Sophie Llewellyn Smith is a conference interpreter with 15 years' experience of interpreter training. On her site theinterpretingcoach.com, you will find eBooks and eCourses to help you consolidate or update your interpreting skills in areas such as note-taking, research skills, analytical skills, and retour interpreting (working into a B language). Each course breaks the skills down into manageable sections and uses a mixture of text, audio and video to examine underlying principles and work on practical exercises. In this way, you can use self-study at your own pace to target your weaknesses, improve your performance and become more marketable.
Like many website owners, I have a set of terms and conditions that insist that my content is for information purposes only, and exhort readers not to rely on this information.
In case you’re wondering why I should go to such lengths to cover my back, let me just mention a student some years back, who told me (and I quote): ‘Sophie, if I don’t get an interpreting job straight after this course, I will hold you personally responsible.’ Personally responsible, seriously?
And that’s why I have a disclaimer. I’ll put it even more bluntly: the following article is based on many years’ experience as an interpreter trainer and examiner, but it is just my opinion. I make no representations, and certainly offer zero guarantees, that if you put these tips into practice, your exam marks will improve. Like with any other advice, it’s up to you to take it – or leave it.
Common problems in first year interpreting exams
I’ve been a trainer for fifteen years, and I’ve seen a lot of interpreting exams. Every year, quite a few students underperform in their first set of exams. In the UK, these typically take place in January, at the end of semester one, and they focus on consecutive. Elsewhere, they might take place at the end of the first year, but the principles are the same.
When I try to analyse what goes wrong during these performances, the first thing that springs to mind is nerves. This tallies with one of the main causes of failure at EU accreditation tests. Nerves and anxiety are the trigger, and they affect performance by interfering with one or more of the processes or skills that candidates need to demonstrate in order to interpret successfully.
Mind/body techniques for concentration and stress relief
Last week, I was at the London Language Show demonstrating simple techniques to help interpreters and translators beat stress, whether acute or chronic.
The room was packed, and too small to get the audience lying on the floor for some deep relaxation. Instead I had them all close their eyes and do a series of stretching exercises, some deep breathing, and a quick autogenic training sequence. It was super-fun watching everybody tilting their heads to one side, clasping their hands, and breathing in and out in sync. A bit like synchronised swimming (but without the pool).
[Were you there? Let me know in the comment box below!]
As it happens, I’m actually a very cerebral person. I’m a big one for lists, action plans, and self-analysis. But I’m also very fortunate in that the mind/body connection has always played a big part in my life.
I did ballet for 11 years, followed by competitive ballroom dancing, and then I trained as an aerobics instructor and personal fitness trainer. All of this left me with decent posture, good core strength, and a deep appreciation of the benefits of exercise, not just on physical health, but also on mental processes, from concentration and alertness to emotional regulation and stress management.
Looking demure in the 80s.
Feistier in the 90s. Now you know why I like Strictly Come Dancing.
I also have no doubts whatsoever that, conversely, the mind can influence the body in very powerful ways, both negative and positive; in my case, the negative was developing a 12 year driving phobia after a minor accident when driving my boyfriend’s car. And the (very) positive was giving birth to my two children at home, with no drugs or medical intervention, using visualisation techniques and deep relaxation (and a pool – there’s definitely a theme there…).
Today, I’d like to share with you a few simple yet powerful techniques that can help you beat stress and achieve better focus and concentration, using the mind/body connection.
Brain Gym – exercising your brain and preparing it for learning
Brain Gym is a movement-based programme, composed of 26 movements. Its goal is to support the physical skills required for learning. For instance, the ability of the eyes to horizontally track a line without moving the head, or the ability of the hands to write without contracting the shoulders or the back, or the ability to sit squarely on a chair allowing for a better grounding and concentration.
Those of you who know me, or have attended any of my seminars, will know that I have a scientific background and I like to back my advice with research. Brain Gym isn’t well substantiated by research. In this respect, it resembles many complementary therapies for which there is plenty of anecdotal evidence (e.g. aromatherapy), but not much scientific evidence, because it is difficult to conduct double blind studies. My feeling is that if these techniques work for you, it doesn’t necessarily matter why they work. They may be effective on some people and not others; or we may not yet understand the mechanisms behind them, because the mind/body connection is so complex.
I’m sharing them with you because they don’t carry any risk, and they may do a lot of good. Also, they’re very quick – and I know you all lead busy lives!
I think it’s worth listening to the experience of practitioners, and that is why I have asked my colleague Maria Karakostanoglou to talk you through these three techniques.
I asked Maria what first drew her to Educational and Kinesiology and Brain Gym.
Maria: “It was during a very hectic time in my life, when I would work as a free lance interpreter for the European Commission three days a week and would study kinesiology for four days. That had been going on for more than 10 months, no breaks, no days off. It was in the middle of February I remember, on a Sunday evening that I had just walked back home, under pouring rain, tired, having just finished the basic Brain Gym 101 4 days training. I just wanted to get under a hot shower and into my bed. But I had a fisheries meeting at the Council the following day and I had to prepare and frankly I felt I had no energy to do that and mostly not a mind to do it. My apartment felt like a not very creative chaos, I did not know where to start with tidying up and I felt my mind could not function unless I could put some order around me.
I thought “I just did this Brain Gym thing, let’s see if it really works”! I think I was desperate enough to try just about anything at that point. So I did what is known as an “Action Balance” with the goal “I effortlessly and effectively tidy up my apartment”. 20 min later it was as if a curtain had been lifted from my eyes, I even now, remember the pair of socks I picked up to start tidying up. I was fired up!
