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Lecture 1 and Assignment

The document outlines the fundamentals of simultaneous interpretation, its history, and the differences between interpreting and translating. It discusses the complexity of simultaneous interpreting, the skills required for interpreters, and the various modes of interpretation, including consecutive and whispered interpreting. Additionally, it highlights the technology used in interpreting and the market dynamics for interpreters across different regions.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
14 views9 pages

Lecture 1 and Assignment

The document outlines the fundamentals of simultaneous interpretation, its history, and the differences between interpreting and translating. It discusses the complexity of simultaneous interpreting, the skills required for interpreters, and the various modes of interpretation, including consecutive and whispered interpreting. Additionally, it highlights the technology used in interpreting and the market dynamics for interpreters across different regions.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ASSIGNMENT 1

CLASS 14.05

1. Study Lecture 1.

2. Translate the text of the video.

Interpreting in a Globalised World. A tale of two assemblies using


interpretation: the European Parliament and the United Nations”\.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lOInrJ5YGE

LECTURE 1
The Basics of Simultaneous Interpretation

Simultaneous interpreting first saw the light of day in the early 1920s when
Edward Filene and A. Gordon-Fin-lay, using early telephone technology,
developed the first so-called telephonic interpreting equipment. It was not until
the fall of 7945, however, that simultaneous interpreting made its televised
international debut during the Nuremberg Trials. Until then, interpretation at
multilingual conferences was provided mainly in consecutive mode, requiring
interpreter to take notes during the delivery of a speech in order to reconstitute
it in a different language once the speaker had finished. Some of the first
conference interpreters eagerly embraced simultaneous interpreting, while many
of them categorically rejected it. Over a half a century later, however, it has all
but replaced consecutive interpreting in international meetings, and this is
particularly true for meetings with more than two conference languages.

In spite of that, simultaneous interpreting as a profession is still shrouded in


mystery, and the task itself appears to have lost little of its original potential to
astonish. We are still amazed by simultaneous interpreters' ability to almost
instantaneously, yet seemingly effortlessly, transfer what is said from one
language into another. Researchers studying language and the brain are
similarly impressed by the cognitive processes underlying the task and consider
it one of the most difficult linguistic skills.

Definition of key terms

The current definition of simultaneous interpreting is suggested by the


Intemational Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), according to which
"in simultaneous mode, the interpreter sits in a booth with a clear view of the
meeting room and the speaker and listens to and simultaneously interprets the
speech into a target language".
https://aiic.net/

Interpreting is not translating


Interpreters are often referred to as "translators" and people are not always aware
of the difference between the two professions. How are they different?

An interpreter works with spoken words in a particular context, conveying a


message from one language to another, while translation refers to the activity of
transferring a written text from one language to another.

The spoken word


Interpretation is spoken, translation is written. Interpretation therefore makes
use of particular linguistic resources: the original speaker's ideas are transmitted as
spoken words, with a particular rhythm and intonation, making use of rhetorical
devices and gestures.
How interpreters work
Interpreting can be done in different ways, depending on the setting, how much
time is available, how many languages are used, and whether or not technology is
available.
Simultaneous interpreting
The interpreter sits in a booth, listens to the speaker in one language through
headphones, and immediately speaks their interpretation into a microphone in
another language.
The interpreting equipment transmits the interpretation to the headphones of
listeners in the meeting room.
Simultaneous interpretation is appropriate in bilingual or multilingual meetings
and has the advantage of not lengthening the meeting. It encourages a lively
discussion and more spontaneous contributions.
Simultaneous interpretation requires a high level of concentration, since the
interpreter is doing several things at once:
 listening and speaking,
 analysing the structure of what is being said in order to present the speaker's
argument,
 listening to his/her own interpretation to check for slips of the tongue.
Interpreters therefore take turns of about 30 minutes.
Consecutive interpreting
The interpreter is in the same room as the speaker and follows their speech
while taking notes before presenting their interpretation.
Very long speeches may be broken up into parts, with interpretation after each part,
but a trained interpreter is capable of consecutive interpretation of
speeches several minutes long.
This kind of interpretation is suitable for scientific and technical presentations
given by a single speaker, or in meetings where only a small number of languages
are spoken, since it makes the meeting longer.
Note taking is an essential part of consecutive interpreting. It involves
committing to paper the logic and structure of the statement as an aid to memory,
rather than recording everything that is said.
Whispered interpreting
Whispered interpretation is essentially simultaneous interpreting without a
booth. The interpreter sits very close to the listeners and provides a simultaneous
interpretation in a quiet voice. At least two interpreters take turns.
The practice is hard on the voice and appropriate only for short meetings.
Whispered interpreting is not recommended for more than two people.

The first simultaneous interpreter

What we do know is that the first simultaneous interpreter, or rather candidates


considered apt to become simultaneous interpreters, were not easily found. Many
of the experienced (consecutive) conference interpreters, while possessing
language mastery and good academic credentials, tended to be perfectionists
and froze at the microphone when the right word did not come to mind
immediately. Recruiting trips to Switzerland, Paris and London were necessary to
find 36 individuals who could be trained to perform the task at the Nuremberg
Trials. This anecdotal evidence suggests that the ability to interpret consecutively
did not automatically qualify interpreters to work in simultaneous, and that their
previously acquired skills were not sufficient to perform this new task.

