the difficulties of interpreting

7/25/2019 The Difficulties of Interpreting

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The Difficulties ofInterpreting

Pusks Eszter, NagyNorbert

ate: 11. 07. 201

o"ation: #aros$sr%ely

&apientia E#TE


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Obstacles to watch out forThere are many hurdles and challenges an interpreter canencounter during interpreting. These include, but are not

limited to:

A lack of understanding and/or command of the source and/ortarget language.

acking in the comprehension department

Inattenti!eness, inabiltiy to focus, short attention span.

"roblems pertaining to memory #a!ing in under pressure.

$ot being able to compensate for the speaker%s mistakes.

"oor social skills.


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(s is t%e "ase )%en trying to pi"k up *ost skills,

interpreting re+uires one to be "o*petent at a*ultitude o ot%er t%ings t%at indi$idually "ontributeto, and toget%er *ake up t%e *astery o skillul

interpreting. Not %a$ing t%e ne"essary tools "an leadto *istakes t%at, i not re*edied and addressed inti*e, )ill e$entually a*ount to "atastrop%i" results,and possibly e$en a person-s disillusion*ent )it%

interpretation as a )%ole.

To be"o*e an a""o*plis%ed and eperien"e

interpreter, one s%ould "onstantly stri$e and seek to

The Interpreter%s Toolkit


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T%e i*portan"e o understanding and uently

speaking bot% sour"e and target languages "annotbe o$erstated. (lso, si*ply retreading t%e gist o

)%at %as been said is not enoug%. (n a""o*plis%edand eperien"ed interpreter )ill nd )ays to relay

and "o**uni"ate t%e true essen"e o t%e state*ents*ade, )it% *ini*al departure ro* t%e originalintended *essage insoar as t%e nature o t%e t)o

languages allo) or3.

4rasp o language


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5nterestingly, t%e )ay )e do t%is is by *aking all o t%eneeded ad6ust*ents and *odi"ations in our o)n

language. T%is *ay eel "ounterintuiti$e at rst, as *osto us )ould probably eel in"lined to *etap%rase, but aterrealizing t%at languages play by t%eir o)n respe"ti$e rulesand re+uire re"on"iliation ro* t%e interpreter, it graduallybe"o*es less daunting and "onusing o a task. 5t is also

i*perati$e to %a$e a ri"% $o"abulary, )%i"% allo)s orgreater di$ersity and $ersitility during interpreting. T%e

larger our pool o kno)ledge )it% respe"t to t%e nu*ber o)ords )e kno), t%e greater our "%an"es to a""urately

interpret. Elo+uen"e, arti"ulation and "ollou+ialis* also

play a %uge role, and s%ouldn-t be ignored eit%er.

4rasp o language


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8nly understanding )%at t%e )ords t%e*sel$es *ean )ouldlea$e *u"% to be desired. 5t is "ru"ial t%at aspiring

interpreters inti*ately a*iliarize t%e*sel$es )it% )%ate$ersour"e language t%ey plan on interpreting in t%e uture. T%is

s%ould etend to ter*inology and 6argon t%at-s spe"i" to"ertain areas o epertise su"% as la), *edi"ine, e"ono*i"s,

business, entertain*ent et".3. Doing t%is ensures t%at t%einterpreter in +uestion-s skills are tailored to t%e needs o t%e

kind o "lients %e-s looking to attra"t, gi$ing %i* a $iable"%an"e and an edge o$er t%e "o*petition in t%e *arket.

Troubles 9it%

o*pre%ension


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9%et%er you are present in t%e *o*ent and de$oid o di$ersions%as t%e potential to *ake or break one-s "areer as an interpreter.

&"attered*indedness is an interpreter-s )orst nig%t*are. &pa"ingout, daydrea*ing and allo)ing one-s sel to run a)ay )it% %ist%oug%ts )ill undoubtedly lead to blunders and possibly e$enin"o%erent *u*blings on t%e part o t%e interpreter, as %e is

o$er"o*e )it% aniety and stress and tries to o$er"o*pensate by

lling t%e gaps in %is inor*ation database )it% arbitrary, )%i*si"al6ibberis%. ($oid *aking t%is *istake at all "osts. 5nterpreters are nott%ere to i*pro$ize, or to o/er t%eir o)n spin on )%at-s been said.(ny t%oug%ts t%at are not in so*e )ay related to )%at %as been

spoken s%ould be blo"ked out and disregarded, as t%ey only detra"tro* t%e task at %and. T%e su""essul interpreter lea$es %is

personal lie and "onte*plations at t%e door.

