The Counsellor - 16

Aiming high 

I have completed my Master's in French and would like to work with the United Nations as an interpreter. How do I go about it? 

   Deepak Sharma

 

Working in the United Nations Organisation (UNO) as an interpreter calls for proficiency in more than one foreign language. Fortunately, French happens to be one of the official languages of the UNO ( The others being English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin and Arabic).

 

   However, you can apply for the post only upon successful completion of the Simultaneous Interpretation Course from either of the schools at Geneva or France.

 

   At the UNO, interpreters are recruited after qualifying in a test which is administered individually. They usually work for six months in a year and get paid around $600 per day plus overtime. Besides a university degree, you must possess extensive general knowledge to make the grade.

 

   An interpreter's job is one of the most highly paid yet the most difficult to qualify and train for. Your job is to put across the real sense of what is being said in one language to those listening in another language while making it as alive and spontaneous as the original. You may use one of the two methods:

   In simultaneous interpretation, the speech is translated as it is delivered, while in consecutive interpretation you take notes while the speaker is speaking and then, after each statement, translate the message in full in the other language. 

 

 

  Conference interpreting is generally limited to a small number of languages - English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic at the international level, and the languages of the member countries of the EU. 

 

 

  Conference interpreters usually have a degree in a language as well as a special degree in translation or interpretation. Proficiency in at least two languages is essential. 

 

 

  For international conference interpreters, membership of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) is required. This is difficult to obtain and apart from a degree, requires 200 days of work as a freelance interpreter which may take years. AIIC takes in only 50-60 members each year and is the only global association of conference interpreters with 2,667 members spread across 87 countries specialising in 45 different languages. Details are available on www.aiic.net  

 

 

  Besides promoting conference interpretation, and protecting the interest of its members, AIIC sets the standards for interpretation schools so that their trainees meet the stringent requirements of the profession. For general information on AIIC or conference interpreting, please contact: International Association of Conference Interpreters, Geneva, Switzerland, www.aiic.net  

 

Which way 

Although I was expecting more marks, I have scored only 49% marks in Class XII (CBSE) boards. As it is a very poor percentage, should I appear for the exam again? I am very confused and depressed. 

   Manish Jain

 

Board results are not always a true mirror of a student's abilities. At times, they can be very unpredictable. You have several remedial options to choose from:

   First things first, apply for verification of marks within 21 days of the declaration of your results.The forms can be collected from designated schools. 

   Reappear for the class XII exams as a private candidate from your own school or directly from the CBSE. However, you will have to surrender your previous marks,so make sure your performance is really good this time. Application forms for the Secondary and Senior School Certificate Exam for private candidates from Delhi Region are available from mid-August up to early October. Check with your own school or from your state board for details. 

   You can also appear for the CBSE Class XII exams through Patrachar Vidyalaya (D/o Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi). The Delhi Senior Secondary Exam is conducted by CBSE for students studying through distance learning mode in all three streams. Details: are available on www.delhigovt.nic.in . Check with your State Department of Education on your state government's website. Personal contact programmes are held on Sundays and other gazette holidays as well as in the autumn break at several schools all over the city. The other option is to take the Class XII exam through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). NIOS provides you an opportunity to study and clear a subject in which you may have fared poorly either in high school or the plus two of the CBSE syllabus. Exams are conducted twice a year in May and November. You can appear in as many subjects as you like at a time. Incidentally, you are permitted as many as nine attempts. 

   Another option is to go for a Bachelor's degree through distance learning offered by Delhi University's Campus of Open Learning. If you do really well in the first year, you can even hope to migrate to a full-time course in the second year. 

   Also, even if you were to complete your graduation entirely through distance learning, your degree certificate will not mention anything to that effect. Moreover, a good percentage at the graduation level will compensate for relatively poor performance at the school level. 

   Of course the latter option may not be the ideal one for you if your heart is set on pursuing a professional course like engineering, medicine or architecture straight after class XII, which cannot be done through correspondence or pursued at the postgraduate level unlike some other professional courses e.g. MBA, MCA, mass communication, law, etc. which are open to students of all streams. 

   As for students who have got a 'Compartment' in any subject, they need not lose heart either. If it's any solace, over 50% students under the CBSE Board flunk their Class X exams. And the number of those who have failed in two subjects runs into lakhs. 

   Earlier only those students who failed in one-subject were allowed to take the compartment exams. However, now even those who fail in two subjects are allowed to do so,on an experimental basis. 

   This means that you now get a chance to improve your grade by taking the exam in August. The results will be out in September. If you have scored better than an "E" grade (on a 9-point scale), you can happily join the rest of your classmates in Class XI. 

   Examinees taking the CBSE Secondary/Sr. School Certificate Exams because they failed in the previous attempt now have three chances, instead of two to clear the compartment exam. 

   What's more, in a welcome move, the CBSE Board now provides a consolidated mark sheet to students. It will not show whether the marks have been acquired through the main or the compartment exam. Until now, the compartment was indicated on the initial mark sheet, while a separate mark sheet was issued for the compartment subject/s, which often proved to be a stigma creating problems of acceptability in many places. So do make the most of this golden opportunity. 

   Remember, success is not measured by how high you climb, but how high you bounce when you hit the bottom. Best of luck.

 

Road ahead

I have completed BSc in agriculture. I want to know if I can do business management in agriculture by distance learning. 

   Raj Krishan Gaud

 

Yes you can. Here are some options you can check out:

 

   The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) with Global Open Food and Agriculture University (GO-FAU) offers MSc in agriculture economics and business. Details are available on www.ignou.ac.in, www.ifpri.org

 

   Ch Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University's department of postgraduate Studies, Hisar (Haryana) offers 

postgraduate diploma in agriculture marketing and management.

 

   International Institute of Agroinformatics & Agromanagement, 

Suraj Kund Road, Meerut (UP), offers postgraduate diploma in agro management /agroinformatics.

 

   Pondicherry University, 

Directorate of Distance Education, Pondicherry offers postgraduate diploma agriculture marketing.

 

   Yashwantrao Chawan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Nashik, offers postgraduate diploma agri business management, www.ycmou.ernet.in  You need to have a foundation in agriculture of YCMOU or two-year diploma in agriculture from any university.

At Crossroads 

I have taken class XII exams with maths. I don't want to do BTech. Which of the two is good for me - BBA or BCA? Which field has more career opportunities? 

   Jaid Nath

 

It depends on which field you are interested in. However, I think doing a BCA may be a good option, at this point -- particularly since you had maths as a subject in class XII. This will enable you to do an MCA subsequently, if you are interested in specialising in this field or pursue an MBA or any other professional course like law or mass communication, depending on your interest.

 

 

Sunil Sharma

    Moderator

Dil Se Desi Group