The 4 best places to find interpreting practice speeches
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that it takes 10,000 hours of intense practice to become an expert.
I disagree.
Becoming an expert isn’t about the number of hours you put in. It’s about how you practice.
And that starts with good practice materials.
Read on to discover my top 4 sources of interpreting practice speeches.
Explore high-quality speeches with the European Commission’s Speech Repository
Looking for speeches written by professional interpreters for learners of all levels?
Look no further than the European Commission’s Speech Repository.
The Speech Repository features over 4,500 video speeches, with 1000+ excerpted from public conferences, parliamentary debates, press conferences, and other real-world settings and 3000+ designed by EU interpreters for training.
All speeches are searchable by level (basic, beginner, intermediate, advanced/test-type, very advanced), use (simultaneous or consecutive), domain, keywords, and language.
Speeches are available in all 24 official EU languages as well as Albanian, Arabic, Cantonese, Chinese (Mandarin), International Sign, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Turkish.
Metadata includes a short description of the speech, duration, and key terminology.
If you’re an interpreting student or trainer at a partner university or an EU-accredited interpreter, My Speech Repository offers additional bells and whistles. For self-study, save searches, create a list of favorite speeches, mark a speech as done, download speeches and view transcripts. Even better, add friends, invite them to record an interpretation, and request and provide feedback. Use the SCICRec tool (for Windows, Mac, or Linux) to record your interpretation and listen back to dual-channel audio. You can even compare your rendition to the transcript - another helpful technique I discuss in The Interpreter’s Practice Toolkit. 😉
The Speech Repository excels due to its breadth of languages and high-quality training and test-type material. If you’re learning an EU language, check it out!
Listen to authentic UN speeches - as delivered and interpreted - with the UN Digital Recording Portal
The UN Digital Recordings Portal is the gold standard for speeches in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.
It offers thousands of hours of authentic high-level speeches and recordings of the interpretation as delivered - the perfect option for advanced interpreting practice and for hearing UN interpreters at work.
New audio recordings of speeches and simultaneous interpreting at meetings are uploaded every single day. You can search the materials by date, organization or committee, and keyword. The repository also includes the speaker’s name and time markers, making it easy to find practice materials in a given language.
Want to learn more about the Digital Repository, simple recording and listening tools, and how I used this repository to pass the UN accreditation exam? Check out my blog post and video on Using the UN Digital Repository for interpreting practice.
Discover thousands of speeches curated by interpreting practice groups
Interpreting practice groups are run by professional interpreters, for professional interpreters.
These free groups are the ideal place to add a new language to your combination, dust off a rusty language, enhance your skills, and meet new colleagues from across the globe.
If you’re looking for a practice group, head straight to Practiceinterpreting.net to find one for your languages or search for an upcoming practice session on the shared calendar.
And if you’re on the hunt for new practice resources, you’re in luck!
The groups have posted thousands of speeches on their YouTube channels:
Amerivox - English, French, Spanish, Portuguese
APRAC - Chinese, English, German, Japanese, Korean (write aprac@pm.me to access unlisted speeches)
Interpreters in Brussels Practice Group - Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish
London Interpreters’ Practice Group - English, French, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish
Paris Interpreters Practice Sessions - Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
Red de Prácticas de Interpretación Simultánea - English, French, German, Italian, Polish Spanish
Romanian Interpreting Training Sessions - Romanian
Toronto Interpreters Practice - Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish
WISE Interpreting Workshops - English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Poke around in their archives, and you might just stumble across some of my speeches! 😉
Find interpreting practice speeches on YouTube
YouTube is brimming with recordings of conferences and parliamentary debates - perfect for an accreditation test or practicing a speaker you’ll interpret at an upcoming conference.
YouTube speeches can be a lifesaver for less-common languages, too. Why not ask your tutor or practice partner to search for and vet a few speeches to make sure the level is appropriate?
How to have the most productive interpreting practice sessions
Once you’ve found the ideal speeches, you need the right tools and strategies for successful practice sessions.
I share dozens of tips and tricks in The Interpreter’s Practice Toolkit, but here are a few key recommendations:
Identify a specific goal for each session
Use practice materials that are suitable for your aims and levels
Prepare before you interpret
Keep sessions short and focused
Record yourself - ideally with video and dual-track audio
Give yourself constructive feedback
Log your progress (You can use our free feedback forms)
Review your learning plan and progress
Don’t overdo it!
Learning to interpret was the hardest thing I ever did - harder than graduating from an Ivy League university.
So go easy on yourself, and remember the old adage: Practice makes perfect!