Not paying enoug%

attention


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;etaining inor*ation su"essully is o t%e essen"e.5nor*ation t%at %as not been retained "annot be retrie$ed,

be"ause it is not t%ere. &enten"es "an range in lengt% ro* a"ouple o )ords to se$eral lines )ort% o tet, and t%e

interpreter %as to be prepared to dra) on anyt%ing t%at %asbeen uttered during t%e interpretation pro"ess at any gi$en

ti*e. T%is applies to t%e interpreter-s "%oi"e o )ords as )ell.

T%e "lient *ay +uote pre$iously spoken lines o %is, so it %elpsto re*e*ber %o) t%ey )ere or*erly interpreted so as to

a$oid any "onusion or *isunderstanding.


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5nterpreting "an be a tre*endously stressul 6ob. 5 you let it. 5 youare sel"ons"ious or o$erly "on"erned about your peror*an"e le$el,

you "an epe"t t%e +uality o your peror*an"e to plu**et, asopposed to being "al*, "ool and "olle"ted, in )%i"% "ase you s%ouldepe"t your peror*an"e le$el to skyro"ket. 9e tend to t%ink t%at t%e)ay )e a$ert ailure is by being o$ertly *indul o e$ery little t%ing

)e do. 5roni"ally enoug%, t%is ea"t )ay o t%inking assures, or in t%e$ery least raises t%e likeli%ood o ailure. (n interpreter-s aniety

during interpretation is in no s*all part due to t%e a"t t%at t%ey aredealing )it% a"tual people, rig%t t%ere and t%en. T%e s*allest *istake"ould spell t%eir doo*, but arguably t%e biggest *istake is %a$ing t%is

state o *ind. ?ind your "o*posure and let go o your )orries. @our*ind )ill t%ank you or it, and it )ill alo) it t%e reedo* to )ork in

opti*al as%ion, unin%ibited by seli*posed "onstraints.

9orking Ander &tress


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(spiring interpreters need to learn t%is one basi" rule: (longside

doing t%eir o)n 6obs, t%ey %a$e to do t%e "lient-s ob or t%e*, as)ell. People "o*e in all s%apes and $ariaties, and "lients o

interpreters are no di/erent in t%is regard. #any o t%e* )ill not"are i t%ey %a$e epressed t%e*sel$es in an in"o%erent *anner.(s ar as t%ey-re "on"erned, t%ey-re paying you to bridge t%e gap

bet)een t%e*sel$es and t%eir dialogue partners, so i a*is"o**uni"ation o""urs, you-re likelt to be aulted. 5t is unair,but so are people, and as )e already establis%ed, an interpreter

)orks )it% a"tual people in real lie "ir"u*stan"es. &o*e o t%e**ig%t also %a$e spee"% i*pedi*ents, )%i"% is no ault o t%eiro)n, but t%e interpreter )ill %a$e to "o*pensate all t%e sa*e.


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&o"ial skills are an absolute *ust or anyone )%o-slooking to *ake it as an interpreter. (ter all, t%eir

*ain line o )ork is one o "o**uni"ation. Etre*eintro$erts are likely to *ake poor interpreters, unlesst%ey "an keep t%eir solitary nature at bay, and ro*sura"ing in ti*es o intera"tion. Disputes are also

likely to arise, and t%ey need to be %andleda""ordingly, )%i"% re+uires t%e interpreter to not getustered and settle or less t%an %is skills are )ort%.

8ne needn-t be a so"ial buttery, %o)e$er, being

relati$ely "o*ortable around people is ne"essary anden"oure ed. 4et out *ore. @ou )ill see a $ast

Poor so"ial skills


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Ea*ples o spee"% +uirks or i*pedi*ents:

&peaking in a $ery lo), %u**ing tone o $oi"e.

&peaking etre*ely ast, or sputtering.

&tuttering.

&"enariobased 5ntera"ti$e

4a*e


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the difficulties of interpreting

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