Very often conference interpreters will be presented with the text of, or a version of, the speech that is to be interpreted. The speaker may read the text verbatim, use it only as memory aid or not use it at all. The text may come as a Word doc, a pdf or a Powerpoint… or on paper. And the interpreter may receive it after the speech has started, shortly before or, ideally, hours or days before.
In this film Andy Gillies outlines a series of tricks and techniques to help the interpreter use the text – or not – and the time available to best support their simultaneous interpreting. Those techniques will differ depending on when the interpreter receives the text of the speech. Referencing the work of Kate Davies, Kilian Seeber, and Robin Setton & Andrew Dawrant (see bibliography) as well as Andy’s own extensive experience of simultaneous with text the film addresses questions of reformatting the text; what to read first; several forms of annotation; summarizing; structural rearrangement of the source text and the use of colour in annotation.
Andrew GILLIES.
Further reading:
Davies, Kate, EU Commission https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/simultaneous-interpretation-with-text https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1338804389833381
Ivanov K., Davies K. & Naimushin B. – Teaching Simultaneous Interpretation with text, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Boris-Naimushin/publication/287294176_Teaching_Simultaneous_Interpretation_with_Text/links/56751c6408ae502c99cab8c2/Teaching-Simultaneous-Interpretation-with-Text.pdf
Cammoun, Davies, Ivanov & Naimushin – Simultaneous Interpretation with Text Is the Text ‘Friend’ or ‘Foe’? https://www.academia.edu/3172232/Simultaneous_Interpretation_with_Text_Is_the_Text_Friend_or_Foe_Laying_Foundations_for_a_Teaching_Module
Palairet, Rowland – Sim with text – marking up https://interpretertrainingresources.eu/preparation/sim-with-text-marking-up/
Setton & Dawrant, – Conference Interpreting – A complete course p 323-331 Three types of annotation 1. saliency markers (underlining, highlighting, circling) (would include LINKS, keywords) 2. structuring marks (slashes, brackets, arrows, big commas) (+ Andy numbering for order) 3. TL or intermediate solutions/translations
Seeber, Kilian – When the ear leads the eye – the use of text during simultaneous interpretation https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23273798.2020.1799045?scroll=top&needAccess=true
“We found that interpreters have a preference for a visual lead during RWL (reading while listening), following the pattern well-documented in silent and oral reading studies. During SIMTXT, in contrast, interpreters show a clear preference for a visual lag. We tentatively conclude that during SIMTXT the visual input might be used first and foremost to support the production of the output rather than the comprehension of the input”
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Chris says
Dear Andrew,
as you know, i‘ve been a big fan of yours for ages – particularly when it comes to getting accross things to students.
In the Heidelberg Model of interpreting, we‘ve been automating document / speech manuscript preparation by AI: get the printout very last minute, have the conceptual inventory added to your ’Regieplan’ with terms and _cues_ that trigger pithy target language wordings (all types of efficiency strategies applied), in an instant.
We’ve been teaching interpreting strategies to bots and it seems to (_most of the time with catastrophic glitches) faily well. Consistency is a problem. But students get a lot out of it conceptually as they reflect on what they want from the visual vs the auditory input (Tonspur).
warm regards from Heidelberg,