Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: The following is our conversation with Nathalie Gref Santa Maria, the head of language services at the Olympics and Paralympics Games in Paris, 2024. She is also the writer in the August issue of multilingual magazine of the article faster, higher, stronger together.
Enjoy.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Thank you, Eddie. Yes, absolutely, thank you. And thank you for inviting me as well to participate to this podcast. And indeed, if I'm joining a bit late today, it's because I was still in a meeting and we are still in the midst of the operation for the Paralympics.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: And just out of curiosity, what is happening at these meetings? You were just telling us of the recording that it seems that everything is fine, everything is fine, everything is fine. And then all of a sudden not everything is fine, and you need to jump and do certain things. What are some of the things that happen in that? Let's call it the boiling room.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Well, this meeting I was in is the last meeting of the day that we have most of the time, I mean, every day during operations, to share what happened during the day, what went well, what could be improved on the next day.
And it's just a matter of sharing that during this meeting, for instance, no one was there to support the participants, and we realized that many participants left the room and needed some guidance. So usually we always have team members to support, but today they were not there. So how can we improve that the next day? And what happened? Because usually they are so little things, but that contribute to the good experience for everyone during the games.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: That is amazing to hear. Thank you so much for sharing that. And I think it gives us a lot of texture of what goes on behind the scenes. And we'll get to talk a bit more in this conversation about your most recent article. Multilingual magazine faster, higher, stronger together language services at the Olympics, which is in our most recent issue, and we'll share with the audience. They can also listen to it on our localization Today podcast while you are working out or doing something else. But before we get there, you mentioned that multilingual has been in your life for a long time. Tell us about your history in language services and how do you get to becoming the head of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics? Language services?
[00:03:02] Speaker B: I don't know. A lot of chance, I guess. But I started as a conference interpreter in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2013, and very quickly I realized that I really loved organizing events. So not only participating to the event as an interpreter, but also helping the client to find the right, the correct interpretation for them. The modality, is it simultaneous? Is it consecutive? And the languages and supporting with all logistics. So little by little, I also helped some of my clients to organize events. I've learned from other colleagues that were already working as consultant, and Paris was selected as the host city. And I remember this moment because I was actually in Buenos Aires watching tv when I heard that. And I was like, there is no way those games can happen without me. That was my first feeling, like my first reaction, and I actually said it out loud. And it's my husband who reminded me of that a couple of years later.
And the next year, the, the youth Olympic games happened in Buenos Aires, and I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the conference interpreter. So I was not organizing anything, I was just following the organizer and the team leader and the chief interpreter better said.
And I interpreted during those games. And it's funny because I've always been saying that interpreting is like a sport. It's like bicycle, you know, it's like knowing, finding the balance to be able to stay on your bike and then practice and practice and practice if you want to be a good athlete. And matching really sports and interpreting for the first time was absolutely amazing. And being part of the meetings and knowing how everything happened behind the scenes and the kind of meetings they have with the chef de Michille, et cetera, et cetera, was really, really interesting. And over the last years, I grew a lot in, I've learned a lot and started to organize events that were bigger and bigger and bigger. So I found myself in a position where I could apply for this position of head of language services when it appeared. And yeah, they selected me.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: So it's a fantastic story. Thank you so much for sharing. I think it'd be of inspiration to many people in our industry. I think you'll continue to be inspiration. And of course, what have you thought of multilingual, and what have been your experience writing now for multilingual?
Of course, you were very busy while you were writing the piece. So how was everything for you?
[00:06:35] Speaker B: Well, I contacted multilingual in the first place because I've always loved the magazine and it's always a pleasure to read, but also learning a lot about the industry and nothing, only my specific field, but also I had the chance to work with an amazing localizing specialist. And I've learned a lot about localization that I was not that aware of, even though I worked as a translator as well. Localization was really not part of my expertise. And on multilingual I can find a lot of different professions that are actually represented.
And for me, it's always been a source of knowledge. So I contacted multilingual with the idea of writing something about language services. Because whenever I'm talking about language services, even with people within our industry, sometimes, I mean, not sometimes, very often, I got questions saying, but what's the difference between language services and an agency or an external freelancer? And I wanted to share what we were doing within the games, right? And at that time, I was in touch with someone from multilingual who told me, why not having a big story about everything that is related to language during the games? So, like a story of a spectator or an athlete buying tickets on a website that is translated, going to the venue, interacting with volunteers and listening to a conference with interpretation. And I was like, wow, this is such a great idea. Let's try to bring more people. And then the games really started and we were so busy, so busy organizing everything that, and this is, this is a little bit sad, but at the same time, I'm still very happy that I was able to finish my piece, but at the end, we were not able to make this full story. So I hope that one day on multilingual, we will be able to tell you all those stories about the difference interaction with linguistics.
