Interpreter Preparation and Glossary Building: A Guide

As soon as you accept an assignment, ask for everything the client has. Clients rarely send material unless asked. A short list:

• The setting and the mode: meeting, hearing, site visit, conference; consecutive, simultaneous or whispered; in person or online.
• The people: names and titles of speakers and participants, their roles, and who you are interpreting for.
• The documents: agenda, presentations, speeches, contracts, reports, case summaries, previous minutes, the client's own glossary.
• The purpose: what the meeting should achieve. A negotiation, a witness hearing and a training session need different preparation.
• Practicalities: start and end times, breaks, the venue or platform link, dress code, and a contact person on the day.

You do not need to become an expert, but you do need to understand what the speakers are talking about. Work from general to specific:

1. Get the big picture. Read an overview of the field in both languages: what the process is, who the players are, what the current issues are.
2. Read the client's material twice. First for meaning, then with a pen, marking terms, names, numbers and anything you do not understand.
3. Find parallel texts. Look for documents of the same type in the other language: a UAE law in Arabic and its official English translation, an annual report in both languages, a product leaflet published in Arabic and English. These show how professionals in each language really say things.
4. Listen to the subject. Watch a talk or a press conference on the topic in each language, so you hear the terms spoken, not only written.
5. Check the background of the people. A speaker's organisation, earlier speeches and the way they pronounce names will save you surprises.

A glossary is only useful if you can find a term in two seconds. Keep it short and specific to the assignment, not a copy of a dictionary.

Sort the final list alphabetically in the language you will hear most, and print a one-page version for the booth or the table. Highlight the twenty terms you are most likely to need. After the assignment, add new terms to a master glossary for the subject, so each job makes the next one easier.

Legal assignments

Legal systems do not map neatly onto each other. Words such as plaintiff, claimant and applicant may each have a specific Arabic equivalent depending on the court and the type of case, and a term from common law may have no exact equivalent in UAE law. Use the terms the UAE laws and courts use in Arabic, and the official English translations where they exist. Our article on legal terms machine translation gets wrong lists several Arabic⇄English traps. For hearings, see also our guide to interpreting in arbitration hearings.

Medical assignments

Prepare both the clinical term and the plain-language version, because doctors and patients speak differently. "Myocardial infarction" and "heart attack" both need an Arabic equivalent, and so do common drug names, body parts and procedures you expect to hear.

Acronyms

List every acronym with its full form in both languages. Speakers say "the MoU", "KPIs" or "the RFP" without explanation; Arabic speakers may use the English acronym or an Arabic one.

• Names: check how each name is pronounced and how the person writes it in Latin script. Arabic names are often spelled several ways in English; use the person's own spelling.
• Titles and forms of address: note who is addressed as "Your Excellency", "Your Highness" or "Dr.", and how those titles are said in Arabic.
• Organisations: note the official name in both languages and the common abbreviation.
• Figures: if the material contains key figures (budgets, dates, quantities), write them in your glossary sheet so you recognise them instantly.

1. Arrive early enough to meet the client contact, check the seating or the booth, and test the sound.
2. Bring your printed glossary, a notepad, pens, water and a copy of the agenda.
3. For online work, test the platform, the headset and the internet connection beforehand, and have a backup device.
4. Ask for any last-minute changes: new speakers, new slides, a revised agenda.
5. Agree with your booth partner, if you have one, how you will hand over and help each other with numbers and terms.

• A glossary that is too long. Two hundred terms you cannot find quickly help less than forty you know well.
• Preparing only words. Understanding the process (how a claim moves through a court, how a drug is approved) helps more than isolated terms.
• Trusting the first equivalent found online. Check terms in official or professional sources, and prefer the client's own terminology where it is correct.
• Not asking. If the material is missing, ask again. If a term remains unclear, ask the client before the meeting, not during it.

They ask the client for the agenda, documents, speaker names and purpose of the meeting, research the subject in both languages, build a short bilingual glossary, check names, titles and numbers, and prepare the practical side of the day.

Collect terms from the client's documents and parallel texts, find each equivalent in a reliable source, add a short note on context, and keep the list short enough to search in seconds. Print a one-page version for the assignment.

It depends on the subject and the material. A familiar topic may need an hour or two; a technical hearing or conference on a new subject can need much more. Start as soon as you receive the documents.

Ask again, explaining that preparation improves accuracy. Meanwhile research the organisation, the people and the subject from public sources, and prepare the terms you can predict.

They can speed up term extraction and background reading, but every equivalent must be checked against reliable sources, and confidential client material should not be pasted into public tools without the client's agreement.

Many do, as a master glossary per subject, so each assignment builds on the last. Confidential details such as names in a case should not be kept in a general glossary.

Subject preparation and glossary building are part of our conference interpreting course, which covers glossaries for legal, medical, diplomatic, technical and financial conferences. For courts, the court interpreting course covers Arabic-English legal terminology under pressure, witness examination and sight translation.

This article is general guidance on interpreting practice and training. It is not legal or medical advice. Professional codes, court rules and authority requirements change; check the current text of any code you rely on and confirm requirements with the court, hospital or authority concerned.

Tell us the settings you interpret in or want to work in, and ask which course fits. Smart World Legal Translation – Sole Proprietorship L.L.C. (SWLT) is a UAE Ministry of Justice-licensed legal translation company in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, led by Dr. Hani Elimam. Our federal accreditation is accepted across the UAE, including by Dubai Courts, and we hold exclusive interpretation contracts with the UAE Federal Courts and the Federal Public Prosecution. Our interpreting courses are led by Dr. Hani Elimam, a member of AIIC (the International Association of Conference Interpreters) and a UAE Ministry of Justice sworn translator, who holds a Master's in Interpreting and Translation from the American University of Sharjah and a PhD in Language and Management. Course fees, format and dates are confirmed on request before you enrol. The SWLT certificate of completion records your training; it is not a government licence or court accreditation. Message us on WhatsApp (+971 50 864 8439), email info@swlt.ae, or use our contact page.