- ISBN-10:
- 1853595152
- ISBN-13:
- 9781853595158
- Pub. Date:
- 06/12/2001
- Publisher:
- Multilingual Matters Ltd.
- ISBN-10:
- 1853595152
- ISBN-13:
- 9781853595158
- Pub. Date:
- 06/12/2001
- Publisher:
- Multilingual Matters Ltd.
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781853595158 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Multilingual Matters Ltd. |
| Publication date: | 06/12/2001 |
| Series: | Topics in Translation , #19 |
| Edition description: | New Edition |
| Pages: | 232 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.15(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.50(d) |
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CHAPTER 1
A Brief History of Interpreting
Comparatively little research has been done on Interpreting throughout history. In part, this is because often there is no written record of the spoken word. There may be very little evidence of the interpreter's work. It may be clear from the context that an interpreter was present but all too often the interpreter is not specifically named or mentioned in historical documents. The interpreter may have been a linguist or a diplomat who was asked or offered to interpret.
Interpreting has existed for a long time. Whenever people met who had no common language they had to make do with sign language or find someone who could speak both languages. Some people grew up in a bilingual environment, because they lived in a border area or because their parents spoke different languages. Others moved from one country to another and acquired a second language.
At times in history groups of educated people have shared a common language across borders. A prime example is Latin, which was the language of the Catholic Church and was also used by scientists, writers and diplomats.
When Europeans began to move outside their own countries they had no knowledge of the languages of the peoples of America, Africa or Asia. In the process of colonisation of new continents language was important. The indigenous peoples outnumbered the colonisers and communication was the key to power and control. In their chapter titled Interpreters and the Making of History which appeared in Translators Through History (1995), Margareta Bowen, David Bowen, Francine Kaufmann and Ingrid Kurz provide a fascinating and detailed account of interpreters down through the ages. Their examples include the following: Christopher Columbus took six native Indians back to Spain with him so that they could learn to speak Spanish and then be used as interpreters once they returned to Central America. Other colonisers such as the French in Canada repeated this pattern. Subsequently the colonisers imposed their own language on the native people, thus reducing the need for interpreters. Some Europeans became proficient in the native Indian languages after being shipwrecked or captured. Missionary priests intent on spreading the Catholic faith drew up glossaries and dictionaries of the native languages.
French was the international language of diplomacy until the peace talks that took place in 1919 after the First World War. These were a turning point because for the first time English was used as a working language. According to historian David Thomson, most of the great powers were represented by their Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers rather than by kings and queens. President Woodrow Wilson of the United States and Prime Minister Lloyd George of the United Kingdom did not speak French. This was the beginning of conference interpreting. Consecutive interpreting was the order of the day with some interpreters exhibiting an amazing ability to recall speeches lasting up to fifty minutes.
Margareta Bowen et al. relate how in the 1920s another milestone was reached with the invention of equipment for simultaneous interpreting by Edward Filene, a businessman, Gordon Finlay, an electrical engineer and Thomas Watson, the president of IBM. Simultaneous interpreting was first used at the International Labour Organization Conference in Geneva in 1927. However, technical difficulties meant that almost twenty years would elapse before simultaneous interpreting was provided in English, French, German and Russian at the Nuremberg Trials, which lasted from November 1945 to October 1946. Some of the interpreters at the Trials went on to work as conference interpreters at the United Nations. In his article, How Conference Interpretation Grew, Jean Herbert related how, gradually, simultaneous interpreting began to be used in the United Nations in particular, first in French and English and later in the other official UN languages, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. The development of simultaneous interpreting was to facilitate the growth of international organizations after the Second World War. The interpreter's role also changed as the interpreter moved from a very visible, high profile position as consecutive interpreter to being a voice from a booth at the back of a venue.
Some of the first conference interpreters, such as Jean Herbert, wrote about their experiences. Many of those who worked as consecutive interpreters were really in the thick of things. However, although fascinating, these were personal memoirs and more historical documents than research into what exactly is going on when an interpreter is at work.
