Threestreamsmedia reports that the Language Directorate at the North-West University’s Potchefstroom Campus (NWU), recently launched a brand new mobile interpretation application.

The application called Sennheiser MobileConnect, is aimed at replacing the old headsets that have been in use since 2004.                             

According to Threestreamsmedia, the Director of the NWU’s Language Directorate Johan Blaauw explained that this new mobile initiative allows students to listen to interpretation services from the “comfort of their own cellular devices.”

The app can be downloaded from the Google Playstore and Apple iStore. Students then connect to a mobile hotspot called MobileConnect, and then use their earphones to listen to the interpretation.

Apart from the interpretation being broadcasted on the app, students who have difficulty hearing the lecturer, may also tune in to listen to the lecture and not miss any information. This process gets facilitated through a lapel microphone that is given to the lecturer, while they present their class.

Blaauw highlighted that one of the biggest challenges they currently face is the fact that not all students own a smartphone. Interpreters therefore still carry a few of the older headsets when they are out interpreting. “For us it is important that no student feels left out, which is why in some instances we still make use of our old devices,” he said.

Elsa Clarke, a third-year Psychology and Labour Relations student, says Sennheiser has changed the way she used to perceive interpretation. “With the older headsets I usually felt very self-aware and uncomfortable. It used to feel as if all eyes were on me with that device hanging from my ears,” Clarke said.

Blaauw explained that people who do interpretation play a fundamental role in bridging language gaps. The Language Directorate has recently opened an application process for those who wish to interpret in 2020.