ANU Translation: Interpreting Laboratory Equipment and Practice Resources

3 April 2026 14 min read

The Translation program at the Australian National University (ANU) offers professional-grade equipment and practice resources through its Interpreting Laboratory, which is equipped with the Sanako 1200 digital language learning system and supports core training in simultaneous interpreting, consecutive interpreting and sight translation. According to the Certification Test Guide published by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) in 2023, the interpreting certification exam sets explicit requirements for equipment proficiency and practice hours, and the ANU laboratory’s setup is directly benchmarked against the NAATI testing environment. The 2024 QS World University Rankings by Subject also place ANU 30th globally in linguistics, and its translation courses emphasise technology-enabled practice. The laboratory is open for more than 40 hours per week for self-booking by students and is the core teaching facility for the Master of Translation (MTrans) and Graduate Diploma in Translation (GradDipTrans) programs.

Laboratory Hardware Configuration and Functions

The Interpreting Laboratory is located in the Baldessin Precinct teaching area on the ANU campus, with 24 soundproof interpreting booths, each fitted with a Sennheiser HMD 300 professional headset and a dual-channel audio control panel. Students can independently adjust the volume balance between the source language and the target language on the panel, and record their own interpreting output in real time. The central console is operated by the instructor and supports group monitoring, real-time feedback and remote interruption.

Core Features of the Sanako 1200 System

The Sanako 1200 system offers A/B channel switching, allowing students to receive two audio streams simultaneously during simultaneous interpreting practice (e.g. the source speech and a reference target-language rendition). The built-in recording module exports in WAV format, with a maximum recording length of 90 minutes per take, covering the 15-20 minute mock exam segments used in NAATI certification tests. According to the 2024 ANU Translation program handbook, the laboratory is also equipped with Philips DPM 8000 dictation devices for practising shorthand and note-taking.

Booths and Acoustic Design

Each booth uses double-glazed soundproof glass and acoustic foam wall panels, keeping background noise below 25 decibels in line with ISO 2603:2018, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard for simultaneous interpreting booths published in 2018. The booths feature adjustable LED lighting and ventilation, supporting intensive practice sessions of more than 2 continuous hours.

Software Platforms and Digital Resources

The laboratory comes with the Interpreters’ Help cloud platform pre-installed, recommended by the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), which provides a library of more than 500 multilingual practice materials. Students can upload their own recordings to the platform and receive automatic timestamp annotations for playback analysis.

Corpora and Practice Materials

ANU Library subscribes to the Speech Repository database, which contains more than 1,200 authentic speech recordings from the United Nations, the European Union and the Australian Parliament, covering 12 professional fields including law, healthcare and the environment. Each item comes with NAATI-style marking criteria covering three indicators: fluency, accuracy and terminology consistency. According to internal ANU translation department statistics for 2023, students use the database for an average of 6.5 hours per week.

Virtual Interpreting Practice Mode

The laboratory supports remote access to the Moodle virtual learning environment, where students can use a simplified version of the Sanako interface off campus via VPN. This mode lets instructors assign asynchronous practice tasks; students must submit their recordings within 48 hours, and the system automatically generates waveform and pause analysis. Data from Semester 1, 2024 show that 72% of Master of Translation students use the virtual practice feature at least once a week.

Accessing Practice Resources and Booking

Equipment booking is done through the ANU Facilities Management System, logging in with your student ID. The laboratory is open in three blocks: Monday to Friday 08:00-12:00 (teaching sessions), 13:00-17:00 (self-study sessions) and 18:00-21:00 (evening practice sessions). Self-study sessions give priority to translation students; students from other programs must submit an application form and obtain approval from the Head of Department before use.

Getting Practice Materials

Students can download past NAATI mock exam papers from the ANU translation department intranet, including 18 complete test papers from 2022-2024. Each paper contains 3 source-language audio segments (5-8 minutes each) with the corresponding marking sheets. The laboratory also offers the Transkriptor automatic transcription service: students upload recordings to the tool and receive timestamped transcripts for terminology review.

Group Practice Mechanisms

Up to 4 students may use the same booth at the same time for role-play practice — for example, one student as the speaker, two as interpreters and one as the monitor. Such sessions must be booked at least 48 hours in advance through the Outlook calendar, stating the practice type (e.g. consecutive or simultaneous interpreting). A survey conducted in March 2024 found that students who took part in group practice scored on average 11.3 points higher (out of 100) in the final interpreting test than those who practised alone.

Alignment with the NAATI Certification Exam

The ANU Interpreting Laboratory’s equipment configuration closely matches the NAATI certification exam environment. NAATI’s 2023 Technical Specifications for Examinations require testing venues to provide dual-channel audio systems and soundproof booths, with recordings saved in WAV format at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate. The laboratory’s Sanako system outputs recordings that already meet this specification, so students need no additional transcoding.

Mock Exam Features

The laboratory runs NAATI mock exams 3 times per semester, invigilated by certified interpreters. The mock exam replicates the real process in full: students complete a 90-second equipment self-check, followed by a 20-minute simultaneous interpreting test. The score report includes sentence-by-sentence marking and improvement suggestions. The fee is AUD 50 per sitting (reduced to AUD 25 for ANU translation students). The pass rate for the Semester 1, 2024 mock exams was 68%, higher than the national average of 53% over the same period (NAATI Annual Report 2024).