Simultaneous interpreting as a complex task.

Working languages

There is a difference between understanding and speaking a language. This


difference lies at the heart of how interpreters classify their working languages.

As well as speaking their mother tongue perfectly, conference interpreters


perfectly understand one or more other languages and the culture that lies behind
them. They may not speak all of those languages equally well.
Even in their mother tongue people sometimes have the feeling that they 'cannot
find the right word' to express themselves. In a foreign language this is even
harder. It is obviously essential for an interpreter to be able 'to find the right
word' in all circumstances, even under stress.
How do we classify our working languages?
Interpreters must be able to transpose a message from one language to another very
quickly, particularly in simultaneous interpretation, which is very fast. They must
understand quickly, think quickly and speak fluently.
Interpreters are able to express themselves better and more fluently in some
languages than in others.

 The languages they speak fluently are called their 'active' languages.
 Those, which they understand perfectly but do not speak so fluently, are called
their 'passive' languages.

A, B, C languages
Interpreters' working languages are classified in three categories - A, B, C:

 The 'A' language is the interpreter's mother tongue (or its strict equivalent)
into which they work from all their other working languages in both consecutive
and simultaneous interpretation.

It is the language they speak best, and in which they can easily express even
complicated ideas. It is therefore an active language for the interpreter.
 A 'B' language is a language in which the interpreter is perfectly fluent, but is
not a mother tongue. An interpreter can work into this language from one or
several of their other working languages, but may prefer to do so in only one
mode of interpretation, either consecutive or simultaneous (often in 'consecutive'
because it's not so fast). It is also considered an active language for the
interpreter.
 A 'C' language is one which the interpreter understands perfectly but into
which they do not work. They will interpret from this (these) language(s) into
their active languages. It is therefore a passive language for the interpreter.
How this applies to a conference setting
An individual conference or meeting has its own active and passive languages.
The languages spoken by participants will be active languages of the conference
and those they listen to through interpreters will be passive languages of the
conference.
So, if you're organising a conference with interpreters, you will be asked which are
the active and which are the passive languages of the conference, i.e. which
languages are likely to be spoken by participants and which will need to be
interpreted into one or several other languages for the other participants to listen to.
The team of interpreters will be organised so that their working languages
correspond to your requirements. This can be a complicated business, especially if
there are many languages involved, so it's best to ask a consultant interpreter to
help you.

On the difficulty of simultaneous interpreting

At times it might appear that simultaneous interpreting should be an easy feat -


after all, it combines two very robust language-processing tasks we all perform
every day. What is more, we now have evidence suggesting that it is the real-
time combination of structurally similar tasks (e.g., language comprehension
and language production) that makes their execution more difficult, since they
draw upon the same mental resources and thus interfere with each other.

Simultaneous interpreting and memory

One of the principal arguments for the complexity of simultaneous


interpreting, and consequently the source of the perceived difficulty of the task,
lies in the fact that it requires several different cognitive tasks to be carried out
more or less concurrently. As we have seen above, simultaneous interpreting
requires language comprehension-related tasks, such as word recognition and
semantic and syntactic decoding, to be carried out at the same time as language
production-related tasks such as lexical selection and semantic and syntactic
encoding. If we conceive of the human processor, the brain, as a capacity-limited
system, the repercussions on the interpreter’s working memory become clear.
Since the amount of sensory information that can be processed and stored is
limited, tasks that may appear effortless when carried out individually start
competing for the same processing resources when carried out simultaneously,
slowing them down and making them less robust.

Very early on, interpreters' ability to perform the simultaneous interpreting


task was explained by what was assumed intuitively to be their good (working)
memory. Since then, however, several experiments have been carried out in an
attempt to compare the memory capacity of interpreter to that of non-interpreter,
with largely inconclusive and partially contradictory results. It is conceivable,
then, that the complex task of simultaneous interpreting is possible not because
of an increased memory capacity, but rather because some of the information
processing in the brain has been automated. This automation would render these
processes subconscious and less constrained by the brain's capacity limits. In
other words, practice, which has been shown to make almost perfect time sharing
of concurrent tasks possible, might lead to the automation of certain processes
rather than to an increase in memory capacity.

The simultaneous interpreter's profile


Over 50 years ago, Herbert (1952) insisted that a good interpreter needed
personal qualities like ,,nervous resistance" and "readiness of speech",
intellectual gifts like power of concentration, quickness of mind and good
memory, as well as moral attributes like self-control and a sense of
responsibility. Above all, however, Herbert convinced that interpreters' value
depended on their ,.culture", i.e. general knowledge.

It is interesting to see that half a century later, AIIC (n.d.) identifies very similar
traits as being necessary to become a good interpreter.
The skills of the conference interpreter
Interpreters must have complete mastery of their working languages, including an
excellent command of their native language. They need an immediate grasp of
their passive languages and a well-developed capacity to express themselves in
their own language.
Another essential requirement is a good mind. Interpreters need

 a good level of general education,


 a lively and flexible intellect,
 analytic capacity,
 the ability to put themselves in the minds of the people for whom they are
interpreting.

