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 Greek into English.

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

• Further develop and refine their simultaneous 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. Sight translation exercises from Greek into English.

Week 2: Sight translation exercises from Greek into English, 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 Greek into English using authentic political speeches. Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth, with particular emphasis on coordinating listening and speaking, managing attention and accurately conveying meaning.

Week 4: Sight translation and simultaneous interpreting exercises from Greek into English 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 Greek and English and the application of restructuring and reformulation strategies in simultaneous interpreting.

Week 6: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth. Identification of interpreting difficulties and provision of individualised feedback aimed at improving students' performance. Emphasis on managing complex syntactic structures and producing natural, coherent spoken discourse in English. Introduction to sight translation exercises using legal texts, including powers of attorney, articles of association and contracts.

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. Sight translation exercises using legal texts.

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

Week 9: Simultaneous interpreting practice in the booth using authentic speeches of increasing difficulty. Focus on current political, economic and geopolitical issues. Application of strategies for information condensation, reformulation and information management. Performance assessment and feedback. Sight translation exercises using legal texts.

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. Sight translation exercises using legal texts.

Week 11: Simultaneous interpreting exercises from Greek into English using increasingly complex political speeches. Focus on syntactic differences, specialised terminology management and the application of strategies for overcoming translation and interpreting difficulties. Performance assessment and individualised feedback. Sight translation exercises using legal texts.

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

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.

Bendazzoli, C. (2019) ‘Discourse markers in English as a target language: The use of so by simultaneous interpreters’, Textus: English Studies in Italy, 32(1), pp. 183–202. https://doi.org/10.7370/93189

Snelling, D.C. (1992) Strategies for Simultaneous Interpreting: From Romance Languages into English. Udine: Campanotto Editore.

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

Use of ICT in teaching

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.

In the end-of-semester examinations, students are required to simultaneously interpret an 8–10-minute speech and perform a sight translation of a legal text. The examination topics are selected on the basis of the material covered during the course.