Sapientia EMTE

The Difficulties of
Interpreting

Date: 11. 07. 2014

Location: Marosvsrhely

Pusks Eszter, Nagy

Norbert

Obstacles to watch out for

There are many hurdles and challenges an interpreter can
encounter during interpreting. These include, but are not
limited to:
A lack of understanding and/or command of the source and/or
target language.
Lacking in the comprehension department
Inattentiveness, inabiltiy to focus, short attention span.
Problems pertaining to memory
Caving in under pressure.
Not being able to compensate for the speakers mistakes.
Poor social skills.

The Interpreters Toolkit

As is the case when trying to pick up most skills,
interpreting requires one to be competent at a
multitude of other things that individually contribute
to, and together make up the mastery of skillful
interpreting. Not having the necessary tools can lead
to mistakes that, if not remedied and addressed in
time, will eventually amount to catastrophic results,
and possibly even a persons disillusionment with
interpretation as a whole.
To become an accomplished and experience
interpreter, one should constantly strive and seek to

Grasp of language
The importance of understanding and fluently
speaking both source and target languages cannot
be overstated. Also, simply retreading the gist of
what has been said is not enough. An accomplished
and experienced interpreter will find ways to relay
and communicate the true essence of the statements
made, with minimal departure from the original
intended message (insofar as the nature of the two
languages allow for).

Grasp of language
Interestingly, the way we do this is by making all of the
needed adjustments and modifications in our own
language. This may feel counter-intuitive at first, as most
of us would probably feel inclined to metaphrase, but after
realizing that languages play by their own respective rules
and require reconciliation from the interpreter, it gradually
becomes less daunting and confusing of a task. It is also
imperative to have a rich vocabulary, which allows for
greater diversity and versitility during interpreting. The
larger our pool of knowledge with respect to the number of
words we know, the greater our chances to accurately
interpret. Eloquence, articulation and collouqialism also
play a huge role, and shouldnt be ignored either.

Troubles With
Comprehension
Only understanding what the words themselves mean would
leave much to be desired. It is crucial that aspiring
interpreters intimately familiarize themselves with whatever
source language they plan on interpreting in the future. This
should extend to terminology and jargon thats specific to
certain areas of expertise (such as law, medicine, economics,
business, entertainment etc.). Doing this ensures that the
interpreter in questions skills are tailored to the needs of the
kind of clients hes looking to attract, giving him a viable
chance and an edge over the competition in the market.

Not paying enough

attention
Whether you are present in the moment and devoid of diversions
has the potential to make or break ones career as an interpreter.
Scattered-mindedness is an interpreters worst nightmare. Spacing
out, daydreaming and allowing ones self to run away with his
thoughts will undoubtedly lead to blunders and possibly even
incoherent mumblings on the part of the interpreter, as he is
overcome with anxiety and stress and tries to overcompensate by
filling the gaps in his information database with arbitrary, whimsical
jibberish. Avoid making this mistake at all costs. Interpreters are not
there to improvize, or to offer their own spin on whats been said.
Any thoughts that are not in some way related to what has been
spoken should be blocked out and disregarded, as they only detract
from the task at hand. The successful interpreter leaves his
personal life and contemplations at the door.

Problems With Memory

Retaining information sucessfully is of the essence.
Information that has not been retained cannot be retrieved,
because it is not there. Sentences can range in length from a
couple of words to several lines worth of text, and the
interpreter has to be prepared to draw on anything that has
been uttered during the interpretation process at any given
time. This applies to the interpreters choice of words as well.
The client may quote previously spoken lines of his, so it helps
to remember how they were formerly interpreted so as to
avoid any confusion or misunderstanding. Having a powerful
memory leaves nothing to guesswork, so its best not to
second-guess its importance. (HAH! Im clever n shit...
*groan*)

Working Under Stress

Interpreting can be a tremendously stressful job. If you let it. If you
are self-conscious or overly concerned about your performance level,
you can expect the quality of your performance to plummet, as
opposed to being calm, cool and collected, in which case you should
expect your performance level to skyrocket. We tend to think that the
way we avert failure is by being overtly mindful of every little thing
we do. Ironically enough, this exact way of thinking assures, or in the
very least raises the likelihood of failure. An interpreters anxiety
during interpretation is in no small part due to the fact that they are
dealing with actual people, right there and then. The smallest mistake
could spell their doom, but arguably the biggest mistake is having this
state of mind. Find your composure and let go of your worries. Your
mind will thank you for it, and it will alow it the freedom to work in
optimal fashion, uninhibited by self-imposed constraints.

Having To Compensate
Aspiring interpreters need to learn this one basic rule: Alongside
doing their own jobs, they have to do the clients fob for them, as
well. People come in all shapes and variaties, and clients of
interpreters are no different in this regard. Many of them will not
care if they have expressed themselves in an incoherent manner.
As far as theyre concerned, theyre paying you to bridge the gap
between themselves and their dialogue partners, so if a
miscommunication occurs, youre likelt to be faulted. It is unfair,
but so are people, and as we already established, an interpreter
works with actual people in real life circumstances. Some of them
might also have speech impediments, which is no fault of their
own, but the interpreter will have to compensate all the same.

Poor social skills

Social skills are an absolute must for anyone whos
looking to make it as an interpreter. After all, their
main line of work is one of communication. Extreme
introverts are likely to make poor interpreters, unless
they can keep their solitary nature at bay, and from
surfacing in times of interaction. Disputes are also
likely to arise, and they need to be handled
accordingly, which requires the interpreter to not get
flustered and settle for less than his skills are worth.
One neednt be a social butterfly, however, being
relatively comfortable around people is necessary and
encoureged. Get out more. You will see a vast

Scenario-based Interactive
Game

Examples of speech quirks or impediments:

Speaking in a very low, humming tone of voice.
Speaking extremely fast, or sputtering.
Stuttering.