One hour later my apartment was tidy and clean, dishes washed, clothes put away. I had so much more energy than when I had walked through my door and my mind felt so much clearer. I was really ready to sit down and prepare for my meeting and I actually did just that! It was at that moment that I decided I really want to learn this Brain Gym well enough to be able to teach it to others.
I felt that the quality of my life had taken a turn for the best that day. I could do something to get me moving to a very clear direction, I had a tool that allowed me to take the responsibility to move where I wanted to go.
I have used Brain Gym since that February day 17 years ago, during interpreting meetings, difficult discussions with friends or colleagues, family or work relations. For editing articles, doing computations, de-stressing when lost or enjoying getting lost, or for learning new things!”
Sophie: It sounds as though Brain Gym has had a powerful effect on your life. But what effects do your clients report?
Maria: “It starts with a greater awareness of themselves IN their bodies. With PACE the most immediate effect for most is greater calm, an awareness of oneself in ones’ surroundings, a clarity of mind and a readiness for what is to come. (note: PACE is a series of movements that leads to greater clarity of mind and readiness for whatever action you are planning. It boosts concentration and focus and helps be more present.)
Within a week people report greater ease in concentration, greater willingness to stay with something that they don’t particularly enjoy and over time a shift from an attitude of “I cannot/will not do it” to “I am willing to give it a shot”.
Almost every adult I have worked with reports sleeping better and getting to sleep faster. Many children use Brain Gym before exams. They say they find their words more easily, their thoughts are more structured, they actually remember or remember better what they have studied.”
Sophie: All of this sounds pretty good to me. Greater energy and focus, a better memory, and less stress, are exactly what most of us are looking for! So let’s have a look at those exercises I promised you.
3 simple Brain Gym techniques
Technique 1 – Lazy 8s
The benefits of this simple exercise are said to include:
thinking more clearly
relaxation
improving visual tracking (moving you eyes and not your head to see something)
increasing attention span
Put a piece of paper centrally in front of you (in line with your belly button). Draw a large lying down 8 (also known as an infinity sign) in the middle of your sheet of paper.
Move the pen counterclockwise; go centre, up left, over and down, come back to the middle, and then draw the right side of the 8.
Do this 3 times, then switch hands and draw another 3 lazy 8s. Then clasp your hands together and draw over the lines another 3 times.
Here’s a quick illustration of the direction of drawing. Don’t copy the arrows! They’re just to show you which way to go first.
Technique 2 – Thinking cap
Benefits: This exercise is said to help you tune out distracting noises and increase listening ability, as well as improving short-term memory and abstract thinking skills. It’s therefore ideal to do just before an interpreting exercise, especially in simultaneous.
With one hand at the top of each ear, gently ‘unroll’ the curved parts of the outer edges of both ears at the same time, with your thumb on the inside of the ear. Continue all the way to your earlobes. Repeat three or more times.
Technique 3 – The energiser
Benefits: This exercise brings balance and flexibility to your spine, and reverses the way we usually sit (hunched forward). It therefore releases tension from the neck and shoulders, improves posture, and allows you to focus better on your tasks. Very useful for those who work at desks and computers!
Sit on a chair in front of a table, feet hip width apart and flat on the floor. Place your hands on the desk, in front of your shoulders, fingers pointed inwards slightly.
Rest your forehead down between your hands. Inhale, press down gently on your hands and forearms, and lift your head, then your sternum, and finally your middle back.Shoulders and torso should stay relaxed, and your chest stays open.
As you exhale, tuck your chin down onto your chest and begin moving your head down toward the table, while lengthening the back of your neck. Rest your head on the table as you relax and breathe deeply. Repeat three or more times.
That’s it! The reason I’ve chosen these three techniques to share with you today is that they are all quick and easy to do. You can use them before embarking on a complex piece of work, before going into the booth to interpret, and between speakers when you’re feeling stressed.
Try them out, and let me know how you get on!
Looking for more simple mind/body techniques?
Where Brain Gym may be able to boost your focus, concentration, listening skills, hearing, and more, other techniques can help you deal with the pressure of interpreting assignments or translation deadlines.
Want to find out more about Brain Gym, and discover other simple techniques that work on the body to quiet the mind (instead of asking you to manage your stress in order to avoid physical symptoms such as raised heart rate, sweaty palms, and feelings of panic)?
Join Maria and me in next week’s webinar, entitled ‘Quick mind/body techniques to boost focus and reduce stress.’ We’ll be demonstrating quick, practical, simple movements and techniques to bring about a reduction in feelings of stress andincreased concentration and focus.
No slide show, no theory! It will all be practical, and you’ll be trying everything out in the comfort of your own home:
More Brain Gym techniques to help you improve your concentration, focus, and learning skills
Useful stretches for interpreters and translators, to relieve neck and shoulder tension
Belly breathing
Progressive muscle relaxation techniques
Visualisation and autogenic training for stress relief
Everything we’ll be showing you is quick and easy to learn. We’ll follow our demonstration with a Q&A session.
The webinar, costing €40, takes place on Friday, 30th November at 10 am and 5 pm London time. A replay will be available if you can’t attend at those times. Hope to see you there!
Sophie Llewellyn Smith, writing as The Interpreting Coach, is a coach, interpreter trainer, conference interpreter, designer of online teaching materials, and creator of Speechpool. Follow the blog to pick up tips on how to improve your interpreting skills, and check out the website for digital material to complement your face-to-face learning and empower you to take control of your learning. If you’re interested in personal coaching, why not book a free discovery call?
