/she is working in advance and to get prepared accordingly
  • To work with booth mates in a cooperative, sharing, courteous, and harmonious manner
  • Ability to ask for help from booth mates or the employer when necessary
  • Ability to develop constructive solutions in case of negativities, problems, technical failures
  • To be at the meeting venue on time, to comply with working hours
  • Keeping promises to customers and colleagues
  • To comply with fair competition conditions and ethical rules

 

Use this link to download the reminder for sponsors to help with your assessment of the candidate.