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.
Language enhancement exercises for conference interpreters
“At advanced levels, where grammar has been more or less mastered, the main difference between foreign students and native speakers is that the latter have been exposed to their language for many years, over thousands and thousands of hours. As a result they have a wider cultural and contextual understanding of the language, a wider vocabulary and a commands of a wider range of registers. Constant contact with the language and the subjects that are discussed in that language mean that native-speakers have a huge head start on foreign learners.” (From Conference Interpreting – a Student’s Practice book, Andrew Gillies)
Intonation in simultaneous interpreting
“Intonation is not a luxury. It’s a crucial part of communicating well. Getting it wrong in languages with little or no verb conjugation or noun declension (like English) can lead to being understood less well. The moral of the story… make an effort to speak normally and with normal intonation patterns when in the booth. Record yourself onto a dictaphone to check how you’re doing”. [Read more…]
Analysis exercises for consecutive interpreting
‘Analysis’ is often cited as one of the most important skills in consecutive interpreting but it’s one that is less often practised in isolation. [Read more…]
CONSEC DEMO EN-FR: Plaisir du soleil?
Hi Felix.
First of all, congratulations for accepting to take part in this public exercise. This is certainly good practice for stress management and an excellent preparation for exams or tests !
Then a few comments about the speech. It is relatively long (over 6 minutes) and relatively easy : the speaker – who is a native- is clear; the structure of her speech is pretty straight forward and the pace not too fast (although not as slow as you would think just listening to her..)
Why consecutive learning is important?
“Although I’m retired from the Commission now I still do a bit of training now and again and I sometimes get asked why students of conference interpreting on university interpretation courses spend so much of their time learning how to do consecutive interpreting when practically all the work they’ll do later as a conference interpreter- assuming they get that far- will consist of simultaneous interpreting.. [Read more…]
Workshop on Interpreting Skills Exchange: WISE
WISE (Workshop on Interpreting Skills Exchange) is an intensive practice workshop which operates on a mutually beneficial basis, relying upon the goodwill of those taking part. [Read more…]
Chuchotage/ Whispering
The Interpreter’s Functions and Duties Defined
The interpreter’s escort duties are many and varied and cannot be fully covered in this brief manual. [Read more…]
Ivana ČEŇKOVÁ, conference interpreting before and after the Velvet Revolution
European Masters in Conference Interpreting
EMCI Core Curriculum
Contents
- Preamble
- Aims of the Programme
- Core Curriculum
- Course structure and workload
- Admission to the programme
- The final examinations
- Mobility
- Joint programmes
1. Preamble
In early 1997 the European Commission’s Joint Interpreting and Conference Service (SCIC) and DGXXII approached the Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages (SOCRATES-ERASMUS Programme) about the possibility of launching a European pilot project for the joint development of a university programme at advanced level (Masters type) in Conference Interpreting to remedy the shortage of highly qualified conference interpreters, particularly with language combinations which include less widely used and less taught languages. [Read more…]
RETOUR DEMO DE EN: Die Bahnstadt
[youtube=http://youtu.be/eCHeWYG1nyw]
“Notetaking is a very individual technique. I think it is strongly related to the way the individual interpreter processes information. Most interpreters note down lots of facts, numbers etc. This approach bears the risk of missing the links and coming up with a lot of information which, however, may then be presented in an incoherent way. Also, their active listening may suffer, as they concentrate too much on the notetaking.