But I managed somehow, I guess, because I really wanted to tell this story.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: It's great. Thank you. So, and I can't imagine how hard it would be to get the time. And as the games are coming, I cannot even imagine the number of elements that are at play. So what can you tell us a little bit about, or what can you tell us about the Olympic spirit and how that's being translated towards what you do with language services? And of course, that definite connection you have with that Olympic spirit, because to be able to provide these services, your entire team has to operate at that level of excellence. So how does the mission play out within the team?
As you were creating this article, too.
[00:10:18] Speaker B: I think it's a lot of endurance, and it has a lot to do with athletes mentality, mindset and training.
It's knowing that we cannot be at our best all the time, but what will make a difference is to keep going, keep trying, and keep trying to be better all the time.
And I really felt this within not only my team, but also the entire Paris 2024 organization. Like, everyone was looking in the same direction and aiming for the same goal, whatever the challenges we were facing, and really trying to find solutions. So even though it was not the ideal plan that we had in the beginning, on paper, reality was we were able to find solution to get to the same outcome, even though it was not exactly the same way. So that was really an amazing human experience.
And being on site, even though most of the interpretation was remote, we were still in a hub on site. And I mean, everything is more complex because you have to get to point a to from point a to point b, and there's a lot of securities in the middle and delays. And so always a challenge, but a.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: Nice one, all the fun stuff. And for those that read the article, they'll see that there is the covertine's original motto for the modern Olympics, which is Citius Altius Fortius, which is faster, higher, stronger, which is the title you've chosen for your article. And there you also talk a lot about the role that languages play at the Olympic Games. Could you tell us a little bit more about the role that the languages play there and how do you make what you do possible there? You're mentioning also the number of interpreters that help you out and all of that. Could you tell us more, please?
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. I really like the idea that multilingualism is part of the games. From the very beginning, from the very first moment they signed this Olympic charter, English and French were the two languages. And very quickly after the first modern games, the first ones, they realized that they needed to communicate.
Athletes and journalists and everyone needed more languages. So in addition to English and French, more and more languages started to be added. And today we are providing eleven languages, mostly for the press conferences. So it's for media and journalists, athletes, of course, and to do so since the pandemic and the fact that now we can and we have the tools to interpret remotely, we are providing remote interpretation with a team of 66 interpreters and planning. That as well is very interesting because you start looking and learning about tons of different sports and looking at the athletes and the best chances and their languages, and guessing basically how many chinese interpreters, italian interpreters, portuguese interpreters, you will need, depending on the sports and the best chances of winning.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: And of course, this was not always the case where all these languages were included and interpretation was offered in the way that was offered this year. And you talked a little bit about that on your article. Can you tell us more about the history of language services at the Olympics? And what milestones have you reached in these Olympic and Paralympic Games that you can attest to that you say, okay, this perhaps is a new thing that we're doing, or this is something that's consolidating some part of the language services function in the Olympics and Paralympics Games.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Well, language services, one of the reasons I really wanted to share that, it's also because it's very interesting to see from the games perspective that we are always providing those services, but because it's the whole city that is in charge of providing those services, it changes a lot. So sometimes language services is actually something extremely important in terms of people and responsibilities, because it's interpretation, but also translation and also editing and also subtitles and many other responsibilities, volunteers, et cetera, et cetera. And sometimes, depending again on the cities, it can be like we did during the Paris 2024 Olympics, purely interpretation. And of course, it doesn't mean that we were not providing a translation for the games, it's just that it was not part of my department.
But also it's interesting to see how interpretation changed and how important it's becoming with the technical aspect of the remote interpretation. So it's also evolving a lot since Tokyo and following what has been working so far. We are not inventing, reinventing everything, we are working from a hub. And what is beautiful, in my opinion, is that we are actually able to provide more simultaneous interpretation to basically all the sports, all the middle round press conferences were getting the same level of services with simultaneous interpretation.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: And of course, I know that there are some amazing sections. If you're listening to this and you have not read the article, I highly recommend you go ahead and do that. There is a wonderful section on the responsibilities that you have, but you also have a section on technology and operational changes.
