Interpreter works in a sound proofed booth or with a portable interpreting system. With simultaneous interpreting the interpreter translates the sentence into the target language while "simultaneously" listening to and comprehending the next sentence.
As it involves intense concentration levels, interpreters work in teams of two, alternating every 20 or 30 minutes. You would therefore require a pair of interpreters for each language required.
This is a form of simultaneous interpreting often used in court situations. For a maximum of three people, the interpreters sit behind the delegates, listening to the speaker and translating "simultaneously" in a low voice, so as not to disturb any other audience members. Not suprisingly, this is known as "whispered interpreting", or sometimes called the French name of "chucotage".
During consecutive interpreting, the speaker stops every 1-5 minutes (usually at the end of every paragraph or complete thought) and the interpreter then steps in to render what was said into the target language.
Interpreters work from memory and brief note-taking when performing consecutive interpreting. It is generally used for meetings, presentations and training courses etc.
Ad-Hoc interpreting is sometimes also called liason interpreting, although in principle ad-hoc interpreting is any assignment where the subject matter is unprepared, such as in interviews and diplomatic visits.
At thebigword, we do not make any formal distinction between consecutive and ad-hoc interpreting.
This occurs when, for example, the audience requires French into Czech translation and there are no interpreters working between these two languages. In this case, the French interpreting team translates into English, which the Czech team hears through headphones and renders into Czech.
This includes the agenda for the event, the text of presentations - in draft or final form - and any general material, such as minutes of previous meetings, technical press releases, technical documents and company reports etc.