Chris Davidson

CDCD: Vol 01, Issue 10

Welcome to this "CDCD" from the Professional Speakers Journal (PSJ). 

These notes will be kept short and sweet and only have two objectives:

1. Add value to your business giving you a 'heads up' on simple tips and techniques may not have heard about
2. Keep you informed about what's new in the Professional Speakers Journal

Working with simultaneous interpreters 

What's the difference between an interpreter and a translator?

The clue lies in the words themselves and they are often misused. Translators convert (normally written) text from one language to another. It is normally an asynchronous process, by which I mean that the text is not being translated at the same time as it is being produced in its native language. Where idiomatic language has been used the translator must search for an idiom of similar meaning in the new language. Generally speaking written text is more formal than the spoken word and idioms make up a much smaller percentage of the overall message.

Simultaneous interpreters have -- in my view -- a much tougher job. They have to listen to a spoken language in one language and (fairly) instantly come up with a set of words that transmits the same meaning in another language. They then need to say this second set of words, while still listening to a new message in the initial language. There is no real time in which to translate between languages -- the response has to be much quicker than that. It is arrived at by an instinctive process of quickly getting to the key point of the sentence (or group of sentences) and coming up with phrases in the new language which transmit the same meaning. As idioms make up a much higher percentage of spoken language than written language, the interpreter is seeking words or phrases that transmit the same meaning, (as opposed to simply being a fair translation.

How can you help your interpreter do a good job for you?

There are some fairly straight forward things you can do to make an interpreter's job easier and thereby improve the experience for your foreign language audience:

1. Give the interpreter beforehand a summary of your presentation. If you can present it in diagrammatic form, for example a mind map, then so much the better. Show the flow through your presentation and the key points you'll be making. This allows the interpreter to ensure that these key points are well presented.

2. If you are going to use certain idioms because they make the point really well in your native language, then let the interpreter know what these are beforehand -- he or she then has more time to come up with suitable alternatives.

3. Likewise for phrases or names that are designed to sound really nice in your native language -- maybe because of some linguistic feature like alliteration. Let the interpreter know in advance what these are. For example, in one of my presentations I refer to number of characters with names like "Whistling William" and "Petrified Peter". I always make sure interpreters know of these in advance and also the significance of the names, this allows them to pick suitable foreign language alternatives.

4. In terms of actual delivery, it's not really necessary to speak slower -- however, it is necessary to deliver bite-sized chunks of information, with slightly longer pauses than you would normally use.

5. Finally; don't waffle. It's very difficult for an interpreter to follow a waffler, because it's pretty much impossible to latch onto the key message that's being made (because there isn't one). Make your point, then shut up while the interpreter does his or her job.

If you have ideas for material you'd like us to cover in the Journal, then please let me know.

Regards,

Chris Davidson

Editor@ProfessionalSpeakersJournal.com

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