And I have to ask, artificial intelligence, it's been the conversation. Did artificial intelligence play any role at the Olympics and Paralympics? Language services unit not at Paris 2024.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Because it started before this new artificial intelligence. So these new developments, so the way it was already planned was not including artificial intelligence. And of course, there have been discussions, and not only with Paris 2024, but with future games. However, so far, for the kind of work that we are doing here in language services, artificial intelligence is not ready. So the quality is not there yet.
But I think that the same way Google Translate, to name just one, changed my life as a conference interpreter, because all of a sudden I didn't have to go with a client to help him find an adapter or support them going outside, because they were just using their phones now to translate and communicate with the rest of the world. When we are talking about low interactions, something that is not whether stakes are not that high, I guess that artificial intelligence will be helpful in the future, but for the kind of conferences that we are interpreting the services that we are providing, it is not something that we were actually considering at all.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: And this goes to confirm that commitment to excellency and to the highest level of quality. And of course, this comes with huge responsibility. It's not like you have four years to kind of, like, execute and make up for things.
It's go time. And when it's go time, things have to run as smoothly as they can. What are the main responsibilities that you have? Of course, as the head of the language services, but also as a team, what are the main responsibilities?
[00:20:09] Speaker B: Yeah, to answer your question, in my article, I was mentioning coaching, and I think it has to do with making sure that everyone has everything they need to perform and also they can work together. They know each other, they know who is doing what. And it can be finding the right material for the interpreters to prepare, but also making sure that the session is ready for the interpreters to interpret on it. They are sound checked and it's a lot of different pieces that we have to keep an eye on the time.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: Tell us about your title. Faster, higher, stronger, together. What inspired you to pick that title? What does it mean to you?
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Well, I think I like the idea of thinking in those terms, to create this article to show in the history of the games how things are always improving the same way that athletes are always breaking new records. Records. And it's a little bit. I mean, it's clearly the same thing. So again, it was keeping this sport metaphor and showing how it applies to language services.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: What would be your biggest recommendation for interpreters right now? People that, you know, their dream is to work at an event such as the Olympics or the Paralympics, what would be your recommendation? If someone is looking into this career, especially in these times where a lot of people are thinking, well, maybe interpreting might die, maybe this is, as a career is not something that will last over many years. What would be your recommendation and your words to these talented people?
[00:22:17] Speaker B: Faster, higher, stronger.
I would recommend seriously to specialize.
Interpreting in sport is really something that you have to train and you have to be interested in, in the case of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the variety of sports and rules and I. It is extremely complex and you have a press conference that lasts most of the time, 15 minutes, so you don't have time to, you know, warm up. It's now. And you have to be good now. And I guess that interpreters are really making a difference with their talent and human touch and the possibility to quickly catch a joke or irony or whatever only a human can understand. So far upon or, I mean, I have. I could keep on with a long list. So whatever. I mean, my recommendation would be training and not starting applying for the games with no experience in sport, but starting slow and little by little going through different events that are related to sport and, yeah, growing.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: Thank you so much for sharing your background story. And is there anything else you like to tell us? Your team? We're going to take on your promise of digging deeper into the stories. And, of course, if we can keep track of what's going on with language services at the Olympics all the way till the next Olympics, that'd be amazing. If we are able to do something like that.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. It would be amazing. And I would say, I would just invite everyone that anyone that has questions to actually ask those questions directly to me or the rest of the team or whoever has been working during games. Because I've seen many things on social media, sometimes about volunteers, about journalists talking about volunteers being interpreters and acting as interpreters, which is not the case. And sometimes it's making a lot of people uncomfortable or even angry when it is just a matter of knowing how it works and knowing that volunteers are not interpreters. They are not interpreting, they are supporting their facilitators and they are trained to do so as well.
Just explaining how you can facilitate communication between two persons. In no cases, they were asked to interpret. So it's just inviting people to, if they have any questions, to feel free to ask them. I would be happy to answer them.
[00:25:37] Speaker A: All right, Natalie, thank you so much. I think this has been wonderful. I know you are very busy, but we will take you up for that proposal of writing more about the Olympics and what you do and sports interpretation. We have a sports issue next year again, and we love to have you and members of your team as well featured there talking about how it works at this amazing event. Thank you so much for joining us.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: This would be wonderful. Thank you very, very much.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: And this was our conversation with Natalie Gref, Santa Maria, the head of language services at the Olympics and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024. My name is Eddie Arieta and I'm the CEO here at multilingual media.
Thanks for listening.
