Kamila Simms

Frustration

kamka — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:51:18 +0000

Some time ago I was helping a client at a police station in London. The police were quite happy to use my services over the counter, where I spent over hour interpreting between my Polish client and the police. However, when it came to making a formal statement, the police insisted on using their own interpreter, even though I was a fully qualified interpreter, listed on the NRPSI and I have the Metropolitan Police Test certificate for interpreters. The problem was the fact that I was not listed on the Metropolitan Police list of interpreters. I must admit, that list is virtually impossible to get onto. I meet the criteria but I do not know what else I can do to be included.
Anyway, that Polish person, who happened to be a lady with a baby, had to wait at that police station for 4 hours for another interpreter to turn up, even though there was a qualified interpreter already present. Where is the sense in that?

A Polish interpreter who hardly speaks Polish?

kamka — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:00:41 +0000

What do you do to maintain your language skills? Do you read books? Do you visit your native country frequently? Do you speak to your friends and relatives on Skype several times a week?

Well, I read books in both languages – English and Polish, in turns. I have a Polish satellite TV. And I do speak to my mum back in Poland a lot! I live in the UK and I do what I can to speak good English, without losing the ability to speak Polish. Language skills are a very important tool in the work of an interpreter. It turns out that not everyone is a true believer in maintaining language skills, I will tell you a story.

Not a long time ago I met a Polish interpreter who, apparently, is constantly in demand. She was a lovely lady; we exchanged some opinions about the industry and chatted about past assignments in general. Yet there was something not quite right about the conversation. As we were both native speakers of Polish (or at least that was my impression), we naturally spoke Polish. However, the lady was mixing Polish and English a lot during the conversation. After an hour I asked her whether she found it difficult to speak Polish. Her reply surprised me a lot. She said that she believed it was incredible that she was still able to speak Polish at all; taking into account the fact that she had been living in the UK for over forty years! She came to the UK when she was a teenager. I then asked her how she dealt with her interpreting work and I learned that she only cared about the English speaker understanding her. What about the Polish speaker? Apparently the Polish speaker will always understand her somehow – or so I heard.

How much attention do you pay to being professional? What do you do in order to maintain your language skills?

Commonly used Polish phrases and their English translations

kamka — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:20:15 +0000

The most commonly used Polish phrases and their English translations

Hello	Witam (formal) / Cześć (informal)
Good morning/day	Dzień dobry
Good evening	Dobry wieczór
Goodbye	Do widzenia
Good night	Dobranoc
How are you?	Jak się masz? / Co u ciebie? (informal)
I’m fine, thanks.	W porządku, dziękuję.
And you?	A ty? (informal)
Please	Proszę
Thank you	Dziękuję
You’re welcome	Proszę bardzo
Yes	Tak
No	Nie
Excuse me / I am sorry	Przepraszam
Do you speak English?	Czy mówi Pan po angielsku? (formal – to a male) Czy mówi Pani po angielsku? (formal – to a female) Mówisz po angielsku? (informal)
I don’t speak Polish.	Nie mówię po polsku.
Please excuse my poor Polish.	Proszę wybaczyć mój słaby polski.
I don’t understand	Nie rozumiem
My name is…	Nazywam się…
Mr.	Pan
Ms.	Pani
What is your name?	Jak się Pan nazywa? (formal – to a male) Jak się Pani nazywa? (formal – to a female) Jak się nazywasz? (informal)
Nice to meet you.	Miło mi Pana poznać. (formal – to a male) Miło mi Panią poznać. (formal – to a female) Miło mi cię poznać. (informal)
I like you.	Lubię cię.
I love you.	Kocham cię.
Will you marry me?	Wyjdziesz za mnie?
I miss you.	Tęsknię za tobą.
I am married.	Jestem żonaty. (about a man) Jestem zamężna. (about a woman)
Girlfriend	Dziewczyna
Boyfriend	Chłopak
Mother	Matka (mother), mama (mum), mamusia (mummy)
Father	Ojciec (father), tata (dad), tatuś (daddy)
Sister	Siostra
Brother	Brat
Daughter	Córka
Son	Syn
Who?	Kto?
What?	Co?
Where?	Gdzie?
When?	Kiedy?
Bless you! (when sneezing)	Na zdrowie!
Cheers!	Zdrowie!
Good luck!	Powodzenia!
Happy birthday!	Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin!
Happy name day!	Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin!
Merry Christmas!	Wesołych świąt (Bożego Narodzenia)!
Happy Easter!	Wesołych świąt (Wielkanocnych)!
Happy New Year!	Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!
What time is it?	Która godzina?
Yesterday	Wczoraj
Today	Dzisiaj
Tomorrow	Jutro
Breakfast	Śniadanie
Lunch	Lunch
Dinner	Obiad (afternoon meal) / Kolacja (evening meal)
Translate it please	Przetłumacz proszę
Birth certificate	Metryka / świadectwo urodzenia
Marriage certificate	Akt ślubu
Death certificate	Akt zgonu

My very first post!

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Kamila Simms and I am a qualified Polish <> English interpreter and translator, living in London, UK. I also teach English to Polish speakers which I have been doing since 2002. I find both jobs very rewarding. I like to see my students improve their English as a result of their own hard work alongside help from my teaching skills.

Interpreting takes up most of my working time and I really enjoy bridging the communication gap.

I will be writing about any interesting aspects of my work and things I have noticed which I feel are worth letting the world know about. I hope you will enjoy reading my articles and thank you for visiting my blog!