Why podcasts?
This post continues a series of posts suggesting resources specifically for Russian language interpreters. The first post listed some books in Russian that I think will be helpful for healthcare interpreters. In this article, we`ll turn our attention to Russian-language podcasts.
As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, when people live abroad, it can be difficult to find opportunities to maintain their native language. Personally, I was alarmed to discover that, despite my recent trip to Russia and the fact that I keep in touch with friends and family back in Russia, I was completely unaware of a new trend in the Russian language: feminization of certain job names. For example, it is suggested that a female blogger should be called блогерка (blogerka) and a female author авторка (avtorka). I actually heard my good friend Yana use these words, but since I’d never heard them before I blithely assumed that my dear friend was using Ukrainian words, as she often does (and thus helps me learn Ukranian without trying). To my surprise, I heard the very same words in a new podcast about the Russsian language and linguistics. The moral of the story that podcasts are a very handy tool in an interpreter’s arsenal and a good way to keep your ear to the ground when it comes to new trends in the Russian language. And if you need more convincing, here are a few other reasons to listen to podcasts:
- If you’re anything like me, you spend a lot of time on your phone. In addition, as an interpreter, you probably spend a lot of time driving, commuting or walking
between appointments and waiting for the patient to show up. In addition, you might get easily bored when doing chores or walking your dog or going for a morning run. For all these times, podcasts are the answer.
- When listening to medical podcasts, you’re actively developing your personal medical glossary and furthering your knowledge of all things medicine.
- When listening to non-medical podcasts, you are maintaining your Russian language, keeping up to date with modern Russian words and expressions as well as the Russian culture, attitudes, and mentality. All of the above are important things for an interpreter to know.
Continue reading “Resources for Russian Medical Interpreters Part 2: Podcasts”