Maria Karakostanoglou
Maria trained as a conference interpreter on the European Commission’s in-house training scheme at the same time as me, and spent ten years working both as a staff and a freelance interpreter. She encountered kinesiology and Brain Gym as a client almost 20 years ago and was impressed enough by how it helped her face her own challenges that she decided to change careers and become a professional kinesiologist.
Maria also recently completed a giving back project where she taught Brain Gym tools free of charge to hundreds of primary school teachers in Peru, Chile and Greece, to support children and teachers alike in being more focused and organised and having more confidence in their ability to learn, be it inside or outside the classroom.
Are you great at dealing with technical jargon in simultaneous? Are you bad with numbers? Are your notes sloppy? Do you have a bad memory?
These are the stories we tell ourselves about our interpreting skills and professional abilities, and some of these stories can be very damaging.
I often liken learning to be an interpreter to learning to drive a car. You need to master a distinct set of skills, apply them all at the same time (watching out for hazards, steering, using the pedals, signalling, reading the road conditions), and give your passengers a smooth ride. When you first learn to drive, you need to think hard about these things (e.g. ‘I’m approaching a sharp left turn; I’d better change down into second gear.’). Eventually, many of the processes become automatic, except in difficult driving conditions (heavy traffic, bad weather), and you don’t have to think so hard about what you’re doing. This seems to me to be a pretty good analogy for simultaneous interpreting, in particular.
Let me tell you a little story about driving. For years, I didn’t drive. When asked about it, I explained that I ‘didn’t drive’ or that I was bad at it. I was definitely useless at parallel parking.
I learned to drive at 17. I took lots of driving lessons and passed my test first time, then didn’t drive for several years. My then boyfriend got bored of doing all the driving when we went on long trips, and pushed me to drive his car.
Picture this: my boyfriend’s white Citroen, a wooden post in a garage, a sickening crunch, and a bill for £982 (probably around £50,000 in today’s money. Well, that’s a slight exaggeration, but that’s what it felt like as a student).
The most interesting part of this story is not the severe dent in the bodywork that resulted, but what happened afterwards. I developed a driving phobia. It manifested in a very physical way. I felt anxious as a passenger in someone else’s car. My spatial awareness was shot to pieces: when cars came at us in the other direction, I thought they were going to run into us, even though they were in the other lane. My warped perception often led me to believe we were going to hit the kerb, even though there were inches of space between it and the tyres.
I stopped driving completely for 12 years.
The messages we absorb from our nearest and dearest in our first few years of life shape our whole personality and ability to deal with life’s challenges. Some of the biggest messages I subconsciously absorbed from my parents** were ‘it’s only worth doing something if you do it well’ (= you should aspire to perfection), ‘mistakes are disastrous and shameful’ and ‘what other people think of you really matters’. As a result, I grew up with very strong perfectionist tendencies. I felt I should be able to do things perfectly, straight away.
When I crashed my boyfriend’s car, my psychological makeup just couldn’t accept a) that I had done something badly, b) that I had made a terrible mistake, and c) that it was my boyfriend’s car and everyone knew about my embarrassing failure. I find it a fascinating proof of the power of the mind that the result was a phobia lasting 12 years. I was literally incapable of driving, for no other reason than my own limiting self-beliefs.
This is an excellent example of what’s known as a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset sees traits such as intelligence, creativity, character, interpreting skills, or in my case, driving ability, as being either fixed at birth or immutable, carved in stone. My unfortunate encounter with the garage post proved to me that I was a bad driver, so I defined myself as a bad driver.
I had no problem defining myself as good at some things (baking, dancing, writing thank you letters) and terrible at others (bicycle maintenance, driving, small talk). After all, how many times have you heard fellow linguists say ‘I’m useless at maths!’?
None of this struck me as particularly damaging, until I began to hear the same words in the mouth of my six year old daughter. ‘I’m useless,’ she would say. ‘I’m so stupid! I can’t do this!’ It struck me as worrying, and wrong, that such a young child should be so hard on herself when she couldn’t master a new or complex skill straight away, that she equated being a beginner with stupidity or failure, and that she had so little resilience that she didn’t believe she could continue to develop and improve, with effort and help.
That’s when I began to learn about growth mindsets.
Much research has been done on fixed mindsets vs. growth mindsets in the past twenty years (mostly on children). A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence (and other traits or skills) can be developed; that you can train your brain with hard work, effective strategies, and help from others when needed.
The origins of work on growth mindset
The early work on growth mindsets was led in 1998 by Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. Six studies looked at the effects of praise on students’ behaviour and performance following a test. Those students who were praised on their natural ability (e.g. ‘you did well, you’re very smart’), later chose activities that would make them look clever. They demonstrated less persistence than the other group, and their performance in subsequent tests was poorer. Students who were praised for being hard working, on the other hand, chose to learn new things and performed better subsequently.
Since then, several large scale studies (a 2013 meta-analysis of 113 studies, data from more than 160,000 children in Chile, data from 100,000 middle school pupils from California) have shown that a growth mindset predicts academic achievement, that growth mindset interventions can improve maths test scores, and that mindsets are a significant factor in working successfully towards a goal.
The benefits of having a growth mindset
In addition to being associated with higher academic achievement and working towards goals successfully, having a growth mindset can also help students
cope better with transitions,
develop grit and resilience,
develop pro-social behaviours (defined as behaviours that benefit other people or society as a whole).
