Interpreting

Interpreting 1
Consecutive interpreting
What is interpreting?
presenting in the target

language, the exact message of
what is uttered in the source
language preserving the tone of
the speaker.
What is the process of
interpreting?
• Listening and understanding a

spoken message of the Source
Language,
• Storing/note-taking the
message
• Retrieving the message
Reproducing the message of
the source language into the
receptor language
Modes of interpreting
• Simultaneous
• Consecutive
Simultaneous
interpreting
Starting the
interpretation soon
after the speaker begins
and continuing until just
after the speaker has
finished.
Consecutive Interpreting
• consecutive interpreting is a
mode in which the interpreter
begins their interpretation of a
complete message after the
speaker has stopped producing
the source utterance.
Modes of interpreting
Consecutive
interpreting
Waiting for the

speaker to
complete a
speech or a
segment
President George W. Bush listens to an thereof before
interpreter during a joint press conference
with Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel the interpreting
at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic
begins.
What do we mean by “complete
a speech or a segment”
• During consecutive interpreting the
speaker stops every 1-5 minutes
(usually at the end of every
"paragraph" or a complete thought) and
the interpreter then steps in to render
what was said into the target language
• Present the material in segments (one
complete thought)
• Simultaneous interpreting
• In simultaneous interpretation (SI), the interpreter renders the
message in the target-language as quickly as he or she can formulate
it from the source language, while the source-language speaker
continuously speaks; sitting in a sound-proof booth, the SI interpreter
speaks into a microphone, while clearly seeing and hearing the
source-language speaker via earphones. The simultaneous
interpretation is rendered to the target-language listeners via their
earphones. Moreover, SI is the common mode used by sign language
interpreters. NOTE: Laymen often incorrectly describe SI and the SI
interpreter as 'simultaneous translation' and as the 'simultaneous
translator', ignoring the definite distinction between interpretation
and translation.
Consecutive interpreting
• In consecutive interpreting (CI), the interpreter

speaks after the source-language speaker has
finished speaking. The speech is divided into
segments, and the interpreter sits or stands
beside the source-language speaker, listening
and taking notes as the speaker progresses
through the message. When the speaker pauses
or finishes speaking, the interpreter then
renders the entire message in the target
language.
• Consecutive interpretation is rendered as
"short CI" or "long CI". In short CI, the
interpreter relies on memory; each message
segment being brief enough to memorize. In
long CI, the interpreter takes notes of the
message to aid rendering long passages.
These informal divisions are established with
the client before the interpretation is
effected, depending upon the subject, its
complexity, and the purpose of the
interpretation.
Model of Communication Flow in
Consecutive Interpreting
INTERPRETER
SPEAKER AUDIENCE
Qualifications of a good
interpreter
• Knowledge of the general subject
of the speeches that are to be
interpreted.
• General erudition and intimate
familiarity with both cultures.
• Extensive vocabulary in both
languages.
Qualifications of a good
interpreter
• Ability to express thoughts clearly
and concisely in both languages.
• Excellent note-taking technique
for consecutive interpreting.
• At least 2-3 years of booth
experience for simultaneous
interpreting
What are competencies
required?
• Language competence
• Transfer competence
• Cultural competence
What are competencies
required?
• Appropriate technique
• Good short term memory
• Professional competence
Language competence
A good command of the source

language and the receptor
language:
Lexicon
Grammatical structure
Transfer competence
• Ability to reproduce a variety
of synonymous or analogous
expressions in both languages;
• Ability to capture and
reproduce register variations;
Transfer competence
• Ability to recognize and reproduce domain-
specific expressions in a form which will be
regarded as ‘natural’ by the respective
users;
• Ability to combine verbal and non-verbal

communication cues from the SL and
reproduce them in appropriate combinations
in the RL;
Transfer competence
• Ability to identify and exploit
rhythm and tone patterns of
languages in order to
determine and utilize the
‘chunks’ of speech so as to
maximize the efficiency of the
interpreting;
Transfer competence
• Ability to speedily analyze the
utterance in the context of the
communication in order to
anticipate the direction in which
the argument is proceeding and
the strategy being used in
developing the argument.
Cultural competence
• The possession of knowledge enabling the
interpreter to comprehend the totality of
the communicative intent of the speaker;
• Extra-linguistic knowledge about the world

of the speaker and the audience;
• Social conventions, institutional practices,

taboos, anthropologically and historically
relevant elements of the cultures.
Appropriate technique of
interpreting task
Knowledge of the
dynamic
communication
• Note-taking to avoid
omission;
• Ordering information
output;
• Voice production
(audible, clear,
unambiguous);
Knowledge of the dynamic
communication
• Control of the speed;
• Control of the congruence of
the tone of voice due to the
emotional charge of the
utterance and that of the
interpretation of the
utterance.
Good short term memory
• The comprehension ability to
store information;
• The ability to recall with a high
degree of accuracy what the
speaker has said.
Professional competence
• The ability to make

independent judgments
in terms of the
linguistic, ethical,
socio-cultural and
effective issues which
arise in an interpreted
situation.
What are the skills required
• Listening skill: being able to
‘get the message’;
• Speaking skill: being able to
‘transmit the message’ (quality
of voice, choice of idiom,
vocabulary, phrasing, etc.).
Interpreting Ethics
• Impartiality: to carry out
professional duties to the best
of his/her ability regardless of
who the clients are in terms of
race, social and economic
status, ethnicity, etc.;
Interpreting Ethics
• Conflict of interest: To act
without regard to other
interests such as personal or
financial gain.
How do you prepare yourself?
• Be familiar with the subject of
the conference and the
subjects of speeches;
• Try to speak with the speaker
and find out the general
contents of speech and the
time s/he intends to dedicate
to the speech;
How do you prepare yourself?
• Find copies of overhead
transparencies, slides, or paper;
• Prepare a glossary for the
interpretation to gather all the
vocabulary which you might need
for the job (terms, nouns, verbs,
abbreviations, etc.).
Working as a conference
interpreter
key skill involved in consecutive
interpreting
• Note-taking
Since few people can memorize a full
paragraph in one hearing without loss
of detail. But interpreter's notes are
very different from those of, say, a
stenographer, because writing down
words in the source language makes
the interpreter's job harder when he
has to translate the speech into the
target language.
Note-taking
• Many professional interpreters
develop their own "ideogramic"
symbology, which allows them to
take down not the words, but the
thoughts of the speaker in a sort of
language-independent form. Then
the interpreter's output is more
idiomatic and less source-language
bound.
Interpreting vs. Translation
• the difference between

interpreting and translation is
only the difference in the
medium: the interpreter
translates orally, while a
translator interprets written
text.
Key skill of a very good
translator
• The ability to write well, to
express him/herself clearly in
the target language.
• The ability to understand the
source language and the
culture of the country where
the text originated.
Key skill of a very good
translator
• using a good library of
dictionaries and reference
materials.
• render that material into the
target language.
Key skill of an interpreter
• Being able to translate in both
directions, without the use of
any dictionaries, on the spot.
Thank you

Interpreting

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Interpreting 1

presenting in the target

• Listening and understanding a

Waiting for the

• In consecutive interpreting (CI), the interpreter

A good command of the source

• Ability to combine verbal and non-verbal

• Extra-linguistic knowledge about the world

• Social conventions, institutional practices,

• The ability to make

• the difference between

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