For 25 years, Zollverein has held UNESCO World Heritage status, and this milestone was celebrated in style on UNESCO Wold Heritage Day on June 7, with the opening of the new World Heritage Forum in Essen. For me, however, Zollverein is much more than a World Heritage Site. It has also been the setting for some of the most memorable assignments of my professional life over the past two decades. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of: • providing interpretation at the exhib

Interpreting is teamwork! And that‘s exactly why there are always at least two conference interpreters working in a booth, taking turns to avoid fatigue during this strenuous task. We‘re co-pilots, if you will. But my last couple of assignments were a true team effort in every sense of the word. One assignment, for instance, was all about GenAI and collaboration in a diverse international team. As one of the German team members was deaf, we collaborated with sign language int

AI tools can be very helpful and support us in our work. Many things are already possible, but some are not—especially AI Interpreting is not as mature and glitch-free as the Internet claims. We tested the AI language translation tool LiveVoice at the Best of Events trade fair, noticing that AI does not follow a natural flow of speech (which is also true for other automated speech-to-speech translation tools). Interviews or panel discussions are a particular challenge for AI.

It's that time of year again! Here are my TOP 9, featuring interpreting highlights that made this year truly memorable. I always enjoy doing this review, because with everything else happening in my professional and private life, it gives me the chance to reflect on these standout moments of 2025. My interpreting year started with a two-day assignment in the beautifully snow-covered town of Wuppertal , at a conference for painters and decorators. In January still, I had the o

“Context is key“ was one of the things we were taught at university. The principle is as simple as it is logical: if you don’t understand what you’re translating, you cannot provide a logical rendition. And even if a word is incomprehensible because it is pronounced differently or the speaker is mumbling, you can still understand what is meant due to the context! Let me give you an example: many years ago, I had the opportunity to interpret a lecture on different types of dan

AI has changed the events and interpreting industry, and until now I have spent most of my time interpreting from the booth. But now we hear more and more about AI solutions that are supposed to reduce costs and be more efficient. During my last assignment at a global team meeting online, it became clear that machine intelligence is not the go-to tool for simultaneous interpreting! In this particular setting, one participant came from Ireland. For years now, we’ve been famili

AI has changed our everyday lives. Artificial intelligence has become indispensable in our professional lives, and especially in our private lives. Most of us take it for granted; we ask our smartphones to set the timer, let fitness trackers count our steps and analyse our sleep, have Netflix recommend movies according to our viewing habits, and turn on the sat-nav to get to our destination. Professionally, I also sometimes use AI when preparing for an assignment, provided I

This October, my fellow interpreting colleague Andrea Wilming from Proscenium and I had the great honour and pleasure of offering our interpreting services at the German Dance Award at the Aalto Theatre in Essen. The German Dance Award is considered the most prestigious prize for dance in Germany.We decided to start a series on LinkedIn to offer (potential) customers and anyone interested a glimpse behind the scenes. This summary of said series shall give you an overview of

If you thought we would go back to living in a pre-COVID-like world, you were wrong. A few things have changed permanently, and people...

This September, we had the pleasure of interpreting at an international youth conference on Climate Justice organised by Kindernothilfe...

The slow-down button is a relic of old times, I find. It is said that, back in the day, when simultaneous interpreting equipment was...

Before every assignment interpreters will spend several hours to familiarise themselves with the topic and vocabulary. But what happens...

You want to make recordings of events or video conferences, radio and TV interviews, promo videos, online content videos or online...

I just returned from an interpreting assignment in Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, where - according to the locals - they are...

With collective bargaining negotiations for the German public sector in full swing, town hall meetings are now being held with the...

Last Saturday, the DolTec interpreting hub celebrated its opening in The Science Park Gelsenkirchen. After a musical prelude, founding...

In-person events are back! Clearly, you can tell that organisers, participants and interpreters alike are beyond excited to be back on...

At one of my last hybrid assignments I had the pleasure of using a simultaneous interpreting console equipped with a so-called gooseneck...

I had another assignment this week and worked from an interpreting hub via the Cisco WebEx video conferencing platform. Despite a complex...

The number of Covid-19 cases in Germany is still rising. So as an alternative to in-person assignments for pandemic reasons, using an...