They also need:

 to be able to concentrate,
 have a good memory,
 have a pleasant voice and good diction,
 be physically and mentally robust.

Interpreters need to be willing to travel, since their work often takes them a long
way from home.
Rigour and professional confidentiality
Finally, whether they are freelance or staff, interpreters always have to deliver.
They have to be rigorous, not only in terms of getting the message across, but also
in their everyday professional practice.
A professional conference interpreter is always well-prepared, is never late (even
if the conference participants are), and above all has an absolute obligation to
respect professional confidentiality.
Where interpreters work

Conference interpreters serve the demand for high-quality interpretation services


from clients who need to be sure of perfect communication.

These clients may be private companies, associations, professional conference


organisers, governments, international organisations, and so on. Depending on how
often they need them, they may use the services of freelance interpreters on an ad
hoc basis or may recruit staff interpreters, or both.
For example, an international professional association may have a single annual
congress lasting one or two days for which it will recruit freelance interpreters. In
contrast, the European Commission interpreting service organises dozens of
meetings in parallel every day and has several hundred staff interpreters. It also
recruits freelance interpreters to handle the wide fluctuations in the number of
meetings taking place at any one time.

Freelance interpreters may be recruited directly by their clients, but the contract
more frequently passes through the mediation of professional conference
organisers (PCO) and/or through the services of a consultant interpreter.
Different markets, different places
The market for interpreting services is very different in different places. The
Japanese market, for example, mainly requires interpretation to and from English
and Japanese. In Brussels, the European Institutions need interpreters with a larger
number of passive languages. In some cities, such as Paris, Brussels, Geneva, New
York, Nairobi, and Tokyo, there are relatively large numbers of international
conferences and other meetings, and a correspondingly large number of
interpreters.
Conference interpreters are a rare commodity
There are no more than a few hundred conference interpreters in even the largest of
these cities, and only a few thousand in the whole world. The structure of demand
for interpretation has changed over time, but the demand is still there. Given its
linguistic diversity and historical tradition, Europe is still the largest interpreting
market, but the requirements in other parts of the world, particularly Asia, are
growing rapidly.

Careers
Most interpreters are freelance. Some are employees of international institutions or
large companies. Every interpreting career is different.
Freelance interpreters enjoy freedom and mobility, depending on their language
combination. Theoretically, they can organise their work as they like, accepting or
rejecting the jobs they are offered. Since they work for a wide variety of
organisations, they cover many different subjects and work for many different
kinds of people.
An interpreter's reputation depends on the quality of their work. Clients and other
interpreters will call on an interpreter's services on the basis of this reputation, built
up over time.

The Consultant Interpreter

Consultant interpreters, in addition to working as interpreters, offer conference


organisers a specialised service: recruiting and coordinating a team of interpreters.

The role of the consultant interpreter is to provide the meeting organiser with high-
quality interpretation services well-suited to the organisational needs of the
meeting, while ensuring optimal working conditions for the interpreters. This
service is generally compensated through consulting and management fees.
Staff interpreters
Staff interpreters are temporary or permanent employees of national or
international organisations. They have a reliable income but have less freedom in
planning their own work.
Simultaneous interpreting: the technology

Early days

The technology enabling simultaneous interpretation in the first place goes back
almost a century. By observing interpreters whispering to delegates, the
American businessman, social entrepreneur and philanthropist Edward A. Filene
understood the mechanics of what was de factor a form of simultaneous
interpreting and realized the importance of separating the incoming stream of
sound from the outgoing one, so as to minimize auditory interference.
Consequently, he conceived of a system composing a booth with headsets,
feeding the sound of tire original to the interpreter and a microphone feeding
the sound of the interpretation to the delegates. The first interpreting booths,
which at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 were little more than a few glass
partitions without a ceiling, had evolved into built-in, soundproof structures by
the time the UN General Assembly took place in Flushing Meadows two years
later. Interestingly, however, until very recently the interpreter's workplace
under-went relatively few changes. Similarly, although the telephone
technology originally repurposed for the Filene-Finlay simultaneous interpreting
system, including clunky microphones and unwieldy headsets, gradually gave
way to more sophisticated. It appears that until very recently these changes
were only minor.
Today the specifications for the simultaneous interpreter’s workplace, the
interpreting booth, are laid down in two ISO standards (International
Standardization Organization).
ISO 2603
https://www.iso.org/standard/67065.html
ISO 2603:2016 provides requirements and recommendations for building and
renovating permanent booths for simultaneous interpreting in new and existing
buildings. This document also ensures the usability and accessibility of booths for
all interpreters, including those with special needs.
It is applicable to all types of permanent booths, using built-in or portable
equipment.
In conjunction with either this document or ISO 4043, ISO 20108 and ISO 20109
provide the relevant requirements both for the quality and transmission of sound
and image provided to interpreters and for the equipment needed in the booths.

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