Following their first year of interpreting training (fifth and sixth semesters), which focuses on consecutive interpreting, students are introduced to simultaneous interpreting in the interpreting booth. They become familiar with the fundamental skills required for simultaneous interpreting and learn to apply them in practice. In particular, they develop the ability to listen and speak simultaneously, interpreting while the speaker is still delivering their speech, and acquire specific techniques and strategies to manage the cognitive demands of this mode of interpreting.

Teaching is based on original materials and authentic political speeches addressing current affairs and contemporary issues. Students are expected to research and prepare for the relevant topics in advance on a weekly basis.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools is not permitted during class. However, students are encouraged to use these tools judiciously during their independent study.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate awareness of and research current political, economic, geopolitical, cultural and other relevant issues.

• Listen attentively to, decode, analyse, reformulate and simultaneously interpret political speeches from English into Greek.

• Understand and apply the fundamental techniques and skills of simultaneous interpreting through simulations of professional interpreting settings.

• Further develop and refine their interpreting techniques and skills.

• Prepare effectively for simultaneous interpreting assignments by conducting targeted research and applying appropriate preparation strategies.

Week 1: Introduction to simultaneous interpreting. Fundamental principles, techniques and strategies. Screening of educational audiovisual materials. Overview of the simultaneous interpreting process and familiarisation with interpreting booth equipment through practical exercises.

Week 2: Sight translation exercises from English into Greek, focusing on political speeches delivered by prime ministers, ministers, presidents of chambers of commerce and senior government officials. Introductory simultaneous interpreting exercises in the interpreting booth.

Week 3: Sight translation exercises from English into Greek using authentic political speeches. Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth, with particular emphasis on listening and speaking simultaneously, attention management and accurate conveyance of meaning.

Week 4: Sight translation and simultaneous interpreting exercises from English into Greek using political speeches and texts addressing current affairs. Emphasis on discourse analysis, reformulation and management of the time lag between the source speech and its interpretation (décalage).

Week 5: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth, combined with sight translation exercises. Emphasis on syntactic differences between English and Greek and the application of restructuring and reformulation strategies in simultaneous interpreting.

Week 6: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth. Identification of interpreting difficulties and individualised feedback aimed at improving students' performance. Emphasis on managing complex syntactic structures and producing natural, coherent spoken discourse in Greek.

Week 7: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth using authentic political speeches. Focus on speech delivery rate, cognitive load management and the selection of appropriate interpreting strategies. Performance assessment and individualised feedback.

Week 8: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth. Identification of difficulties and recommendations for improving students' performance. Emphasis on syntactic and stylistic differences between English and Greek. Gradual introduction of more challenging political and geopolitical topics.

Week 9: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth using increasingly demanding authentic speeches. Focus on current political, economic and geopolitical issues. Application of strategies for information condensation, reformulation and information management. Performance assessment and feedback.

Week 10: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth using challenging political speeches. Emphasis on managing speech delivery rate, information density, specialised terminology and cultural references. Individualised feedback and recommendations for improvement.

Week 11: Introduction to Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI). Overview of its historical development, technical features, tools and specific characteristics. Demonstration of Zoom and other remote interpreting platforms. Examination of the technical and professional requirements for the effective provision of remote simultaneous interpreting services.

Week 12: Simultaneous interpreting exercises from English into Greek using increasingly complex political speeches. Focus on syntactic differences, specialised terminology management and the application of strategies for overcoming translation- and interpreting-related difficulties. Performance assessment and individualised feedback.

Week 13: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth using authentic political speeches under simulated professional working conditions. Recording of students' interpretations, self-assessment, peer assessment and feedback from the instructor. Review of fundamental techniques and strategies and preparation for the end-of-semester examinations.

• Pöchhacker, F. (2016). Introducing interpreting studies. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
• Pöchhacker, F. (2000). Dolmetschen. Konzeptuelle Grundlagen und deskriptive Untersuchungen. Tübingen: Stauffenburg
• Roderick, J. (2002). Conference Interpreting Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing
• Ιωαννίδης, Α. (2022). Θεωρία και πράξη της διερμηνείας [Προπτυχιακό εγχειρίδιο]. Κάλλιπος, Ανοικτές Ακαδημαϊκές Εκδόσεις 

Face-to-face teaching, discussions, question-and-answer sessions, brainstorming activities, practical workshops, role-playing exercises, group work, peer feedback and self-assessment.

Internet, speech repository, zoom, RSI

During class, the use of mobile phones or other electronic devices, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and/or Machine Translation (MT) tools, is not permitted, as a key learning objective is to foster independent interpreting skills, critical thinking, and the ability to make rapid, well-informed interpreting decisions.

Conference interpreting takes place under considerable time pressure, requiring rapid information processing, a high level of linguistic and communicative competence, and the development of automatic cognitive and linguistic processes. Students are therefore expected to systematically develop the necessary linguistic and interpreting skills, as well as a high degree of automaticity, to meet the demands of consecutive interpreting and, at a later stage, simultaneous interpreting.

However, during independent study outside the classroom, students are encouraged to use AI and MT tools judiciously and critically to familiarise themselves with their capabilities and limitations, provided that their use does not replace individual effort, independent language processing, and systematic practice of interpreting skills.

Students are asked to interpret simultaneously a 8-10 minute speech of political nature.