Why simultaneous interpreters work in pairs
The second interpreter in the booth is not a spare. It is what keeps the first hour and the fifth hour sounding the same.
Every quote for simultaneous interpretation lists two interpreters per language, and it is a fair question to ask why. The short answer: listening, understanding and speaking at the same time is sustainable for about thirty minutes, and quality drops off a cliff after that, long before the interpreter feels tired.
The second interpreter is not sitting out those thirty minutes either. While one speaks, the other writes down figures and names, looks up the term nobody warned us about, and keeps track of where the speaker is in the deck.
When one interpreter is enough
- A short meeting, up to about an hour, with breaks and a single speaker at a time
- Consecutive interpretation, where the speaker pauses and the interpreter then renders what was said
- A site visit or a walking tour, where the pace sets its own pauses
For anything longer, or anything where a board, a regulator or a recording is on the other end, two is not a luxury. It is the difference between an event that holds up all day and one that quietly gets worse after lunch.
If you are not sure which case you are in, tell us the program and we will say so plainly in the quote.