A growth mindset may also offer mental health benefits, such as a reduced risk of depression and anxiety.
Now, in case you’re wondering how this relates to you, if you’re reading this, the chances are you are a) an interpreting student, b) an interpreting trainer, or c) a person. Or possibly two out of three of these. And people, whether students or trainers (or professional interpreters) can benefit hugely from shifting their mindset to move away from a fixed view of ability to a growth mindset.
How? Change the way you think and talk to yourself (or your children, or your students) about your achievements or failures.
As a trainer, I see the effects of fixed mindsets every day in my work with interpreting students. More and more students suffer anxiety and stress during the academic year, and their exam performances are severely affected by nerves. Yet these students’ experience of their interpreting course, and the way they respond to challenges, setbacks and adversity (including exams), can be transformed with a mindset shift.
Let me make this more visual for you, and illustrate what happens in the classroom, or after an exam, when a student encounters adversity (e.g. ‘negative’ feedback on their interpreting, or a poor exam grade).
In a nutshell, to people with a fixed mindset, the classroom can be a threatening and stressful environment. This is because they believe their abilities and intelligence are immutable; thus, every class/performance/exam forces them to prove their ability and avoid looking stupid. Every lesson makes them question whether they will be accepted or rejected, whether they will come out the winner or loser, whether they will look intelligent or ignorant (many of the professional interpreters out there will recognise that they feel like this about their work assignments as well).
As a result, people with a fixed mindset tend to value good grades (= proof that they are intelligent) over learning. They have a tendency to avoid challenges (which might make them look stupid, i.e. call into question their perceived intelligence), and to give up when they struggle. Their inner dialogue goes like this: ‘If I have to try hard at learning to note-take/doing simultaneous/getting all the links right in the speech, I must not be very clever/talented.’ They view the struggle negatively, and they think they have discovered they are bad at something.
They have little resilience.
By contrast, students with a growth mindset perceive the classroom as an exciting place to grow and embrace challenges. The work that they do leads to mastery of their chosen subject. They tend to value learning (the process, not the results), and they view effort and struggle positively.
They are resilient.
When it’s explained in these terms, I think it’s difficult to object to the theory behind growth mindsets. What’s not to like in an approach that helps students enjoy learning and achieve more, that makes company employees feel more empowered and committed, and that helps old dogs learn new tricks (since, despite the age-related decline in our little grey cells, our brains are still malleable)?
Old dog, new tricks. See how literal my brain is? Literal, but still plastic.
As a result, the growth mindset approach has been adopted wholeheartedly by the British educational establishment. It’s not all that easy to teach in schools, though; and it is prone to distortions and misinterpretations, which can be quite dangerous in themselves. I’ll talk about those in a moment.
How to change your teaching with growth mindset principles
The first thing I want to convey to you is this: I firmly believe that if you have a growth mindset (most of the time), and you can encourage your students to do the same, the classroom will be more productive, less threatening, more positive, and more fun. In this environment, it’s easier to learn together.
First of all, trainers need to use their influence in a purposeful and explicit way, by modelling a growth mindset. Say what? Well, walk the walk.
When you’re in a meeting or a training session, speak up when you don’t understand. When someone makes a Powerpoint presentation, try saying ‘can you tell me more about that?’ instead of pretending you know it all already. Be curious. Don’t be the person with eyes facing the floor, who never asks questions. In the classroom, show that you’re not perfect or all-knowing, and that you are also still learning and growing. Show that you are someone to learn with, that your students can learn together with you.
Does this sound risky? It definitely makes you vulnerable in a way I, at least, was told to avoid at all costs when I was training as an interpreter. ‘If you don’t know something, cover it up!’ was the mantra. I’m not telling you how to behave in front of your clients, though; I’m making a suggestion about how you relate to your students, if you’re a trainer. Admit your imperfections, so they can let go of the need to be perfect. Show, or say, that you’re still learning, so they can understand the importance of lifelong learning and personal growth (no need to go over the top and let out all your insecurities and self-criticism, though!). Some years ago I watched a fellow trainer, who happened to be an outstanding interpreter and a colleague for whom I had huge respect, demonstrate a consecutive in class. He sailed through it, with the exception of a short section, which he fluffed. Afterwards, he laughed about it, explained what had gone wrong in his technique, and suggested better ways of dealing with it. The students loved it! Instead of consecutive seeming to be an unattainable goal where only perfection was acceptable, his performance made it seem achievable; and more than that, the fact that a professional, highly regarded interpreter had made a (small) mistake also made the profession look more achievable to the students.
Alongside practising your own growth mindset, here are some tips for fostering the same in your students:
teach students about the evidence from neuroscience that the brain is malleable and that intelligence can continue to develop throughout your life.
Change the way you interact with your student. Focus on praising the process (their effort, strategy and results) rather than their ability.
Avoid comparing students. Give students the opportunity to reflect on their own performance, and to evaluate how hard they worked, what strategies they used, and how much progress they have made.
Understand the power of the word YET. If your students (or your children, or you) make absolute statements about their ability (‘I can’t listen and write at the same time’, ‘I’m bad with numbers’, ‘I can never remember the conclusion’), see what happens when you add the word….YET at the end of the sentence. That simple addition leaves room for growth, and shows that you are engaged in a process in which there is hope for improvement.
Remind your students that they are beginners, that they are learning new skills, and that it is normal to struggle.
Accept mistakes in your classroom. Mistakes, if you get the right feedback afterwards, help us learn. But it’s worth making the point that interpreters can’t afford to make the same mistake too many times.
