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Definitions related to interpreting:

Mother tongue - the language in which the translator or interpreter learned to speak as a child. My mother tongue is Czech.

Active language or language of habitual use - the language that the translator and interpreter has mastered so well that they are able to work from and into it to high standard. My language of habitual use is English; I have been working with English on a daily basis since 1997.

Passive language - the language that the translator and interpreter has mastered so well that they are able to work from it but not into it. Slovak is my passive language. Having grown up in the former Czechoslovakia and being exposed to TV broadcasting in Slovak on a regular basis, I do understand spoken and written Slovak, and am able to interpret and translate from Slovak, but not into it.

Please note: There is no such thing as Czechoslovakian language! There is Czech language and Slovak language. Czechoslovakia was dissolved on 1st January 1993, but even during its existence the two languages were always very separate, even though they are very similar to one another.

Consecutive interpreting - is commonly used at face-to-face meetings and also telephone interpreting. The interpreter does not wait for the speaker to finish saying a long section of thoughts but interprets after every couple of sentences. During meetings around the table, court or telephone, the interpreter takes written notes. It is not short-hand but writing in symbols, abbreviations or terms which help the interpreter to express most accurately the content, tone and style of the speech, and reproduce it with some time delay.

Simultaneous interpreting - The interpreter does not wait for the speaker to stop talking but speaks the whole time, and interprets nearly at the same time as the speaker is talking. The interpreter needs to be able to actively listen to the speaker and speak at the same time.