Over the last few months, I have been on the receiving end of some training. My training has been taking place in the gym, rather than in an interpreting lab. But it has nevertheless made me reflect on how trainee interpreters might make the most of their experiences.
Once upon a time, I was pretty devoted to working out. But then things took off for my career-wise, and long hours at work meant few hours in the gym. This year, I decided I was going to strike a better balance and make the gym a priority again.
That said, my work life is still pretty intense, and I wasn’t confident that I could reach my fitness objectives on my own. So I hired a trainer. We’ve been working together for a while, and I think we have a good trainer-trainee relationship going. But it has required me to adjust my thinking and my strategies. Here are a few lessons that I’ve learned. I think they just might help you with your training as an interpreter.
1. Get over yourself
I hired a trainer because I was honest with myself and realized I did not know how to get myself from where I am to where I wanted to be. My trainer is leading me between those two points, through unfamiliar territory. He would not be doing his job if he didn’t present me with new challenges, or even old ones seen from a different angle. It’s not always a comfortable experience.
Case in point. He recently had me do several sets of walking lunges — an exercise I dislike strongly. My body mechanics are such that lunges make me feel awkward, off-balance, and uncoordinated. What’s more, he had me do the lunges back and forth past another trainer and his client. The other trainer is a professional bodybuilder. The client is training for an amateur bodybuilding show. As the only lightweight in a room full of big men, I felt more than a little intimidated.
“Suck it up, Clifford,” I thought to myself. “You’re going to have to go through a lot of awkward before you get good at this.”
So I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to look like a doofus. And I did my best to tune out everything except for the sound of my trainer’s voice as he told me what to do. As for the other trainer and his client, to tell the truth, they were focused on the job they were there to do, and they likely didn’t take any notice of me.
Moral of the story? As a trainee, you’re going to look silly. It’s going to feel at times like others might laugh at you. But other trainees are busy worrying about themselves. So get your ego out of the way and get to work.
2. Trust your trainer
I make this second point assuming you have done your due diligence. I know I did.
I’ve worked with trainers before who were not a good fit for me. It was not a positive experience. So when I was choosing my current trainer, there was definitely a checklist of things I was looking for. When I found someone who matched my checklist, I looked at the work he had done with other clients, and I also spoke with him about specific concerns I had.
Now that we are in the gym together, I know I sometimes react in ways that don’t help my own progress. At certain times, I feel embarrassed about how I am going to perform. So I crack a joke or make a wry comment. At other times, I second-guess what he tells me to do (“I don’t think I can really lift the weight he’s telling me to” or “he wants me to do more leg work, but my knee is still sore from yesterday”).
But I have come to realize that the best thing I can do is stop the chatter — whether it be external or internal — and do what he is asking me to do. He is the expert. He has steered both himself and dozens of other people along the path I want to travel. I chose to work with him. At some point, I have to place my faith in him and believe he knows what he is doing.
Moral of the story? Choose your trainers wisely. Do your research. Different interpreting schools have different philosophies. Find out what they are and choose the right one for you. But once you have chosen, trust that your trainers know how to guide you, and let them do it.
3. Practice at your own pace
One of the things I know about my physical self is this. The first time you show me how to do a movement, I probably won’t do it well. I’m just not that coordinated. This seems to be particularly true if others are watching me. However, if I have the opportunity to practice on my own, I will come back to the table showing a lot of improvement.
The body mechanics I mentioned above make it challenging for me to squat. So when my trainer showed me a new variation of squat that I had never done before, I nearly fell over doing it. I saw the look on his face when this happened, and I’m willing to bet he had his doubts about me in that moment. (But being the kind and gracious soul that he is, he never expressed them.)
However, in between our sessions together, I went off and practiced by myself. I repeatedly went to the gym on my own time, and I got more familiar with the exercise. I did it over and over again, making little adjustments here and there. If I pointed my feet just so or engaged my posterior chain in a certain way, the movement was easier for me. The next time we worked out together, my trainer saw a net difference. What’s more, I managed to build my own confidence simply by plugging away at a new challenge until I got it right. I was pleased with my own progress.
Moral of the story? Get to know yourself as a trainee. More specifically, learn what you need to do in order to get better at the task at hand. Maybe you need to try things out with a classmate or two. Maybe you need to be on your own. In any event, chances are good that the time you spend with your trainer will not be enough for you to see improvement. You are going to have to commit yourself to some form of self-guided practice.
If I had to sum up the things I have learned about myself as a trainee, I would say this. It’s important not to overthink things.
As interpreters, we’re conditioned to always analyze. “Why is the speaker saying that?” or “Where is she going with that argument?” we ask ourselves. But when we turn that analysis on ourselves and on our progress, it isn’t always beneficial. Sometimes, you have to stop thinking and start doing.
Quiet your worries. Carry out the task at hand. Plug away at your practice consistently, regularly, with periodic input from your trainer. Over time, you will see that you have travelled a considerable distance towards your goal.