The skill of a good interpreter is an art form; obvious language skills aside, they have to hold a raft of cultural niceties and conventions in their head alongside any specific trade or personal information they may have been briefed on beforehand by their employer. Knowing the language and culture for one territory isn’t a one size fits all; business etiquette is subtly different even in the geographically close territories of France, Belgium, and French-speaking Switzerland!
Essentially, there are two types of translation – simultaneous and consecutive – with variations in techniques between these appropriate to the situation and context. You won’t be surprised to know that they take considerable concentration from all parties concerned to be effective.
Simultaneous translation
There are two techniques for simultaneous translation – true simultaneous interpretation, usually involving soundproof booths and headsets, and the more low-tech whisper interpretation.
The former isn’t quite as simultaneous as you might think. Depending on the subject, and particularly on the language being interpreted, the interpreter might have to wait until the end of the sentence to hear the verb, and therefore the context and full meaning. Usually the interpreter will be seated in a soundproof booth with a headset, and speaking into a microphone. As multitasking skills go, listening to the next sentence whilst translating the previous one is up there with the best of them. Here is an example.
If equipment isn’t available, or if the meetings are smaller or more informal, whisper interpreting, also known as chucotage, is generally employed, where the translator will literally whisper in the ear of the person requiring their services. If you’ve ever tried to carry on a conversation with two people at once who are speaking over each other, you will appreciate the additional level of difficulty the interpreter will experience in finding the right idiom without time to think.
Consecutive translation
At first glance, consecutive translation may seem a more relaxed approach for the interpreter, as instead of having to listen and speak at once, they wait for a statement before relaying it. However, it puts significant pressure on memory, and the interpreter will often have to take notes to keep important points in mind to translate. It is most often used in diplomatic situations, as with this example here.
Most informal at all is liaison interpreting, where the translator will give a brief summary and flavor of what they’ve heard. Although this isn’t useful for crucial negotiations, or in situations where more than one language is being spoken, it is extremely effective in informal conference or exhibition scenarios, and particularly at meet and greet sessions where the parties involved are building a business relationship before structured negotiation.
It’s clear that an effective interpreter doesn’t just need top-level language skills. In additional to total fluency in both business and colloquial speech of their chosen specialist language, they need significant talents for reading between the lines, and picking up the nuance of statements that might not mean exactly what they appear to on first hearing. They also need to be able to take notes effectively, and develop their own shorthand and symbols to swiftly translate without causing a diplomatic incident.
In short, the right interpreter is the most important person in the room when business is being done in two languages – and everything that entails – at once.
Interpreting and Translation Blog 