Wednesday, 12 December 2012

The Ideal Conference Interpretation Methods

By Celia Hall


For interpreters to carry out a successful conference interpretation, it is important to make use of the recommended techniques. Before engaging in such a task a person should know that it involves several tools. People with interest of becoming interpreters must know that, translation of languages in any kind of context is a complex technique. This kind of technique combines several competencies, consisting of memory recall, linguistic proficiency and the capability to think faster.

The act of interpreting to most experts has a different meaning from translation. To them translation is the act of rendering written material in a language which is foreign. On the other hand interpreting is what professionals believe to be the act of rendering words particularly spoken words in a foreign language. This can be done either verbally or by transcription. Before an individual engages in such type of work, it is better to master some few key points.

Know the material. This basically means a person must find out more information concerning the talk materials that will be used during the meeting. This will help an individual get fully prepared before the meeting day. This actually depends on the person. People differ in terms of experience and the level of know-how when interpreting a specific kind of meeting. Find more on phrases, words and topics.

As part of the process of getting prepared for the meeting, one is advised to talk to the discussion organizers about the issue. Ask them for copies of the talk materials in advance. At times such materials might be difficult to obtain but still one has to find the best means of getting prepared. The more a person prepares for the talk, the less surprises that person will have deal with on the meeting day.

An individual is advised to know his or her audience. Awareness of the people a person will be interpreting for will definitely determine how the task will look like. There are certain terminologies and phrases that one should use in certain meetings. One should be very careful when interpreting for people who are professionals in a certain field.

However, those meetings that are open to everyone or those meetings with topics that are broader, one might be forced to modify his or her presentation accordingly. In such cases, one should avoid using complicating terms. An expert interpreter will know how to explain things in a way that will be understood by all participants.

Focus on meaning for meaning. Depending on how procedural the subject matter, the task should focus totally on the meaning. Explaining word for word is a task that might be complex and challenging. This is very true especially when it comes to expressions, idioms and phrasing specific to a given language. One might be forced to reorder words. Some might go to an extent of changing or re-ordering the whole sentence.

The ability to speak and listen at the same time is important. It is a common technique used in simultaneous translation. If one can master such information then he or she will definitely be successful in conference interpretation.




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