I did a Bachelor of Arts honours degree at the University of Melbourne, where I majored in political science and anthropology, specifically in the areas of international relations and post colonial politics.

I was interested in interpreting long before I started my degree. It was Audrey Hepburn’s classic Hollywood film Charade which fuelled my imagination. Hepburn played a French and English interpreter, which always stuck in my mind.

I didn’t do much about that until after I completed my honours degree. Soon after I earned my advanced diploma of interpreting and translating from RMIT. There were three requirements within the Mandarin language strand: interpreting English to Mandarin, Mandarin to English and translating Chinese in each direction. I learnt a lot of industry specific concepts and terminology for the education, legal, political, medical, business and social welfare fields. I find that most of my work is in these areas.

I work across diverse fields, unlike some interpreters who specialise in one particular area. My work can be either translating existing material, or one of three types of roles.

Simultaneous roles, for instance in a court room where I am required to relay what is being spoken in English between two people back to a client in Mandarin.

Dialogue interpreting roles involve two individuals conversing in different languages through me, the interpreter.

Telephone interpreting jobs can be for a number of scenarios, and can last anything from five to 25 minutes.

First of all, there is no typical day when you’re a freelance interpreter. Let’s just say my first job was in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court. These types of jobs are usually a half or full working day. I would first report to the relevant court coordinator to locate the client and the courtroom.

Prior to proceedings I may find myself in a three way conversation with the non-English speaker and the legal professional outside the courtroom. This would occur if there were issues about the proceedings the non-English speaker needs to be aware of.

Once in the courtroom, the interpreter sits next to the non-English speaker. The interpreter is sworn in and proceeds to interpret and help the non-English speaker take their own oath.

While the lawyers and judges begin to discuss the case, the interpreter is whispering into the non-English speaker’s ear what is being said.

Once the case proceedings finish or are adjourned, there may be a debrief with the clients. Otherwise the interpreter signs off and finalises the job.

As a freelancer, I might then be required to attend other interpreting jobs which could range from anything from completing Mandarin voice overs for an organisation like the fire brigade, to attending psychiatric appointments or parent teacher interviews, or even hydrotherapy sessions with a non-English speaker. It changes every day.

One high is that I am my own boss. There is flexibility, which suits either family or personal interests.

It’s also the variety of experiences that I get to witness.

Lows can include sometimes not being professionally understood by your clients, or waking up and not knowing what type of job you’re going to have that day. One day you have an abundance of time, where the next, you can’t fit a meal in.

I basically threw myself into the deep end when I started interpreting in court. I found the human aspect challenging at times. As an interpreter, not only are you proficient linguistically, you must become an expert in the human experience. You’re a performer in the sense that you’re representing both clients’ meaning and message, and yet you’re expected to deliver as an invisible conduit. It can be tricky.