Public Service Interpreting for Conference Interpreting students: evaluation of a training module

Abstract

This paper sets to present the conclusion of a training experience involving first- and second-year conference interpreting (CI) students who attended a 12-hour module on public service interpreting (PSI) and medical interpreting. The questions we endeavour to answer are: what extra skills should be taught to this category of students to prepare them for the particular context of PSI? What information should be provided? What would be the ideal duration and content of an extracurricular module for students who already have the basis in CI? A comparison between the interpreting performance by trained master’s students and untrained undergraduate students gave us important clues as to the best answers.