Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

CANADIAN FORCES LANGUAGE SCHOOL

BASIC INTERPRETING TECHNIQUES FOR SPECIFIC MILITARY PURPOSES

ESCORT INTERPRETING IN THE MILITARY FIELD

Jana Vasilj-Begovic, M.A. B.A. B.Ed.

Foreign Language Standards Officer

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

SCOPE OF PRESENTATION

COURSE BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

COURSE OBJECTIVES

COURSE CONTENT

TRAINING OUTCOMES AND LIMITATIONS

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

COURSE BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

NEEDS ANALYSIS

Gap in Training in LCA Programme

Task Force Afghanistan Deployments

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COURSE DESIGN

BASED ON BOOK “INTERPRETATION” – TECHNIQUES AND

EXERCISES BY JAMES NOLAN, former Deputy Director, Interpretation, Meetings and Publications Division, United Nations

Adapted for military escort interpreting in the field and Pashtu language

Easily adaptable to other language combinations

Five-day course (theory and practice)

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. To convey an understanding of what interpretation is

2. To develop attentive listening skills3. To improve dual tasking capability4. To expand working memory5. To make cultural adjustments6. To become more efficient in note-taking7. To achieve the ability to interpret consecutively

passages of up to 50 words (to be tested at the end of the course).

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

COURSE CONTENT

Basic Interpreting Pointers Segmentation Re-formulation Connections Note-taking Style and Tone Untranslatability Figures of Speech Numbers Practice Guidelines

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

BASIC INTERPRETING POINTERS

Deliver the message Meaning is contextual Silence is golden When is “close” close enough Brevity is the soul of wit Never panic Use all your tools Pacing Don’t correct yourself unnecessarily There’s more than one way to ….      

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COURSE CONTENT

Segmentation Dividing Text into Units of Meaning

Reformulation Putting it Differently

Connections Paying Attention to Connections

Note Taking Developing a System of Note Taking and Use of Symbols

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Note Taking

vlu £ = ¥ all '93 but in '94 ¥ > £

Pres Afg: un-dev was src of polt vlnce

Pres: Cttee reprt was ♪* to ears!

The search will cover the 3-floor building with the red tile roof and the 2-floor grey building with the black asphalt roof.

Notes: 3F B RT 2f G BA

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

COURSE CONTENT

Style and Tone Changing Style and Tone of Speech According to Situation

Examples:

The financial sources available are insufficient. There is not enough money. We’re broke.

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

“Frankly my dear, that is the least of my concerns.”

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COURSE CONTENT

Untranslatability Dealing with Problems of Untranslatability

Figures of Speech Recognizing Figures of Speech and Avoiding Literal Translation

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UNTRANSLATABILITY/FIGURES OF SPEECH/IDIOMS

Time and tide wait for no man. Let’s not delay

To shoot from the hip To react instinctively

Every cloud has a silver lining Even bad events bring something good

They are the salt of the earth Valuable, honest,

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COURSE CONTENT

• Numbers Interpreting numbers correctly

Examples:

52.3 percent of children were vaccinated

500 boxes of 20 mm rounds of mortar ammunition”

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COURSE CONTENT

The Role of the Interpreter

i. Always strive to give an accurate, faithful and complete interpretation.

ii. Always conduct yourself in a professional manner. In particular, show respect towards all parties involved in the situation. Be tactful, discreet, culturally sensitive, detached, and firm when necessary, as well as clear.

iii. Be as unobtrusive as possible. A good interpreter should enable the parties to communicate, “as if he were not there”.

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COURSE CONTENT

Guidelines of Conduct

i. Know who your assigned Canadian Forces (CF) Point of Contact is.

Never advance in front of your CF/ISAF team or become separated from it for any reason.

Always request (if time permits) a Pre-Meeting Brief with the highest ranking CF/ISAF member to include:a.    Define the aim of the meeting

ii. b.    Identify special Western vocabulary or conceptsiii. c.    Tell the CF/ISAF leader if there are special cultural

awareness sensitivities connected to this meeting

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COURSE CONTENT

Practice – Scripted and Semi-Scripted Scenarios

Example:A Canadian officer visits a shepherd who has information about an ammunition dump concealed by the Taliban.

 Instructions to the military person playing the role of the Canadian officer:

after polite introductions, ask the shepherd to describe to you what he saw and how to find it.

 Instructions to the Pashto resource person playing the shepherd: Say that while

you were herding your sheep through the hills south-east of your village last week, you noticed a cave at the foot of a cliff and, out of curiosity, took a look inside. You saw an old Soviet-era anti-aircraft gun, two heavy machineguns of the kind you have seen mounted on armoured vehicles, a pile of rocket propelled grenades and some land mines. Give a long and somewhat complicated description of how to get to the cave, including descriptions of landmarks (rocks, bushes, creek beds, etc.) which you use by memory to get to that location, which is a place where your sheep can find a water-hole. Say that you are now afraid to go near the place because there might be Taliban around.

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TRAINING OUTCOMES AND LIMITATIONS

Training neither produces interpreters nor has that objective as its goal.

Most interpreters speak English at Level 2, and are able to interpret at Level 2 (IAW ILR)

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

ILR DESCRIPTION OF INTERPRETATION LEVELS

Able to transfer information with some accuracy. The individual may be able to function when exchanges are short, involve subject matters that are routine, and discourse that is repetitive or predictable. May require repetition and clarification. The individual may report only speech content instead of the speaker’s own words. Expression in the target language may be frequently faulty.

Canadian Forces Language School – Canadian Forces Language School – École de langues des Forces canadiennesÉcole de langues des Forces canadiennes

TRAINING OUTCOMES AND LIMITATIONS

Limited proficiency in English

Lack of ability to interpret in formal settings, and transfer not only the message but the style, and level of speech formality.

Insufficient knowledge of military terminology

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CONCLUSIONS

Trainees perceive training as extremely beneficial

Skill expected to improve with extensive practice in the field

Interpreters share knowledge and advice with new interpreters upon return, and facilitate with training

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MISINTERPRETATIONS

YOU ARE FIRED! YOU ARE BURNT!

I AM NEITHER OPEN OR CLOSED TO THIS CHAIR.

THIS JOB DOES NOT MATTER TO ME ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

AFFECTION LUST

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ESCORT INTERPRETING

THANK YOU!

Questions!