We were privileged yet again to host a delegation of conference interpreters from WTO, ICTY (UN), ILEA (Bangkok) as well as freelance interpreters working for EU institutions and other organisations. The purpose of the NNI/CTS activities was twofold. Firstly, CTS staff offered delegates English language enhancement workshops in order to improve their professional skills. In return, our visitors shared their knowledge and experience with CTS students focusing on the skills needed for work in international organisations and as freelance conference interpreters. The 2012 event was the follow up of a similar event in 2010 and 2011 and received a very positive appraisal.
One of the highlights of the week was the Outreach event on 19 April where the delegates participated in an open forum organised for undergraduate and postgraduate students of the School of Modern Languages and students from regional universities. The purpose of the event was to inform students about the diversity of the interpreting career, both in-house and freelance. About 50 students attended the forum. At the end of the event some undergraduate students commented that before the forum they had limited knowledge of a career in Conference Interpreting and how the forum helped them to get a better understanding of it.