ANU Translation and Interpreting Lab Access: How to Book a Booth, Use the Software, and Access Practice Materials

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The Australian National University (ANU) Translation and Interpreting Lab is one of the few academic spaces in the Asia-Pacific region equipped with professional simultaneous interpreting facilities. Located on level 9 of the H.C. Coombs Building, the lab runs a standardised interpreting training system with 8 interpreter booths and 24 conference seats. It was certified by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) in 2023 as a practical training venue that meets the equipment standards for interpreting practice and assessment. After the Department of Home Affairs raised NAATI community language points from 5 to 10 in the 2024 skilled migration points test, demand for the lab rose about 37% year on year (ANU Interpreting Research Centre internal data, 2024 Q2). This article sets out the booth booking process, software configuration and practice material access for translation students and NAATI candidates.

Booking Process and Access Eligibility

Lab bookings are made through the ANU Timetabling system and are restricted to students enrolled in translation courses. Students currently enrolled in the Master of Translation, Master of Interpreting or Graduate Diploma in Translating are automatically granted access in week 2 of the teaching period. Non-course users (such as PhD candidates and academic staff) must submit a written application to the Interpreting Research Centre; applications are reviewed within 5 business days.

Opening Hours and Priority Rules

During the semester the lab is open Monday to Friday 08:00–18:00, extended to 20:00 during the exam period (weeks 12–16). Each student can book up to 3 sessions per week, with each session capped at 2 hours. In the 2 weeks before exams (weeks 14–15), priority is: interpreting exam candidates > students in simultaneous interpreting practicum courses > general practice users. 2024 S1 data shows an average booking occupancy rate of 82% (ANU Interpreting Research Centre, 2024 S1 Facility Report).

Cancellation and No-Show Policy

Booked sessions must be cancelled through the system at least 4 hours before the start time. Three unexcused no-shows suspend your booking privileges for the rest of the semester. No-show records reset at the start of the following semester.

Simultaneous Interpreting Booth Setup

All 8 booths meet the ISO 2603:2016 standard and each is equipped with: Beyerdynamic DT 290 headsets, Shure SM58 microphones, and dual 22-inch monitors (the main screen shows the source-language video while the secondary screen runs the interpreting software). The booths achieve a sound insulation rating of STC 45 with background noise below NC 20 (ANU Facilities Management, 2023 Acoustics Test Report).

Console Operation Basics

Each booth has a Dante audio control panel. After entering, complete these 3 steps: ① press “Source Select” to choose the main hall audio channel (default Channel 1); ② turn the “Monitor Volume” knob to the -12 dB reference level; ③ press the “Cough” key to test microphone muting. First-time users should arrive 15 minutes before their booked session so a Lab Assistant can verify the equipment.

Interpreting Software Systems

The lab runs two core applications: Interpreters’ Help and SDL Trados Studio 2022. Interpreters’ Help is a cloud-based simultaneous interpreting platform with real-time terminology lookup and recording playback; SDL Trados Studio is used for translation memory management in translation practice. Both are accessed remotely through the ANU virtual desktop (VDI), so no local installation is needed.

Logging In and Permissions

Interpreters’ Help uses the university’s single sign-on (Uni ID). On first login, activate the “Student Interpreter” role under “Profile”. This role lets you create up to 3 mock conferences (each supporting 4 language channels), and recordings are saved automatically to your personal cloud space for 30 days. SDL Trados Studio connects to the ANU translation server over VPN under a floating licence that supports 15 concurrent users.

Common Troubleshooting

If you hear audio latency (over 200 milliseconds), adjust “Audio Buffer” to 256 samples in the Interpreters’ Help settings. 2024 Q1 system logs show that about 12% of connection issues were caused by QoS rate limiting left enabled on VPN (ANU Information Technology Services, 2024 Q1 Support Report).

Practice Material Database

The lab provides two main practice sources: the ANU Translation Corpus and the NAATI Practice Portal. The ANU Translation Corpus contains de-identified recordings from Australian federal courts, the Migration Review Tribunal and medical interpreting settings between 2004 and 2023 — 1,247 files in total, around 680 hours of audio. Materials are graded into 3 difficulty levels (Level 1–3) aligned with the passage lengths and speech rates used in the NAATI Certified Interpreter exam.

