Types of Interpretation:

Consecutive interpretation

The interpreter takes notes while listening to a speech, then does his or her interpretation during pauses. This is commonly used when there are just two languages at work; for example, if the American and French presidents were having a discussion. The consecutive interpreter would interpret in both directions, French to English and English to French. Unlike translation and simultaneous interpretation, consecutive interpretation is commonly done into the interpreter's A and B languages.

Simultaneous interpretation

The interpreter listens to a speech and simultaneously interprets it, using headphones and a microphone. This is commonly used when there are numerous languages needed, such as in the United Nations. Each target language has an assigned channel, so Spanish speakers might turn to channel one for the Spanish interpretation, French speakers to channel two, etc. Simultaneous interpretation should only be done into one's A language.

Checklist

• Have you practiced translation/interpretation? Tell your group mates about your experience.

• What skills make a good translator/interpreter?

• Which sequence do you consider more effective in teaching specialized translation/interpretation: 1) getting a degree in translation studies, then taking a specialized course in the subject or 2) getting a degree in the subject, then taking a specialized course in translation studies? Give your arguments and analyze the factors which determine this sequence.

• What types of translation/interpretation do you know? Comment on each type and dwell on your personal experience.

The Need for Text Analysis in Translation

Most writers on translation theory agree that before embarking upon any translation the translator should analyze the text comprehensively, since this appears to be the only way of ensuring that the source text has been wholly and correctly understood. Translation-oriented text analysis should not only ensure full comprehension and correct interpretation of the text or explain its linguistic and textual structures and their relationship with the system and norms of the source language. It should also provide a reliable foundation for each and every decision which the translator has to make in a particular translation process. For this purpose, it must be integrated into an overall concept of translation that will serve as a permanent frame of reference for the translator.

This model of source text analysis is applicable to all text types and text specimens, and can be used in any translation task that may arise. Such a model should enable translators to understand the function of the elements or features observed in the content and structure of the source text. On the basis of this functional concept translators can choose the strategies suitable for the intended purpose of the particular translation.

Such source-text analysis is supposed to provide the only legitimate foundation for the determination of equivalence. In a functional view of translation, equivalence between source and target text is regarded as being subordinate to all possible translation skopoi. The skopos of a translation is determined by the function which the target text is intended to fulfill. The demand for fidelity is subordinate to the skopos rule. If the skopos demands a change of function, the required standard will no longer be intertextual coherence with the source text, but adequacy or appropriateness with regard to the skopos.

Each text has a configuration of particular interdependent elements, whose constellation determines its function. If only one element is changed, the constellation of the other elements within the configuration will inevitably change as well.

In any translation which is intended to allow people to communicate across a cultural and lingual barrier, at least one element is different every time, that is the receiver. Even if the target text receiver were the very image of the source text receiver in sex, age, education, social background, etc., there would be one difference, namely that they are bound into diverse linguistic and cultural communities.

It follows that, having grown up in another culture, the receiver has a different knowledge of the world, a different way of life, a different perspective on things, and a different “text experience” in the light of which the target text is read. All those factors affect the way in which receivers handle a text. That may mean, for example, that the reader is not familiar with the subject matter, which in the source text is dealt with in a special terminology that is supposed to be well-known to the addressees or vice versa. That’s why the adjustment or “adaptation” of the source text to target culture standards is a procedure that is part of the daily routine of every professional translator.