Here are a few examples to illustrate the idea of praising the process rather than the ability:
Praising ability
‘Great! You’ve taken to note-taking really quickly. You’re a natural!’
‘You got a distinction in your first semester exams. You’re a really good interpreter!’
‘You picked up that idea straight away. Told you you were bright.’
‘You’re such a good student. Well done!’
Praising process
‘Great! You worked really hard on that essay.’
‘You’ve done a lot of practice on your symbols, and the result is a real improvement in your consecutive technique.’
‘It was good to see you rounding up the numbers when the speech got too hard. That was a new strategy for you, and it worked.’
‘Today was a challenging session. Your note-taking isn’t 100% reliable yet, but you can already get more detail in the speech than last week.’
In many ways, praising the process rather than the ability ties in with familiar principles of giving constructive feedback to interpreting students: don’t make it personal (‘you’re terrible at this!’), be specific, give examples, comment on the performance and not the person. In this sense, growth mindset theory tallies with and reinforces tried and tested principles of best practice in interpreter training.
Misconceptions about growth mindset
Funnily enough, the growth mindset theory is actually prone to polarised, all-or-nothing thinking, even though that is precisely what the theory frowns on (for instance, ‘let’s test school children on whether they have a growth mindset’, ‘let’s evaluate schools based on whether they manage to inculcate a growth mindset’, ‘if you think the theory doesn’t work, it’s probably because you have a false growth mindset’).
I’ll spare you the complex debate about how to apply growth mindset principles to education policy, and instead focus on three misconceptions I think are damaging.
‘Anyone can do anything.’
Growth mindset theory can come across as a defence of the idea that everyone has infinite potential. If you just try hard enough/are positive enough/embrace your mistakes and failures enough, anything is possible!
Hold on just a minute. Your mindset can get you a long way, but it can’t overcome any and every challenge you may face, or alter luck/opportunity/the way the world works. We’re not all going to be wildly successful multi-millionaires, or prima ballerinas, or the Prime Minister (guess which one I briefly toyed with as a child).*
When growth mindset theory is misinterpreted in this way and applied in the classroom, the risk is that it can lead to boundless optimism and ambition (and why not?), but also a whole lot of unrealistic expectations and a sense of entitlement.
We all have different talents, aptitudes, interests and temperaments; I don’t believe in the idea that we can all do anything we want, as long as we believe we can; but we can definitely all change, grow and improve.
‘Growth mindset is all about effort. You should never praise ability.’
First of all, having a growth mindset doesn’t just mean working hard. Unproductive effort shouldn’t be a goal in itself. It’s important to keep a weather eye on what you’re trying to achieve, and make sure you are trying new strategies if you’re in a rut, or getting help from others.
As a parent, I sometimes find my children’s school overly politically correct in avoiding praise for ability at all costs. Report cards are so non-judgemental and politically correct that I find it difficult to assess whether my children are doing OK. All their reports are couched in terms like ‘has made good progress’, and ‘is working hard towards mastering multiplication tables.’ Huh? What does this mean, really? If you’re a teacher or a parent, focus on praising effort, by all means, but don’t forget that sometimes we need reassurance or a reality check in the form of a reference to achievement. It’s OK to say ‘Wow! What a fantastic result in your exam!’ – you might want to add ‘You put in so much effort, and this is your reward – you can be proud of yourself!’
‘Just adopt a growth mindset and good things will follow.’
Nope. It’s not enough to talk the talk. You have to walk the walk as well. Trainers need to model a growth mindset in their interactions with students. Companies need to have policies that reward behaviours based on growth mindsets, such as sharing information, collaborating, innovating, seeking feedback, and admitting mistakes. If we want our children to become more resilient and adopt a growth mindset, we need to demonstrate the same attitude, and value perseverance and problem-solving, rather than just educational or sporting achievements.
How you can adopt a growth mindset in your own life
Seriously, you have enough energy to read more about this? I’m definitely over my word limit. On the other hand, I’m also over thinking I’m a bad driver. After several lessons and a whole lot of ‘facing my fears and doing it anyway’, I started driving again a few years ago. I’m not brilliant at it: I hate going to new places, I despise multi-storey car parks, and I refuse to drive on the Continent.
But when I catch myself thinking ‘I’m terrible at parking!’, I reframe it (especially if my children are around) as ‘Driving isn’t my top skill, but I’m still working on it. I’ve practised parking and reversing, and I’ve definitely improved. I’m not perfect at it, but my driving is good enough.’
If you’re interested in applying growth mindset principles to your own life, look out for next week’s FREE mindset challenge.
I’ll be sending you 5 day’s worth of simple activities to get you thinking differently about learning.
*no, not Prime Minister. Definitely a poisoned chalice.
** Surely you know the saying ‘they f*ck you up, your mum and dad’? If not, here’s the poem by Philip Larkin. Those easily offended by four letter words should abstain from reading any further.
This Be The Verse
BY PHILIP LARKIN
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
Philip Larkin, “This Be the Verse” from Collected Poems. Copyright
Source: Collected Poems (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2001)
Sophie Llewellyn Smith, writing as The Interpreting Coach, is a coach, interpreter trainer, conference interpreter, designer of online teaching materials, and creator of Speechpool. Follow the blog to pick up tips on how to improve your interpreting skills, and check out the website for digital material to complement your face-to-face learning and empower you to take control of your learning. If you’re interested in personal coaching, why not book a free discovery call?
