When note-taking for consecutive interpreting is mentioned the first thing that student interpreters ask about are symbols. And although it is true that knowing a reasonable number of very useful symbols can make our lives much easier, please don’t forget that symbols are relatively unimportant and certainly not a panacea for consecutive interpreting problems. If you don’t have a structured, consistent and meaningful note-taking system then no amount of symbols is going to help you.

This film explains why we use symbols in the first place; what you might want to replaces with symbols; and how to use symbols effectively.

Andrew GILLIES is interpreter trainer, coordinator of AIIC Training and author of Conference Interpreting – a Student’s Practice book.