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Simultaneous and Consecutive Interpretation
Articles on Interpretation
Simultaneous and Consecutive Interpretation
Simultaneous and Consecutive Interpretation In consecutive
interpretation the interpreter has the advantage of knowing the line of argument
before he interprets. Speeches given at international conferences (excluding
written statements) generally last a few minutes, giving the interpreter time to
analyze them. He analyses the nuances and subtleties of the speech, although the
message is delivered at a speech averaging 150 words a minute. Few activities
require such concentration or cause such fatigue!
When conference interpreting first began, some years ago, the speakers offered
to stop after every sentence and give the floor to the interpreter. This was a
manifestation of the belief that interpretation consisted of a mere
word-for-word translation and the speaker felt that, by using this method, the
interpreter could commit to memory all of the words in the preceding sentence
and then translate them. However, the meaning of an individual sentence is
rarely clear when it is taken out of context, and today interpreters request
that speakers carry on with their discourse because the rest of the speech will
often clarify a statement which was obscure and reveal the assumptions
underlying any one sentence.
The time lag which the interpreter enjoys in consecutive interpretation is
cruelly lacking in simultaneous interpretation. It may therefore seem
inconsistent to claim that simultaneous likewise provides an opportunity for
exploration and comprehension of the message. But let us look more closely at
simultaneous interpretation before examining the methods of analysis used in
interpretation in general.
The observer is struck by the fact that the interpreter manages to do two things
at once: listen and speak. But this is not exactly the case. In order to
understand what simultaneous interpretation involves, let us look more closely
at what happens. When we speak spontaneously our words do not come out in
spurts: we do not first think out what we are going to say and then stop
thinking while we speak; nor do we stop speaking in order to mentally compose
what we are going to say next. On the contrary, our speech is continuous. To be
specific, it involves two superimposed processes in a cause and effect
relationship: mental impulses and their oral expression. Seen in time, however,
the words are uttered at the precise moment the following thought is conceived;
at the precise moment the product of the conceptualizing process is uttered, the
mind is already focused on further development of the thought which is to be
expressed in the following statement。
The simultaneous interpreter does virtually the same thing as when he is
speaking spontaneously. He hears the next sentence while he is stating the
preceding idea, yet he does not listen to the next sentence but to the sentence
which he himself is delivering. He does, however, hear the meaning of the
sentence being delivered by the speaker and it is this meaning which he retains
in order to deliver the sentence himself immediately afterwards. Thus, just as
when he speaks spontaneously, the words he hears while interpreting are those
which he utters, but the thoughts which his mind focuses on are those which will
produce his next words. The difference is that, here, the thought he will utter
comes from an outside source.
This is just a very common occurrence carried to extremes. We might go as far as
to say that there are no thoughts which are completely the product of one
individual, or completely original, and that in any situation what one says is
only the end product of a thought which is born of the input of countless
outside sources which nourish us as children and enrich us as adults. The work
of an interpreter is, therefore, only an extreme case of reconstruction of ideas
from outside sources. In practice, however, the simultaneous interpreter is
relieved of the immediate task of developing the thought he has just stated. In
place of this he substitutes analysis and comprehension of the speaker’s line of
thought. Simultaneous interpretation involves “hearing” the thoughts of another
instead of one’s own thoughts. It also involves speaking spontaneously because
all speaking involves talking and listening at the same time, although usually
one “hears” one’s own thoughts. Simultaneous interpretation means reordering the
steps in the mental process which we all experience when we speak spontaneously.
This is why, if correctly taught, simultaneous interpretation can be learned
quite rapidly, assuming one has already learned the art of analysis in
consecutive interpretation. The problem in simultaneous interpretation stems not
from the technique used, but from a series of other problems. Let us simply say
here that simultaneous is too often considered as a simple word-for-word
translation, with a certain number of words stored in the memory (probably to
avoid the trap of false cognates and not translate actuel by actual) and then
repeated in the target language. During the time lag which separates the
speaker’s words from those of the interpreter, the interpreter had better things
to do than memorize the words he has heard, because the speaker relentlessly
continues to deliver his idea and the interpreter must do the same to avoid
sputtering out snatches of ideas. Even memorizing a half dozen words would
distract the interpreter, whose attention is already divided between listening
to his own words and those of the speaker. It would be impossible for him to
memorize ones in another language. It is humanly impossible to listen
attentively to one thing while saying another. The interpreter listens and says
the same thing. By avoiding the pitfall of word memorization the interpreter
manages to understand the thought which will produce his next words. Thus the
simultaneous interpreter is an analyst or mind-reader, not a parrot. His memory
does not store the words of the sentence delivered by the speaker, but only the
meaning which those words convey.
Quoted from Interpreting for International Conferences by Danica Seleskovitch,
Professor, University of Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle
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