At Delingua, we often take in interns to experience project management at our office, both in translation and interpreting services. The day-to-day project management tasks of language service companies are rarely taught at universities, so we want to provide future experts in the field with an opportunity to learn more practical work through internships.
This time, we welcomed community interpreting student Laila as an intern. Laila is studying in the public service interpreting programme at Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. Read about Laila’s internship experience at Delingua below!
Why are you studying interpreting?
I’ve previously worked as a cosmetologist, but when I moved from Egypt to Finland five years ago, I decided to try something new. I ended up studying community interpreting because I wanted to use my foreign languages skills in my work. The reason I’m studying interpreting is that I want to develop both of my working languages, Finnish and Arabic. I would also like to learn more about the different interpreting methods and practical interpreting work.
What do you find interesting about interpreting?
Interpreting is a very interesting but also demanding job. Many people think that because you can speak two languages you can also interpret. However, this is not the case. Interpreting is a continuous process of learning new things, maintaining one’s language skills and preparation.
What I find exciting about interpreting is the fact that, as an interpreter, you never have two working days that are exactly the same. Interpreting challenges you constantly and you have to handle pressure, but that is precisely what I enjoy about it.
What kinds of tasks did you do during your internship?
I worked mainly as an assistant to interpreting services manager Anneli. Among other things, I got to answer the interpreting services phone and receive and register interpreting orders. I also got to see Anneli do other kinds of work. A big thank you to Anneli for all the lessons she taught me during my internship!
Delingua’s got a great team, and they always helped me whenever I had any questions. I had a very positive experience at Delingua.
Where would you like to work after you graduate?
I’d like to work as a court interpreter. Although I’ve still got a lot to learn, I strongly believe that one day I will get to interpret at the District Court of Helsinki.