I hesitated about the title of this blog post for a long time. Not least because it sounds as if I’m writing about shoes.
At first, I wanted to write about what I have learned from my students over the years. And then I wanted to write about how students can help their trainers step up and do better, because that is what some of my students do for me. Really, I’m writing about the symbiosis between student and trainer that can lead to breakthroughs on one side and excellence in teaching on the other.
But all of this is difficult to encapsulate in a blog title. I reckon if you read on, you’ll see what I’m getting at. So please bear with me. *
What my students have taught me
Every so often, I hear a teacher/trainer/tutor say ‘I learn so much from my students’. And on my jaded days, I think: ‘Nope, I’ve learned diddly squat from my students today. And that’s because they have no life experience, they need a bit more get-up-and-go, and the education system has given them a sense of entitlement and little idea of what independent thought looks like. And now I’m old, they all look about 15.’
And then I give myself a good slap round the head.
Sometimes I just forget what it’s like to start out – not in all areas, because I’ve certainly taken up new activities and learned new skills as an adult (I’m a permanent beginner when it comes to driving and parking, for instance, and have only just begun a long journey in web building and marketing) – but it’s a long time since I was a postgrad student. Let’s face it, when I embarked on my interpreter training course at the tender age of 21, I was deeply ignorant about current affairs, had very little work experience, and was probably more sheltered and naive and certainly vastly less streetwise and tech-savvy than students today. This is, in fact, totally normal. It doesn’t mean I had nothing to contribute, and the same goes for my students today.
I don’t learn from all my students every day (and let’s be honest: they probably don’t learn something new from me every single day), but some of my most valuable lessons as a trainer have come from my students.
Grit and determination
Acquiring the skill set required to become a professional interpreter is hard. Attending an interpreting course where you receive feedback on your performance every day in front of all the other students is very hard, psychologically speaking.
I benefited (if you can call it that) from the bootcamp style of interpreter training: short, fairly brutal, and effective (if traumatic).
* note that I’m not giving any hints about which of my esteemed colleagues at the European Commission had drill sergeant tendencies.
I was fortunate enough to pass the final exam, and start work straight away with a good employer. So all the hard stuff was done in six months, with a good outcome at the end. So all the hard stuff only appeared to last six months (but after that there was a massive learning curve which still hasn’t ended…).
It doesn’t happen like that for everyone. In fact, these days, what with the labour market in general and the interpreting market in particular being quite different from 25 years ago, students have to a) make it through their interpreting course successfully, and b) market themselves successfully in order to find any work in a sometimes saturated and ungrateful market. They need bucketloads of versatility, determination, professionalism, and skills I just didn’t need or have when I started out. And they need many more strings to their bow.
Every so often I come across a student who deeply impresses me with his or her ability to navigate the myriad challenges I’ve just mentioned with grace and enthusiasm, and who demonstrates maturity, resilience, and willingness to learn. A couple of years ago I had a student in my French interpreting class, E., who never gave up. She wasn’t in the top spot at the beginning of the year and it wasn’t all plain sailing. She had issues with her delivery and use of English that needed addressing. But she Never. Gave. Up. She listened to feedback, she applied feedback, she worked hard, she worked well with others, she welcomed advice but didn’t need hand-holding, and after graduating, she set herself some goals and went after them with passion and determination. Perhaps it had something to do with her hobby of weightlifting, and that mental attitude carried over into her interpreting, I don’t know. She certainly had exactly the right mindset to make progress. By the time she graduated, her skills had improved significantly, and she hasn’t rested on her laurels. She is now actively involved in organising collaborative practice groups for colleagues, as well as consolidating her interpreting skills, blogging, and working on a retour.
The reason I mention this student is because she was a great reminder to me of how much can be achieved with tenacity and dogged determination, even if you don’t start from the most comfortable position.
Sometimes there seems to be a feeling among trainers that interpreters are born, not made; that you need special talents to become an interpreter, and that if you lack innate talent, you will fail.
I love this reminder from E., and some of my other students, that you can achieve so much in life by just doing the work without excuses or procrastination, and that success doesn’t have to be immediate. It may take a few months or a few years longer, but it is success nonetheless (some of my former students passed accreditation tests at European Institutions or started work as professional interpreters several years after graduating). The lesson here for trainers is never to give up on students who are struggling or taking longer than expected to pick up skills.
It is a joy to watch students’ tenacity and enthusiasm in working towards and achieving their goals, and as someone who suffers from perfectionist tendencies (if I can’t get something right first time, I tend to give up), I really admire their attitude.
New technologies
I quite like new technologies. Here I am, writing a blog, organising webinars and running several websites. Nevertheless, I am not a digital native, and my son (aged 10) can already do far more than I can with the TV remote and iPad.
Me, sometimes.
One of the great things about being a trainer is that the contact with students helps me keep up (a little) with new technologies.
Students have a completely different experience at university these days. When I was a student, email didn’t exist, and word processing was in its infancy. I handed in handwritten work and couldn’t consult google.
These days, students have virtual learning environments, timetable apps, access to lecture recordings, Facebook groups, and more. At the universities where I teach, they also have equipment that can record their performances in the booth, video conferencing equipment in the room, and a smart whiteboard.
If not for my students, I would be one of these:
The fact that our students’ learning environment has evolved so much leads us, as trainers, to think about how we can tap into all these new possibilities; how we can use new technologies to enhance learning, improve productivity, save time, or connect with colleagues around the world.
