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What is Consecutive Interpreting-1

Consecutive interpreting involves interpreting after a speaker has finished, typically used for shorter utterances in settings like medical appointments and legal proceedings, requiring strong memory and note-taking skills. Simultaneous interpreting occurs in real-time alongside a speaker, often used in diplomatic settings and online meetings, relying on specialized equipment and the interpreter's ability to manage listening and speaking simultaneously. Language shadowing is a technique for language learning where a student repeats audio in real-time to improve pronunciation and absorb vocabulary.

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Noorhan Nasser
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1 views

What is Consecutive Interpreting-1

Consecutive interpreting involves interpreting after a speaker has finished, typically used for shorter utterances in settings like medical appointments and legal proceedings, requiring strong memory and note-taking skills. Simultaneous interpreting occurs in real-time alongside a speaker, often used in diplomatic settings and online meetings, relying on specialized equipment and the interpreter's ability to manage listening and speaking simultaneously. Language shadowing is a technique for language learning where a student repeats audio in real-time to improve pronunciation and absorb vocabulary.

Uploaded by

Noorhan Nasser
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is Consecutive Interpreting?

If you’re looking for a definition of consecutive interpreting, the name says it


all: interpreting done consecutively (after a speaker has finished talking). As
such, it’s usually used for scenarios in which each utterance is short, but can
extend to speeches of around ten minutes. Some situations where
consecutive interpreting might occur include:

• medical appointments
• legal proceedings
• business or diplomatic meetings
• conferences

Consecutive interpretation requires an excellent memory and note-taking


skills on top of a comprehensive vocabulary. Interpreters’ notes use a system
of symbols representing common ideas (e.g., a pitchfork might represent
agriculture). If you’d like an example, this video demonstrates one
interpreter’s note-taking system for a 14-minute speech.
Every consecutive interpreter uses their own symbols. The goal is not a
word-for-word recap (especially since the interpreter will have to use
different words), but rather a memory aid. They help interpreters remember
the speech they’ve just heard in order to present it in the target language. But
what if a speech is too long to simply remember?

What is Simultaneous Interpreting?


As the name suggests, simultaneous interpreting is interpreting done
simultaneously (at the same time as another speaker). Because it relies less
on memory, it’s used for longer speeches, though interpreters generally swap
out with a partner every 30 minutes or so. This interpreting mode is used in
places like:

• the UN, European Parliament, or other diplomatic bodies


• official press conferences
• live performances and concerts.
The pandemic has also popularized the use of remote simultaneous
interpreting for things like online meetings.
This practice often relies on simultaneous interpreting equipment. The
interpreter listens to the speaker through headphones and interprets the
speech into a microphone for their listeners. They’ll still have a notebook
handy to accurately recall statistics, dates/years, and the names of
organizations or people. For things like Zoom simultaneous interpreting,
their equipment also includes a computer and solid internet connection.
What makes simultaneous interpreting really tricky is having to listen and
talk at the same time. This depends on finding the right ear-voice span, or the
gap between when a speaker and interpreter each start talking, which can
vary by language pair. Too long, and the interpreter will forget what was
said. Too short, and they risk mimicking the source language grammar or
tripping up over false cognates. For example, the Spanish
word compromiso most often translates to commitment, not compromise. It
takes a trained, professional interpreter to catch that distinction and
accurately interpret it in real time.
Short Term vs Long Term Memory

Short term memory holds a small amount of information, often for as little
as twenty seconds. That information either enters long term memory or it
doesn’t.

Long term memory holds larger blocks of information. Unlike short term
memory, long term memory seems to have an unlimited capacity.
What Is Language Shadowing?
Simply, language shadowing is repeating aloud what you hear, word for
word, with as little delay as possible.

Linguist Alexander Arguelles is considered the inventor of language


shadowing. He’s created a series of videos focused on teaching and
demonstrating the technique.
Arguelles defines shadowing as a language learning technique where the
student listens to a recording of target language audio,
and simultaneously echoes what they hear. Shadowing is designed to force
you to focus on the sounds of your target language and develop
pronunciation that mimics a native speaker.
Ideally, you’ll eventually also start to absorb vocabulary, grammar rules and
natural sentence structures.
Arguelles recommends doing three things while shadowing to improve your
focus and memory:

• Walking outside swiftly

• Maintaining a good posture

• Repeating aloud in a loud, articulate manner

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