Searching and Downloading Materials

Log in to “Corpus.anu.edu.au” from a lab workstation to filter by language pair (currently English–Chinese, English–Arabic and English–Spanish), setting (legal/medical/community) and speech rate (120–160 words per minute). Each file includes the original recording, a verbatim transcript and a glossary with NAATI-recommended renditions. Downloads are MP3+PDF packages, with individual files capped at 50 MB.

NAATI Official Sample Tests

Lab workstations come preloaded with the official NAATI sample tests released in 2023, covering Dialogue Interpreting and Consecutive Interpreting. Recording lengths match the real exam: 4–6 minutes for the dialogue section and 45–60 seconds per consecutive segment. Students can record their own renditions in a booth using Interpreters’ Help and compare them sentence by sentence against the reference answers.

Technical Support and Training

The lab runs equipment operation training twice per semester, in weeks 1 and 8. Each 90-minute session covers booth startup, advanced Interpreters’ Help features (such as glossary import and recording markers) and basic self-diagnostics. No separate booking is needed — just sign in at the lab on the day; each session is capped at 20 people.

One-on-One Technical Support

Every Wednesday 14:00–16:00 is a “drop-in session” where lab technicians answer software configuration and hardware questions on the spot. 2023 statistics show the 3 most common queries were: microphone gain settings (28%), failed recording exports from Interpreters’ Help (22%) and VDI connection timeouts (17%) (ANU Interpreting Research Centre, 2023 Annual Facility Usage Report).

Remote Access and the Virtual Lab

Since 2024 S1, the lab has offered Virtual Interpreting Practice. Students can reach a remote desktop over the ANU VPN and run a simplified version of Interpreters’ Help (Lite Mode) on their own computer. Lite Mode supports recording, terminology lookup and playback, but not the multi-channel audio mixing of the on-site booths. Recordings from the virtual lab can be submitted directly to the course Moodle assignment area, where the system automatically checks that the audio meets the NAATI 16-bit/44.1kHz standard.

Bandwidth Requirements and Limits

Remote access needs a stable connection: at least 5 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up. If latency exceeds 150 milliseconds, the system automatically switches to “low-latency mode”, dropping audio quality from 320 kbps to 128 kbps. 2024 S1 remote session data shows about 8% of connections were dropped due to insufficient bandwidth (ANU Information Technology Services, 2024 S1 Remote Access Statistics).

FAQ

Q1: Can students outside the translation programs use the lab?

Only students enrolled in translation courses. Non-course users (for example linguistics or international relations students) must submit a written application for approval by the Director of the Interpreting Research Centre. In 2023, 12 non-course applications were approved, with an average review time of 4 business days (ANU Interpreting Research Centre, 2023 Access Records).

Q2: How do I get practice materials for the NAATI exam?

Lab workstations come with the official NAATI 2023 sample tests preloaded, and the ANU Translation Corpus holds 680 hours of de-identified recordings — Level 2 material matches the speech rate (140 words per minute) and passage length (45–60 seconds) of the NAATI Certified Interpreter exam. You can also buy extra sample tests from the NAATI website at $55 AUD per set (NAATI, 2024 Fee Schedule).

Q3: How does the remote virtual lab differ from the on-site booths?

The virtual lab (Lite Mode) does not support multi-channel audio mixing or live simultaneous output — it is only suitable for consecutive interpreting practice. On-site booths provide the full simultaneous environment, including ISO-standard soundproofing, the Dante audio matrix and dual-screen display. A 2024 S1 user survey found that 87% of respondents considered on-site practice more effective for exam preparation (ANU Interpreting Research Centre, 2024 S1 User Feedback).

References

• Department of Home Affairs (Australia). 2024. SkillSelect Points Test.
• National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). 2023. Equipment Standards for Interpreting Practice and Assessment.
• ANU Interpreting Research Centre. 2024. 2024 S1 Facility Usage Report.
• ANU Facilities Management. 2023. H.C. Coombs Building Acoustics Test Report.
• UNILINK Education. 2024. Database of Australian Translation Programs and NAATI Exam Preparation.