My students’ familiarity with the Internet, file sharing, and Facebook, for example, led directly to the creation of Speechpool. The increasing use of blended learning has led me to create my new site, The Interpreting Coach. Initiatives such as ORCIT (online resources for conference interpreter training), the SCIC/EP speech repository, streaming of mock conference by many universities, and new apps for interpreters, are the direct result of a) the availability of new technologies, but above all b) the way students and early adopters use and want these new technologies.
It’s when students ask the questions (how can I find practice material/find a practice partner anywhere in the world/organise my glossaries?) that we trainers can look for answers and consider how we can do things better inside or outside the classroom.
Questions, questions
They say there is no such thing as a stupid question. And indeed, as a trainer, I welcome questions. Nobody likes to deliver a lecture and see glazed eyes and bored looks; at least questions from the floor suggest that the audience has been listening.
Sometimes my students or coaching clients ask questions – about interpreting technique or use of language – that are very difficult to answer. I struggle with these, because I don’t want to give a confusing or misleading answer; and because language is full of nuance and subjectivity, and I can’t always offer unambiguous or definitive answers.
These questions, though, are my lifeblood as a trainer. They force me to reflect on technique or use of English. They help me to look at my own language differently. They spur me on to give clearer explanations, or to develop teaching materials to explain the linguistic challenge in question.
Just this morning, a coaching client asked me to explain salami technique (also known as ‘chunking’). It was a great opportunity for me not only to explain the principle, but to find specific examples at the syntactic level to explain the advantages of the technique. When I’m asked to explain something I take for granted in my own interpreting, it’s a great opportunity to take a fresh look at it and see if there is a different or better illustration that will be easier for students to grasp.
Another example: in developing materials for my online membership site, Rock your Retour, for English retourists, I have been heavily inspired by my coaching clients’ questions, and also by their mistakes (why did they use a particular word or phrase? What would have sounded better?). If not for them and my students, my relationship with English, and with interpreting, would stagnate. Instead, my students give me an opportunity to grow, learn, and explain better, and I’m grateful for it.
Students, help your trainers rock!
If you’ve read this far, you’ll have understood, I hope, that when I’m not swamped by my workload and the odd bout of pessimism about the profession, I am both grateful to my students and inspired by them. They make me a better trainer. I don’t believe that training and coaching should take an entirely top-down approach; nor do I believe that 100% student-led learning is necessarily successful. Instead, I like to think of the interpreting student + trainer relationship as being closer to the relationship between a mentor and mentee. A mentor guides mentees to reach their full potential; but a mentor cannot teach every student the same thing, or in the same way. He or she must adapt and respond to the students’ needs and wants.
I didn’t want to end this post, therefore, without giving all the students out there some advice about how you can help your trainers help you. We trainers want to give the best of ourselves, and we want our teaching to be useful. And you can help us do that. How?
Ask questions! Don’t be passive. Instead, take control of your learning. Ask (pertinent) questions (have I said that already?). Spur us on to think critically about language and technique and offer you clearer insights.
Listen to feedback and advice. Try it out when you next interpret.
Adopt a growth mindset. Don’t worry if you’re not perfect at first: you are a beginner. All the stages of your learning are building blocks towards success. This means perfectionism (in the negative sense of ‘all or nothing thinking’) has no place in your learning; instead, be determined and hard-working, and remember that mistakes help you learn.
As a learner, be active, responsible and curious. Try to absorb the advice and insights that your trainers and fellow students can give you, and to use them to become an independent learner. You will spend a brief period of time with your trainers, and the rest of your life maintaining and improving your own skills with far less guidance, so remember that your goal is not to absorb knowledge but to acquire skills and the right mindset for success.
In short, be teachable!
I think it would be grossly unfair, though, to encourage students to be teachable without asking the same of trainers. We’ve all heard of lifelong learning, and anyone who is a professional interpreter knows that you have never finished learning a language or picked up every bit of terminology on a given subject. But I think it’s worth considering how trainers can keep learning and improving too.
With the right approach on both sides, it seems to me that students and trainers can push one another to give more and do better, and create a relationship that is genuinely mutually beneficial.
Trainers, what’s the most valuable lesson you have learned from your students?
*This is, in fact, a phrase I hate. But it is ubiquitous in the UK.
ROCK YOUR RETOUR – A MEMBERSHIP SITE FOR ENGLISH RETOURISTS
Rock your Retour is a unique, new way to improve or maintain your English retour:
With this self-paced programme incorporating live classes, teaching materials and ongoing support, you can boost your skills and confidence and become more marketable.
guidance from an experienced interpreting coach who is a native speaker of English
opportunities to receive feedback about your production of English and interpreting skills
teaching materials tailor-made for interpreters, with an emphasis on English usage (terminology, syntax) and skills
ongoing support
flexible, affordable, self-paced learning
time commitment dependent on your availability and motivation
Sophie Llewellyn Smith, writing as The Interpreting Coach, is a coach, interpreter trainer, conference interpreter, designer of online teaching materials, and creator of Speechpool. Follow the blog to pick up tips on how to improve your interpreting skills, and check out the website for digital material to complement your face-to-face learning and empower you to take control of your learning. If you’re interested in personal coaching, why not book a free discovery call?
Here in Europe, the summer holidays are drawing to a close.
How are you feeling? Do you find the rentrée, as it’s known in French, exciting or overwhelming?
In some ways, I quite like that ‘going back to school’ feeling; as a creature of habit, I enjoy getting back into a routine, and getting stuck into new projects. I also like the excitement of a new academic year at University, with new students full of optimism.