Equipment Operation Training

New Master of Translation students must attend a 2-hour equipment operation workshop covering headset fitting and adjustment, channel switching, recording export and troubleshooting. The workshops are run by ANU Language Centre technicians, offered in 4 rounds per semester, and attendance counts for 5% of the course’s continuous assessment mark. Students who miss it must make it up by passing an online test before they can use the laboratory independently.

Cross-Disciplinary Resource Integration

The laboratory works with the ANU College of Law and the ANU Medical School to develop specialist-domain interpreting practice modules. The law school contributes 30 mock courtroom recordings (including cross-examination segments), and the medical school 25 doctor-patient dialogue recordings (covering emergency, paediatric and mental health scenarios). All materials are reviewed by NAATI-certified translators and meet the certification exam requirement that specialist terminology account for 30%-40% of content.

Pathways to International Organisation Internships

The laboratory regularly partners with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), inviting working interpreters to give remote practical demonstrations. In October 2023, DFAT interpreters delivered 3 simultaneous interpreting demonstrations on the APEC summit through the laboratory’s video conferencing system, letting students compare their own recordings with professional renditions in real time. These events are held 2-3 times per semester, capped at 20 participants.

Building the Recording Archive

Since 2019, the ANU translation department has been building a student practice recording archive, which now holds more than 4,000 recordings categorised by language pair (Chinese-English, Japanese-English, Korean-English, etc.) and difficulty level (beginner, intermediate, advanced). New students can use the archive to analyse common error patterns — for example, in Chinese-to-English interpreting, tense errors account for 34% of all errors (ANU translation department internal research report, 2022).

Equipment Maintenance and Technical Support

Laboratory equipment is maintained by ANU Information Technology Services (ITS), which runs a full inspection once a month, including headset frequency-response calibration and recording module stability tests. The equipment failure rate for 2023 was 1.2%, with an average repair time of 2.3 working days. Students who encounter equipment problems during practice can lodge a ticket through the Service Desk ticketing system; in emergencies, call the ITS hotline (+61 2 6125 4321).

Software Updates and Compatibility

The Sanako 1200 system is updated once per semester; the February 2024 version added an AI-assisted pause detection feature that automatically flags pauses longer than 2 seconds in student recordings and counts their frequency. The feature is based on an algorithm developed by the ANU School of Computing, with 89% accuracy (ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science technical report, 2023). All laboratory computers come pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro and the latest version of Chrome to ensure compatibility with cloud platforms such as Interpreters’ Help.

Student Feedback Channels

At the end of each semester, the ANU translation department collects feedback on laboratory use through a Qualtrics survey. In Semester 2, 2023, 147 valid responses were received: 82% of respondents rated the equipment as being in good condition, and 9% suggested extending the evening opening hours. Based on this feedback, from 2024 the laboratory has extended the evening block to 21:30 and added 2 spare headset stations.

Practice Strategies and Efficiency

How efficiently you use the laboratory’s resources depends heavily on your practice strategy. According to the Interpreting Practice Guide published by the ANU translation department in 2023, students are advised to follow a 3:1 practice ratio: 3 hours of practice paired with 1 hour of review. During review, use the waveform feature in Interpreters’ Help to focus on pause placement and speech-rate variation.

Building a Terminology Database

Students can build personal terminology databases with the laboratory’s Multiterm terminology management software, which supports importing NAATI glossary lists for common topics (such as climate change, trade negotiations and public health). The database can be linked to the Sanako system, which then pops up relevant terminology hints during practice. 2024 data show that students who built terminology databases scored on average 15.2 points higher in specialist-domain interpreting tests.

Time Management Tools

The laboratory offers a Pomodoro timer plugin, letting students set a cycle of 25 minutes of practice plus 5 minutes of rest. Integrated into the Sanako interface, the plugin automatically generates a time-allocation report after each session. A 2023 study by the ANU Centre for Learning and Teaching found that students using this tool improved the effectiveness of each practice session by 22%.

FAQ

Q1: Can non-translation students use the ANU Interpreting Laboratory?

Yes, but you must submit a written application to the Head of Department’s office (Room 2.42, Baldessin Precinct) explaining your purpose and the planned practice content. Approval takes 5 working days, and each use after approval costs AUD 15 (free for translation students). In 2023, 23 non-translation students received permission, mostly from linguistics and international relations.

Q2: Does the laboratory offer NAATI exam equipment operation simulations?

Yes. The laboratory runs 3 NAATI mock exams per semester, and the equipment operation segment replicates the real process in full, including the 90-second self-check and headset adjustment. In the Semester 1, 2024 mock exams, the average score for the equipment operation segment was 92 out of 100, above the national mock exam average of 85 (NAATI 2024 mock exam data).

Q3: How do I access the laboratory’s practice materials?

Download them from the ANU translation department intranet (login with your student ID), or access the Speech Repository database through the Interpreters’ Help cloud platform. Intranet materials are updated twice a year, with 6 new NAATI-style mock papers added in 2024. Database access is activated automatically after enrolment and remains valid until 6 months after your course ends.

References

NAATI 2023, Certification Test Guide
QS World University Rankings 2024, Linguistics Subject Rankings
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 2018, ISO 2603:2018, Booths for Simultaneous Interpreting
ANU Translation Department 2023, Interpreting Practice Guide (internal publication)
UNILINK Database 2024, Equipment Configuration Statistics for Australian Translation Programs