Thoughts about preparing for the EU accreditation test (part 3)

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just an interpreting or translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself and share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

This episode is all about the EU accreditation test for freelance interpreters. I've shared some thoughts about how to be well prepared on the day, and also how to plan your 'campaign' when you sign up for the test.

Here are some of the resources mentioned in the podcast:
- 2023/2024 test calendar
- website with all the relevant information about the accreditation test (eligibility, FAQs)
- language profiles
- EU Speech Repository
- EU audiovisual portal (news clips and meeting recordings in multiple languages)
- EbS (Europe by Satellite), European Union's TV information service
- SCICtrain - resource containing demo videos by EU interpreters
- the podcast episode about the UN exams

You may also find these resources useful:
- my growth mindset challenge can be found by scrolling down the home page
- my podcast episode about reframing stress
- my podcast episode about getting over mistakes
- my course on dealing with acute stress

If you're working on consecutive, Julia Poger (who can be found on LinkedIn) and Helen Campbell sometimes organise refresher courses. You may also find Andy Gillies' book useful.

I run regular consecutive practice sessions, along with a dedicated website ('Consecutive Club').

This episode is part 3 of a collection dedicated to the EU accreditation test. You can find part 1 (the institutions' perspective) here, and part 2 (tips from successful candidates) here.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:59 On the day
• 12:57 Benchmarking your performance
• 18:15 Identifying your weaknesses and deciding how to address them
• 25:19 Dealing with a wide variety of topics
• 31:25 EU knowledge
• 33:18 Point of view in the speeches
• 33:45 Links
• 34:03 'Macro' level and 'micro' level interpreting
• 44:50 Coping strategies
• 46:30 Stress management
• 49:44 Using Speech Repository material
• 53:43 Conclusion