The first conference interpreters became interpreters by accident. They had one or more foreign languages and found themselves in the right place at the right time. As interpreting developed, universities began offering courses in the subject. This helped interpreters attain professional status. The University of Geneva School of Interpreting was founded in 1940 and the Vienna School of Interpreting in 1943. Georgetown University Division of Interpreting and Translation was founded in the United States in 1949. In 1952, Jean Herbert, a practising interpreter, wrote a book called Manuel de l'Interprète which was followed in 1956 by Jean-François Rozan's book La prise de notes en Consécutive. Both books were published by University of Geneva Press. AIIC, the International Association of Conference Interpreters, was set up in 1953 and became a proponent of better conditions for its members. Over the decades interpreting became a growth area. In 1957 two schools of Interpreting were established in Paris, the Institut Supérieur d'Interprétation et de Traducteurs (ISIT) and the École Supérieure d'Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT). In 1965 Westminster was established, in 1967 Zurich and in 1968 Monterey Graduate School of Translation and Interpreting. More and more interpreting schools and courses were established around the developed world until interpreter training became the norm.
Once university courses were established, academics began to do research into interpreting. Some early research was not very scientific, being based more on personal judgement than on verifiable results. In the 60s research was done on Ear–Voice Span, i.e. the time lapse between what the speaker says and when the interpreter speaks. In the 70s Danica Seleskovitch of ESIT in Paris wrote about her 'théorie du sens'. Studies were carried out on interpreting errors and their causes. In the 80s and 90s research began on what happens in the brain while a subject is interpreting. Daniel Gile has provided a comprehensive account of conference interpreting research in his book Regards sur la Recherche en Interprétation de Conférence. Some researchers unearthed references to interpreters throughout history. Others studied interpretation from the point of view of discourse analysis. Gradually, interest grew in other types of interpreting. A considerable body of work was carried out on court interpreting in the United States. At the end of the 90s some researchers became concerned about community interpreting and used their research to reveal problems associated with this type of interpreting.
All universities which offer courses in interpreting have stringent entrance tests whereby candidates are tested on their knowledge of languages and current affairs and in some cases their ability to cope when being bombarded with information. Despite this rigorous selection procedure many schools find that a considerable number of students drop out or fail interpreting exams. Nowadays a university qualification in interpreting is a prerequisite to a career as an interpreter. Depending on the course, would be interpreters may either study interpreting as part of an undergraduate degree or add an interpreting qualification on to an existing degree. Most courses cover two foreign languages and students usually work into their mother tongue. The primary degree does not have to be in languages. Indeed, in the past the EU preferred to take on people with a background in law or economics or other specialised areas plus knowledge of languages and train them in the skills of interpreting.
Even those who successfully complete an interpreting course may not find employment as interpreters. Finding work can demand a great deal of persistence. It takes time to become an established interpreter. Typically, after qualification as an interpreter, people apply for work to organizations near where they live or move abroad to work. They also apply to agencies for work. Interpreters have to build up experience and often there is a temptation for new interpreters to cut prices in order to be able to work. This is not really a good idea in the long term. Freelance interpreters should always make sure that a contract is drawn up specifying details of their assignment and pay.
A lot depends on where the interpreter lives and the need for interpreting in a particular area. Some organizations prefer to recruit locally rather than cover transport and accommodation costs. There is a great deal of competition for posts in the international organizations. The United Nations has been engaged in cost cutting exercises over a number of years and does not present much hope for would be interpreters. Of course conferences take place all the time on a huge variety of topics and are a useful source of work for freelance interpreters.
Conference interpreting continues to play an important role around the world today both at an international level and on a regional level. It has facilitated the growth of international organizations around the world. The following chart contains the numbers of interpreters employed at the larger international organizations in 1999: The remaining international organizations employ very few or no staff interpreters and take on freelance interpreters as needed.
Conference interpreters will need an excellent knowledge of at least two foreign languages. In the case of the European Parliament, four languages are required and a fifth is desirable. Most mainstream languages such as English, French, German, Italian and Spanish are well covered by existing interpreters. In the future within the EU the need will be for Eastern European languages such as Romanian, Turkish, Czech and so on. Of course, knowledge of languages must be accompanied by knowledge of the culture.
Intellectual curiosity is essential for conference interpreters in particular. As conferences can be on any topic interpreters need to be well informed as regards current affairs. EU interpreters would also benefit from a thorough understanding of how the EU is organized and how it works.
Interpreting is a demanding job in that when an interpreter is working he or she cannot afford to have a bad day. One bad interpreter can ruin a conference. The interpreter needs a good short-term memory to retain what he or she has just heard and a good long-term memory to put the information into context. Ability to concentrate is a factor as is the ability to analyse and process what is heard.
