The lectures on board

October 12, 2022

On board the expedition cruise ships, my job title is interpreter, just like on land. To be more precise, I am a member of the expedition team on board, specializing in interpreting. My areas of responsibility on board therefore include various tasks, some of which could hardly be further removed from actual interpreting (see other posts), but with my specialization I act as a linguistic link between the guests and the crew at events on board. This makes me the German voice for captains, expedition leaders, colleagues, guest scientists and medical staff on board. The biggest challenge, but also the most fun, are the lectures given by my colleagues from the expedition team. These are usually interpreted simultaneously from English into German. A tour guide system, which you may be familiar with from museum and city tours, serves as an aid. Over time, I even added the option of live streaming so that guests can listen to my interpreting services from their booth. That was more or less my entry into remote interpreting.

If the streaming technology doesn't work or other technical difficulties arise, flexibility is required and we interpreters on board fall back on consecutive interpreting, as can be seen in the cover picture.
Of course, I will always remember the great people I was able to interpret for on board. During my time at Hurtigruten, I had great colleagues, such as former station managers of Antarctic research stations or scientists who actively collected research data, for example on the prey-catching behavior of penguins, and lived in tents in the Antarctic for six months to do so. In addition, there were always fantastic guest speakers, such as Thor Heyerdahl Jr, son of the world-famous explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who was himself a renowned marine researcher.
I am also grateful for the enormous variety of topics I was able to work with as an interpreter on board. I learned a lot about the history of the polar regions and the flora and fauna that can be found there, both above and below the water. Of course, I also acquired a lot of nautical expertise during my time on board.
The close cooperation with my colleagues from the expedition team and the rest of the crew makes both interpreting and everyday life on board much easier, despite the challenging working conditions. In the past, I have been able to brave even the most difficult weather conditions when interpreting and can proudly claim to have interpreted in a hurricane - fortunately without getting seasick!

 

Photo: Kim Rormark

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