Interpretation: Techniques and Exercises (Professional Interpreting in the Real World) - Softcover

Nolan, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847698093 ISBN 13: 9781847698094

Verlag: Multilingual Matters, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

In recent decades the explosive growth of globalization and regional integration has fuelled parallel growth in multilingual conferences. Although conference interpreting has come of age as a profession, interpreter training programs have had varied success, pointing to the need for an instructional manual which covers the subject comprehensively. This book seeks to fill that need by providing a structured syllabus and an overview of interpretation accompanied by exercises in various aspects of the art. It is meant to serve as a practical guide for interpreters and as a complement to interpreter training programs in the classroom and online, particularly those for students preparing for conference interpreting in international governmental and business settings. This expanded second edition includes additional exercises and provides direct links to a variety of web-based resources and practice speeches, also including additional language combinations.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

James Nolan, a senior United Nations linguist, has served as Deputy Director of the UN Interpretation, Meetings and Publishing Division, Head of Linguistic and Conference Services of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and head of the UN Verbatim Reporting Service. A graduate of the University of Geneva School of Translation and Interpretation and of New York Law School, Mr. Nolan has over 25 years' experience of interpretation and translation, which he has taught at New York University, the University of the Witwatersrand, and other institutions.

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Interpretation

Techniques and Exercises

By James Nolan

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2012 James Nolan
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84769-809-4

Contents

Acknowledgments, 
Preface to the Second Edition, 
Introduction: Frequently Asked Questions, 
1 Speaking, 
2 Preparation/Anticipating the Speaker, 
3 Complex Syntax/Compression, 
4 Word Order/Clusters, 
5 General Adverbial Clauses, 
6 Untranslatability, 
7 Figures of Speech, 
8 Argumentation, 
9 Diction/Register, 
10 Formal Style, 
11 A Policy Address, 
12 Quotations/Allusions/Transposition, 
13 Political Discourse, 
14 Economic Discourse, 
15 Humor, 
16 Latinisms, 
17 Numbers, 
18 Note-taking, 
Annex I: Additional Reformulation Strategies, 
Annex II: Memory Drill, 
Annex III: Patterns in Speech, 
Annex IV: Political Discourse – Additional Exercise, 
Bibliography, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Speaking

Public speaking is an important part of training to become an interpreter for several reasons. First, many people studious enough to have acquired a thorough grasp of two or more working languages tend to be of a somewhat shy and retiring disposition and, when faced with an audience, may freeze up and developmental blocks. Second, interpretation assignments – especially the better ones – often require interpreters to perform before large audiences of important people, which can be rather intimidating even for those of us who are not especially shy. But stage fright can be overcome by the same method that student actors use: rehearsal. Last but not least, an interpreter, like an actor, a talk-show host or a news announcer, must learn how to use his or her voice.

In order to understand the kind of language used by public speakers and at international conferences, interpreters should appreciate how it differs from everyday speech. We use language in our daily lives primarily to communicate information and express feelings. But the main function of language as used by public speakers such as diplomats, officials and corporate executives, who are usually acting as spokesmen for groups, is advocacy. A campaign speech by a candidate for office is designed to win the listeners' votes. A speaker praising a public figure is seeking to persuade listeners of that person's merits. An official making a public explanation or apology for an error or embarrassment is trying to persuade the public to forgive and forget. A diplomat making a lengthy policy statement is trying to persuade other diplomats to support her positions by striving to portray her country and its policies in a favorable light. Even a speaker using expository language to relate facts or report information is often doing so in order to support a particular viewpoint, thesis or proposal.

Public speakers have usually acquired some proficiency in the art of persuasion, and interpreters must be able to mirror that skill. So, interpreters should strive to be good public speakers. An important step in becoming an effective public speaker is to learn not only to use one's skill at expository and descriptive speech but also to draw on one's own powers of persuasion. Enhancing this skill will also help the interpreter to acquire greater confidence and thus overcome stage fright.

Exercises

(1) Write an imaginary letter to a public official urging that a law be passed to remedy what you consider to be a serious social problem. What arguments would you use? Read the letter aloud as a speech, record it, listen to it at a later time and consider what you could have said to make it more convincing.

(2) Think of someone you know who would disagree with you about an important question. What arguments could you use to change that person's mind? Suit your arguments to what you know about that person's psychology.

(3) (a) Choose a significant event from a newspaper and write a 200-word speech commenting on it. Read out the speech into your tape recorder, then listen to it. Was it convincing? Could the speech be improved by changing your delivery, intonation, organization or diction (choice of words)? If your speech were a broadcast editorial, would listeners pay attention?

(b) Listen to the speech again. This time, cast yourself in the role of the opponent or 'devil's advocate', and write a brief rebuttal speech arguing against what you have just heard.

(4) Write a short speech in praise of a public figure whom you admire. Read it out into your tape recorder and listen to it. Would it be convincing to a listener who did not know that public figure?

(5) The following statements of opinion on various issues are calculated to be controversial and to spark debate. Choose one of the positions presented and defend that point of view to an imaginary audience of skeptical listeners, first in your mother tongue and then in your other working languages. Then repeat the exercise, taking the opposite point of view.

(a) Se debería prohibir la transmisión por televisión de deportes violentos. El boxeo y la lucha libre, por ejemplo, embrutecen al ser humano. Y las corridas de toros exaltan la crueldad para satisfacer los instintos más frívolos del público. (Read the article 'Bullfighting Makes a Comeback' in Chapter 15, pp. 254–257.)

(b) Las carreras de coches son un despilfarro de dinero y de hidrocarburos en una época en que la escasez de petróleo inclusive ha ocasionado guerras. Son un riesgo para la vida de los pilotos. Tienen poco que ver con el espíritu deportivo, y son más bien una muestra del grado de locura de nuestra civilización.

(c) No es justo gravar más la gasolina que el tabaco. La gasolina es un bien necesario para la sociedad actual, mientras que el tabaco es una droga que contribuye a causar el cáncer. Este debe estar gravado con más impuestos que aquélla. ((a), (b) and (c) are adapted from the practice test for the Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera, 1995.)

(d) Un certain 'populisme' est de rigueur actuellement des deux côtés de l' Atlantique. Mais, alors que les populistes Américains réduisent carrément les impôts des riches et les prestations sociales des pauvres, les Français se sentent obligés de tenir un discours contraire. Ils dénoncent 'l'exclusion', tout en ménageant les intérêts des classes aisées. Les hommes politiques devraient avoir le courage de déclarer sans ambages leurs véritables intentions, afin que les électeurs sachent à quoi s'en tenir. (Adapted from Singer, 1995)

(e) Le désarmement complet est un idéal qui ne sera pas atteint de notre vivant, car les forces qui engendrent les conflits armés ont plutôt tendance à augmenter qu'à décroître, et aucun pays ne peut donc se permettre le luxe de mettre sa sécurité en péril. En fait, ce sont les pays de moindre taille, non pas les grandes puissances, qui ont le plus besoin d'armements de haute technologie. La prolifération de telles armes est donc inévitable.

(f) L'emploi d'une seule langue dans les relations internationales n'est ni possible ni souhaitable, et le multilinguisme s'impose donc par la force des choses. Imposer aux diplomates la corvée supplémentaire de s'exprimer dans une langue étrangère serait un retour à la Tour de Babel et donnerait lieu à des...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Multilingual Matters
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1847698093
• ISBN 13: 9781847698094
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 2
• Anzahl der Seiten: 342
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland