Those who know me know that I am a firm believer in investing in personal learning and growth. I am currently undertaking a training course with an interpreter from the European Parliament who is really at the top of the industry to absorb his valuable knowledge with the aim to become as elite as he is! He has shared his knowledge to help me interpret to the best of my ability, every time.
The sky really is the limit!
I thought I could share a few of his pearls of wisdom with you all, as some of his tools have really made me think about how I work and how I could improve, even after twenty years of interpreting!
So, here’s a snapshot of a few of his insights which I found particularly helpful to remember, and hope you might think are useful, too:
- Focus on the main ideas – second best is absolutely fine: your audience will not know!
- In simultaneous, interpreters need to be able to express themselves in short, simple sentences despite the speakers who tend to use complicated, long sentences. Apply the salami technique!
- Try to add intonation into your interpretation, monotony will send your audience to sleep! A person listening to interpretation is often dependent on intonation patterns for emphasis, nuance and structure. Don’t distract your audience with a wrong intonation pattern.
- Don’t worry about taking a second of silence to absorb the speaker’s full meaning before interpreting. Your audience trusts you and a moment of quiet will not concern them, it shows that you are intelligently forming the correct sentence. Silence (for a moment) can be golden!
- Keep your audience entertained.
Top tips for interpreting are always so valuable and something I love to come across. I hope these have been useful. If you’d like to share your tips, I’d love to hear from you!