Whether an interpreter is working at a conference or in a court or in a hospital, preparation is the key. The first task is to find out as much information as possible about the context. Then the interpreter will set about organizing a terminology glossary that corresponds to the assignment and reading around the subject area. This is when access to up to date dictionaries is essential.
Other forms of interpreting have also become important. Court interpreting is one. Another is community interpreting. As multiculturalism became a feature of life in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States, people gradually realised that they could not just expect foreigners to become proficient in the language of the country in which they found themselves. In some countries there is no training for would be interpreters. If they speak two languages and are willing to interpret, they will find work. This is partly because some governments have no policy on community interpreting and partly because the people who need this type of interpreting speak lesser-used languages in the countries where they are resident. Furthermore, language needs constantly change as new groups move from one country to another. This makes it difficult to find interpreters with new languages.
Community interpreting will be the next growth area. There is a widespread need for community interpreting to be recognised, for courses to be set up at university level and for community interpreters to gain recognition.
CHAPTER 2
The Different Types of Interpreting
Interpreting takes place when one person translates orally what he or she hears into another language. Many people are confused about the difference between translating and interpreting. The difference is quite simple: a translation is written down whereas interpreting is spoken.
The three types of interpreting are bilateral or liaison, consecutive and simultaneous.
Because the interpreter takes the place of the original speaker, interpreters use the first person singular, 'I' when interpreting.
Conference Interpreting
The term Conference Interpreting refers to the use of consecutive or simultaneous interpreting at a conference or a meeting. Nowadays, simultaneous is far more common and is used almost exclusively in international organizations. Conference interpreting is the most prestigious form of interpreting and the most financially rewarding. Degrees or postgraduate qualifications in conference interpreting are available in many countries.
Simultaneous Interpreting
In simultaneous interpreting the listener hears the interpretation at the same time as the speech is made. The interpreter sits in a booth wearing headphones with a microphone. There is a booth for each language and two or sometimes three interpreters in each booth. A chef d'équipe liaises between the interpreters and the conference organizers and delegates. The interpreter hears the speech through the headphones and simultaneously interprets. In some cases interpretation is recorded but the interpreters' permission is required for this. The booth contains a button for volume control, a mute button and a relay button. If the interpreter needs to cough he or she presses the mute button so that the audience will not hear. Meanwhile the listeners are equipped with headphones that they can switch to the language they require.
The relay button is switched on to listen to an interpretation from another booth. For example, in the case of a conference held in London with most speeches in English, if a speaker speaks in another language such as German, the interpreters in the French and Spanish booths will listen to the English version given by the interpreter in the German booth. So, while the German speaker gives the talk in German, the interpreter interprets into English and the other interpreters interpret into French and Spanish. This all happens simultaneously but obviously the quality of the French and Spanish interpretations will be totally dependent on the interpretation from German to English. For this reason over reliance on relay is not recommended.
Because of the high level of concentration required for simultaneous interpreting, interpreters do not usually interpret for more than thirty minutes at a time. There are usually at least two people in any language booth. When the interpreter is not actually interpreting he or she stays in the booth preparing the next speech and remains available to help his or her colleague if necessary. Many of the international organizations contacted in the course of preparing this book emphasised that teamwork is an important aspect of simultaneous interpreting. For example, the Organization of American States representative wrote that the ideal candidate 'would be intellectually curious, have a pleasant voice and smooth delivery when interpreting, and be able to function as a team player.' Willingness to cooperate and flexibility were underlined by the Language Service of the European Patent Office. As the booth is a confined space it is helpful if colleagues are of a pleasant, helpful disposition. Sergio Viaggi, Head Interpreter at the United Nations in Vienna is one of the few commentators to deal with the issue of booth manners. In his keynote presentation to the XIV FIT Congress in Melbourne in 1996 he highlighted the importance of a constant presence in the booth. He said that interpreters should be helpful and have a sociable personality. He also pointed out that interpreters should be careful of distracting noises such as the rustling of papers, background talk or laughter, water being poured, as all these sounds can be picked up by the microphone and transmitted to the audience.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Interpreter's Resource"
by .
Copyright © 2001 Mary Phelan.
Excerpted by permission of Multilingual Matters.
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