On 8th September we celebrated the graduation of our community interpreters who were on our courses this summer. The online course, delivered in partnership with Across Borders, was attended by participants from all over the UK and even from abroad, so we were very happy that at least those based in or near Nottingham could join us for the celebrations. Another group of budding interpreters were learning with us in person, at Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum, and have completed their final assessments just a couple of weeks before. In total, we had 27 graduates successfully completing the course, including 6 graduating with distinction.
The graduation ceremony was a great opportunity to thank all learners for their hard work, award them certificates, and share delicious food on a sunny afternoon in the beautiful environment of the Refugee Forum Community Garden.
Congratulations to all our graduates & all the best on your journey as community interpreters.
This is what some of the graduates had to say about attending our training:
"My experience at the course is, it was really helpful and during the class we have learned a lot from one another – sharing our personal experiences, what happened and how they were solved. It was about 7 hours each day, but it felt like 20 minutes. I really had fun while on the course.
I want to use my skills to help someone who might need it so I am thinking to volunteer at Refugee Forum 2 times a week."
Daniel
"For over 15 years, I've been passionately teaching English for speakers of Arabic, but recently, I decided to venture into the uncharted territory of community interpreting. I had the privilege of attending introduction to community interpreting training sessions provided by the refugee forum, and I can't emphasize enough how profoundly useful and eye-opening this experience was. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Barbara, Halima, and Matt for their exceptional dedication in delivering the interpreting course. Their approach was not only friendly but also highly informative, making the learning process both engaging and enlightening. Now as I finished the training sessions, my journey as a community interpreter has only just begun.
I plan to use these newfound skills to continue helping my community and explore opportunities for collaboration with local organizations. Together, we can create a more inclusive and harmonious environment."
Samira Bakeer
"Our Interpreting course and qualification help bilingual people like me to start or progress a career in interpreting - enabling communications across a wide range of public services, including hospitals, local government, social services, welfare, immigration and law. Also, we learn the ethical codes of interpreting and building comprehensive glossaries of essential vocabulary required. That was a fantastic course, with a friendly group and professional teachers. I am going to use the skills such as active listening, maintaining neutrality and language proficiency to help others to achieve their goals. Although it takes time and practice to master these, each interpreting situation has unique challenges."
Azadeh Yazdanparast
"Recently I have finished my interpreting training with NNRF.
Interpreting is a challenging, but highly rewarding field. Interpreters make a positive difference in people's lives, and they get to work with a variety of individuals and organisations, particularly public services.
This was one of the best trainings I ever attended. The impact of this training cannot be denied. Thank you for a very engaging class with supportive "role play" sessions, team work, group task sessions and well-planned presentations. It was worth every minute spent. I have been highly impacted and I am sure others have the same insight too. Each of 3 sessions was pragmatic and awesome, everybody spoke, took part, understood every part. It was indeed an innovative and informative training.
The interactive session was so interesting. We all did our writing exam, then practical interpreting exam. I have to mention the positive aura in the classroom with some "cheerful " moments. I even made friends during this training.
This interpreting experience will go a long way with me as I go further in the path of my passion. I will use this knowledge in building up my career and make it possible for people to have a voice and be heard, because helping people communicate is a truly rewarding experience.
I think, you did really great job, keep going!"
Günel Ramazanova
