I love simultaneous interpretation because it’s both high speed and high risk- the general characteristic of what makes a sport extreme – except that it is all in your head. So, I like simultaneous interpreting just as much as I like sky diving. – Rong Shi Eisenberg

At KUDO, we pride ourselves on having an incredibly talented network of professional interpreters. While being a crucial part of every single KUDO meeting, they are often behind-the-scenes players that are heard and not seen. In this series of blogs, we are bringing our interpreters to the main stage and highlighting them and their stories.

This blog features Rong Shi Eisenberg, a conference interpreter based in Monterey, California with over 2 years of experience. Rong Shi recounts one of her most inspiring stories working as an interpreter, as well as her thoughts on the future of KUDO.

How did you become an interpreter?

Being “resilient” – as one of my interpretation professors put it – is how I became an interpreter. Having had difficulty fitting in a serious Japanese political science grad school, I decided to study interpretation in the US. Never a particularly gifted apprentice, I started from zero, got knocked down over and over, but always came back and finally made it to graduate from the Chinese Conference Interpretation program at MIIS. I was motivated by this feeling of Kuyashii, in Japanese it means something like “I’m going to prove to you that I can get this done”.

Why do you love what you do?

I love simultaneous interpretation because it’s both high-speed and high-risk- the general characteristic of what makes a sport extreme – except that it is all in your head. So, I like simultaneous interpreting just as much as I like sky diving.

Please recount your most incredible experience in this business.

On a personal level, one of my most incredible interpreting experiences was interpreting for my mom when we were riding the 3D Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at Universal Studios- talk about high-risk!

How did you become acquainted with KUDO?

Back in March 2018, I visited KUDO’s sister company Conference Rental and tried its first US Studio during MIIS Career Exploration Week in D.C, led by Prof. Barry Olsen (now VP of Client Success at KUDO). The eye-opening KUDO demo presented by Ewandro immediately motivated me to try interpreting at the booth with my colleagues. Since then, I’ve always been following KUDO and learned more about it from friends working there. The platform has offered me many opportunities in interpreting and has also introduced me to some brilliant colleagues and dear friends.

What’s are your predictions on how KUDO will change the industry?

In my humble opinion, we may see KUDO more involved in multilingual hybrid events after it has made noticeable progress in the RSI world. Backed by its talented people, R&D investment in cloud-based technology, and the parent company’s deep experience in acoustic hardware, KUDO has an edge over traditional LSPs and conference organizers in the multilingual hybrid event area.

Rong Shi Eisenberg is based out of Monterey, California. Her working languages are English and Chinese, and she has over 2 years of experience as a conference interpreter.

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