On the other hand, a very full schedule can feel oppressive and overwhelming, and I find myself dragging my feet when trying to get back into professional mode. I like to keep that holiday feeling going a little longer, so as to avoid the sense of stress and anticlimax that accompanies a return to grey skies, cooler temperatures, and humdrum domestic hassles (leaky roofs, cars with batteries gone flat). There are many ways to do this; at the moment my favourites are:
eating as if I were still on holiday, with lots of delicious salads.
getting up later than usual – I’ll put off my normal 5.45 wake-up call for as long as possible!
reading a lot (admittedly, this is sometimes a way of procrastinating, instead of facing up to boring chores).
However, with the best will in the world, I can’t entirely ignore my massive to-do list, which makes September look like an exercise in squaring the circle. I often wish the day had 27 hours or so, so I could have a fighting chance of getting everything done.
Here are my top 3 tips for dispelling that horrible feeling of drowning in all the things you have to do.
Prioritise your to-do list
I find lists invaluable for keeping track of all my tasks. But sometimes they outgrow the sheet of paper I’m writing them on, and they look so long.
Here’s a simple way to use to-do lists more efficiently.
Divide your sheet into 4 boxes: urgent + important, urgent + less important, not urgent but important, not urgent + not very important.
Fill in the boxes with all the things you need to get done.
Now you can see at a glance the ones you actually need to do right away: they are in the urgent + important box. After that, you can move on to urgent but not important, then to not urgent but important, and finally to not urgent + not very important.
Hopefully, if you try this method, you will see that not everything needs doing today. You can plan the order in which to tackle your tasks, and they feel less overwhelming. And perhaps you (or I) will feel less like this.
Another advantage of this method, as I see it, is that unless I have guests coming to stay, it almost invariably relegates housework to the bottom of the list.
On the other hand, the result is that my tidier other half (better half?) is constantly irritated at the mess in the house. I just tell him we have different priorities. 😉
Get outside for a few minutes and practise mindfulness
A good way to escape that crushing sense that you have more tasks to do than will fit into 24 hours is to get outdoors, even for a few minutes. Breathe some fresh air and practise mindfulness, which means nothing more than being in the present and using your senses: listen to what’s around you (can you hear birdsong?), look around and find something beautiful to appreciate. If you can see plants around you, go and rub a leaf or smell a flower: how does it feel? Does it smell good?
Lucky me, this is the view from my patio. Instant stress relief!
If, like me, you spend a lot of time studying, reading, researching, using computers, and being indoors, you can end up spending 99% of time in your head, and almost forgetting that you have a body. Ground yourself and use all your senses to remind yourself that you are made up of body, mind and spirit. Exercise is very good for this as well.
Here is my daughter, aged 7 months at the time, practising mindfulness, i.e. smelling the roses. I was instilling relaxation principles in her at a young age. 😉
Alas, five minutes later, I discovered she wasn’t actually sniffing the rose petals, but chewing on them. This had unfortunate results on her digestive system, which caused some stress. Never mind…
Readjust your mindset
Take five minutes to reset your mindset.
When I was talking to my husband about how he manages his (extremely stressful) job, he suggested reminding yourself that you can only do your best, so there’s no point fretting if you can’t be perfect.
The problem I see with this is that perfectionist types tend to think that ‘doing their best’ means ‘doing everything perfectly’ and aren’t always able to accept what they view as lowering their standards.
Instead, if you want a quick re-boot of your attitude, I would suggest one of the following tricks:
Imagine that what you are going through is being described by a friend: the pressure he/she is under, all the stuff he/she needs to do in a ridiculously short time, his/her feelings of inadequacy, etc. What advice would you give your friend? We are generally far more understanding, sympathetic and helpful to other people than we are to ourselves. If you can take a step back and pretend someone important to you is faced with this situation, you are likely to give them (i.e. yourself!) more realistic and objective advice.
Ask yourself: what’s the worse that could happen? What’s the worst case scenario if you don’t complete your to-do list? Your life won’t apart. Likely, there are only two or three items on there that could have serious consequences on your life or career: do those first, and ignore the rest for now, if you don’t have time for them (or if getting enough sleep/food/exercise/fun is more important to your physical and mental wellbeing).
I hope this has given you some ideas for quick fixes when you’re feeling overwhelmed and you’ve got post-holiday blues.
Perhaps your stress is on a different scale altogether: you’ve got a huge work assignment or interpreting exams coming up, or you’re finding your interpreting course very demanding.
If you’re after more tips and some hard-core stress management advice, I will be holding a 60 minute webinar entitled ‘Stress Management for Interpreters on Thursday, 6th September, followed by a Q&A (cost: €40). I know all about work stress from my own experience as a conference interpreter, but I also have a background in fitness training and complementary therapies, so I like to bring that insight about wellbeing and relaxation into the webinar (I’ll spare you a photo of me in a Lycra leotard, though).
In the meantime, why not leave a comment below. Did my tips help? What do you do to reduce that feeling of overwhelm?
Sophie Llewellyn Smith, writing as The Interpreting Coach, is a coach, interpreter trainer, conference interpreter, designer of online teaching materials, and creator of Speechpool. Follow the blog to pick up tips on how to improve your interpreting skills, and check out the website for digital material to complement your face-to-face learning and empower you to take control of your learning. If you’re interested in personal coaching, why not book a free discovery call?
Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)
By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
ROCK YOUR RETOUR – A MEMBERSHIP SITE FOR ENGLISH RETOURISTS
