Simultaneous interpretation is one of the hardest things I've ever done, and somehow (call me irresponsible 🎶🎤), it feels exactly like music.
Take this sentence I invented the other day (basically micro-poetry disguised as a linguistic trap):
"The librarian was at the bookstore when the bookkeeper made a booking while messing with some bookmaking stuff — then the cops booked the guy just to bookend the day."
No real hearing would ever hit you with that many "books" in one fiato… but stay with me. 😉
🤦♂️ And here's what your well-intentioned neighbor might deliver "in a pinch":
"La librera estaba en la librería cuando el contador hizo un reserva mientras estaba haciendo libros, y luego los polis ficharon al tipo para que termine el libro ese día."
Perfectly wrong, in all the real ways. No Spanglish — just Spanish with faulty internal logic. We've all heard something like this.
✔️ And here's what a proper rendition looks like
(what you'd expect in a calm sight translation — NOT at 180 wpm simultaneous)
"La bibliotecaria estaba en la librería cuando el encargado de las cuentas hizo una reservación mientras trabajaba con un registro de apuestas ilegales; luego, la policía fichó el arresto del hombre para cerrar el día con ese incidente."
To say it politely... a whole different song 😊
🌊 Meaning-by-Meaning Interpretation… or Surfing Polysemia
How do we handle the plethora of meanings packed inside book-ish words? How do we know if court means juez, juzgado, tribunal o corte (yep, Spanish doesn't put a comma before the last item… just saying.)
We can't stop every utterance to analyze it. We have to anticipate.
Often we need to hear 2–3 more words before we know which meaning wave we're riding — and once it opens up, we catch it and render a clean, elegant equivalency.
And honestly… I'm not a surfer. But I did own a Morey Boogie back in the Summer of '99. All I have left are the love for Hang Ten long sleeves and the feeling of catching the wave just right — being in tune with nature for a few seconds.
Simultaneous interpretation feels exactly like that.
🎷 And then there's the jazz of it…
Musicians talk about the 30/70 rule:
30% technique
70% listening — deeply — to improvise, react, connect, and stay in the moment
If you play with 100% of your brain, you stop hearing the band. The music dies and you become... pollution.
Simultaneous interpretation is the same.
30% → mechanics: terminology, speed, memory, delivery
70% → listening: tone, intention, nuance, culture, the person behind the words
Coming from the humanities, I've learned that communication is never neutral. There's emotion, weight, fear, hope, and context under every sentence.
So when you're interpreting a rapid-fire legal stream, you're doing two things at once:
🎵 Protecting meaning, tone, and flow (our first commitment is to a complete and accurate rendition)
🎵 Staying "in the moment" (or as we say… in the pocket, which is WAY cooler)
More and more, I'm convinced:
Simultaneous interpretation is a performance art — improvisation shaped by discipline, empathy, craft, and the commitment to attempt the imposible.
It's jazz with words. You listen, you react, you stay in the pocket. And when it clicks… it feels like making music.
⭐ About Me
If you're interested in how I became a Medical and Legal EN/ES interpreter (and my certification journey), or how my experience can help you navigate a career transition, by all means... let's connect!
📩 Augusto@AMZingMedia.com