Ladies and Gentlemen,

The exceptionally busy spring conference season is slowly drawing to a close. We are all looking forward to the summer holidays, to help us recharge our batteries and come back to work full of positive energy in September.

This spring was quite special, because besides many regular projects undertaken together with our Clients - which we would like to thank them for - we also had the pleasure of providing our services at the largest event so far, which is at the same time the largest business event in Central Europe.

Spring was also a time of signing new agreements with public institutions and starting our work with new Clients, which we have also described in this newsletter.

You will also get a chance to read an interview with one of our translators and interpreters, who has just come back from a year-long course at the University of Westminster in London, where she honed her conference interpreting skills.

The Conference of the Prime Ministers during the 3rd European Economic Congress, attended by the President of the European Parliament and the Prime Ministers of Poland, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic.

May 2011 marked the third edition of the European Economic Congress, which has been attracting more and more participants interested in the development of the economy every year.

This year, the largest business event in Central Europe brought together 6,000 people from Poland and abroad, including the most important figures of the world of politics, business and science. The event was opened by the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek. Among other distinguished participants were Prime Minister Donald Tusk, as well as the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and the former Polish President, Lech Wałęsa.

Behlert & Behlert Translation and Conference Services had the pleasure of providing simultaneous interpreting services during the European Economic Congress. We also provided conference equipment and written translation services before the event.

During the three day-long conference, our agency provided conference interpreting equipment and a team of technicians simultaneously for over ten conferences every day, as well as 50 interpreters working from and into English, German, Slovak, Italian, Croat and Hungarian.

We are pleased with the success of the Congress as well as with the commitment of our partners and associates. They all represented our Translation Agency to a high standard, ensuring professional interpretation of the speakers’ talks during the 2011 European Economic Congress.

We hope to continue our cooperation with the Polish Association for Entrepreneurship Support (Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości), and we are looking forward to the next congress, hoping to be present there and to assist the participants to the best of our ability. Source: PTWP

In this part of the newsletter, we would like to thank you for working with us. We are very happy that the number of our Clients is constantly growing.

Within the last few months, we have acquired many new partners, including companies and institutions such as The European Parliament Information Office, the Regional Police Headquarters in Krakow, the Tax Audit Office, Ericpol, Krakow’s Aquapark, the Teatr Lalki, Maski i Aktora Groteska theatre, as well as the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, which has joined the list of hotels through which we provide conference interpreting services to end clients.

We are still working with our public institution partners on the basis of tender agreements, including the City of Krakow, the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, the Municipal Transportation Office (MPK), the Krakow Festival Office and the Wielkopolska Voivodship Office in Poznan.

It is impossible to list all of our new Clients here, let alone the companies and institutions we have been working with for years, but we are proud that our services are appreciated and that you are recommending our agency to your associates.

For now, we would like to wish our regular and new clients wonderful summer holidays!

What made you decide to go to the UK? You are a very good interpreter with the right educational background and you also hold a postgraduate degree in conference interpreting.

I decided to spend some time in the UK because I wanted to polish my English skills. For any interpreter, being able to listen and use their foreign languages in a real-life environment is vital. Going abroad, to a country where the language is spoken on an everyday basis, is the best and fastest way to perfect your skills.

Don’t you regret your decision and think that taking a year off was a little bit of a waste of time?

Of course not! The year off was a tremendous experience and I would recommend doing the same thing to anybody who is toying with the idea of going abroad to hone their language skills. A year in the UK let me broaden my horizons, put some finishing touches on my interpreting technique and language skills, and also gave me the opportunity to meet interesting new people and experience British art and culture.

Speaking from your own experience, what can you tell our students and budding interpreters?

I would say interpreting is a very demanding job – you need to give a lot and become really involved in every project. But it is also very rewarding, especially when you feel that communication at a given meeting just would not have been possible without your help. That is why I believe that you should try your hand at this type of interpreting, without forgetting that it will always require you to keep working on your skills, languages and general knowledge.