Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Best Conference Interpretation Techniques

By Celia Hall


There are quite a number of recommended skills which can make the task of conference interpretation easy. It only requires the interpreter to make use of them. People should know that this kind of job involves a good number of tools. If planning to be a translator, one should be prepared enough. Translating one language to another is a challenging task. It combines a number of competencies, including memory recall, capability to think faster and linguistic proficiency.

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.

It is important to know the material. Depending on the level of know-how in a specific field, or the level of experience in interpreting a particular type of meeting, a person must be prepared ahead of time. Getting prepared will involve going deeper into specific phrases and words of the subject. A person must also do a background reading on a certain topics of the discussion.

It is also advisable to contact the meeting organizers and ask for copies of talk or presentation materials ahead of time. Such materials can be hard to obtain but an individual must find a way of getting ready for the talk. The more an individual prepares in advance, the fewer surprises that individual will have to handle on the day of the meeting.

As an interpreter, one must know his or her listeners. An interpreter who is aware of the audience will tend to do better than the one who has no knowledge about the kind of listeners he or she is interpreting for. Not all terms are used in every meeting. This is because participants differ in their level of professionalism. One has to be cautious in such situations.

On the other hand, those discussions open to the public or discussions with broader subjects, one has to tailor his or her talk accordingly. It is very important to ensure complex terms are not used in such occasions. It would be better if one explains things in simple language. Sacrifice some details just for the sake of the overall transparency.

When interpreting, one should maintain the meaning of the topic. One is advised to avoid providing explanations word by word as this might be quite complex. Word by word method can be hard especially when it comes to idioms, expressions and phrasing particular to a specific language. Such cases might force one to reorder sentences and words.

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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