Liaison Interpretation
Dr. Pompeo Nunziato Interprete e traduttore.
Interpretazione di trattativa
What is liaison interpreting?
In this type of interpreting the interpreter works
live
between speakers of two different languages.
Why practicing liaison interpreting?
Reasons for acquiring or
developing skills in liaison interpreting are:
linguistic educational
practical .
Firstly,
one’s mastery of the vocabularly, structures and registers
of both languages is enhanced and tested by this exercise.
Why practicing liaison interpreting?
Secondly,
one’s ability to exstract and convey the essensial parts
of any spoken message is heightened and tested by interrupting,
which is NOT an exercise in literal translation.
Why practicing liaison interpreting?
Thirdly,
communication skills are essencial to any job you may eventually get;
interpreting sharpens one’s communication skills
and increases self-confidence in dealing with people
of whatever nationality face to face.
Why practicing liaison interpreting?
Finally,
liaison interpreting is an excellent means of developing attentive listening and memory.
As language graduates, you will almost certainly be called upon
to act as an ad hoc interpreter in formal situations.
Why practicing liaison interpreting?
What is involved in liaison interpreting?
Liaison interpreting is a two-way exercise.
You will be placed between a native speaker
and a native English speaker
They are presumed NOT to understand the language of their interlocutor.
What are the liaison interpreter’s tasks ?
It is your job
• to listen to each partecipant in turn
• to convey the basic message of their individual utterances,
• to respect an adequate rendering into the other language of essential facts/information
(times, date, numbers, names).
What is the liaison interpreter NOT expected to?
you are NOT expected to give a word for word translation
of what each speaker says.
BUT
The vital information.
You are expected
to convey the attitude
and the mood of the speaker, this is where
note, facial expression and gesture may come into play.
What is the liaison interpreter
expected to?
About the utterance.
Normally the utterances will not be particularly long
usually the equivalent of 5 lines of typescript.
You should use your memory rather than trying to take notes.
What interpreters are expected to do?
You are expected to mantain eye contact with the partecipants when they are speaking to you
or you are speaking to them.
Dependance on note-taking would make this difficult.
Warning
Remember that:
• the numbers of words in the original utterance will not necessarily dictate the number of words in your
interpretation.
• It is your job to render accurately the GIST and not include any redundancies or repetitions except where these are called for stylistically.
What interpreters are expected to do?
You will normally be expected
• to maintain a reasonable pace of interpreting, long pauses lead
• to breakdowns in communication because your interlocutor will forget
what was said earlier.
What interpreters are expected to do?
When doing liaison interpreting,
it is normal practice to use the FIRST person when speaking on behalf of the
partecipants,
i.e. if the person you are interpreting says
“Io penso che…”
you begin with “I think that..”
What interpreters are expected to do?
You will be graded on the basis of the following criteria:
• Communication skills (from eye contact to tone and gesture).
• Accuracy of the message conveyed.
• Accurancy and range of language.
• Fluency and pace.
So remenber
• Do not translate….Interpret!
• Do not leave long silences and keep going with a conversation!
• Be confident, smile and keep eye contact!
• Use the first singular person “io”!
So remenber
Only if you really need, interrupt the conversation and ask for repetition or
clarification politely:
• “Chiedo scusa, le dispiacerebbe ripetere?”
• “Mi scusi, che cosa intende per…?”
•
