secrets of consecutive conference

interpretingpart 1 : notes

in under 90 seconds

by marina stubinski MA DPSI AITI

EU accredited interpreter speaker and lecturer

in consecutive mode, speaker and interpreter alternate

but the length of speech segments vary, even when agreed beforehand

12/22/14 by marina stubinski 2014

the interpreter cannot know how long the speech

segment will be

taking notes is essential, since memory alone will be insufficient

question any interpreter who has no means of writing !

12/22/14 by marina stubinski 2014

specialist note-taking skills are taught during postgraduate training

they involve independently developed symbols and abbreviations

12/22/14 by marina stubinski 2014

note-taking is not shorthand!

shorthand produces word-for-word text

reading this back would sound unnatural

instead, interpreters distill the speaker’s meaning with symbols and then rephrase succinctly for the audience

12/22/14 by marina stubinski 2014

every interpreter’s notes are individual and unique

interpreters choose symbols they easily associate to a specific meaning; this varies across individuals

but there are no magic symbols for names and numbers!

12/22/14 by marina stubinski 2014

other requirementsestablishing and rehearsing symbols is key, but

a glossary of cool symbols is useless if the following are not of the required level:

comprehension of source languagecomprehension of subject mattergeneral ‘world’ knowledgearticulate target language

12/22/14 by marina stubinski 2014

look out for more from this series!

12/22/14 by marina stubinski 2014

comments to marina stubinski : www.germanitalian.co.uk