Whispering interpreting

Whispering interpreting, also called ‘chuchotage’, works like simultaneous interpreting, but without the technical equipment. With chuchotage, the interpreter sits behind or next to the listener and whispers the simultaneous interpretation into their ear.

As chuchotage requires at least as much concentration as simultaneous interpreting, two interpreters are needed per target language for longer events.

Chuchotage is suitable for occasions where there are only very few people who do not understand the language in which the event is taking place and where these people will be listening, but do not themselves want to speak. The speaker and the interpreter speak at the same time in the same room and this leads to unavoidable disturbances (background noise). This means that chuchotage is demanding both for the listener and the interpreter. In the interest of the other event participants, who may be disturbed by the whispering, this type of interpreting is only suitable for one or two, or a maximum of three, people. It can, therefore, not be used as a replacement for simultaneous interpreting.

A specific type of chuchotage is escort interpreting. This is suitable for museum tours, site visits, exposition visits, etc.