Procedures and Equipment of SI

Procedures

In simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter is supposed to render the sentence into

the target language while simultaneously listening to and processing the next sentence.
Strictly speaking, interpreters cannot start interpreting until they have grasped the
general meaning of the sentence.
Simultaneous interpreters process and memorize the words that the ST speaker is
uttering , while simultaneously producing in the TL the translation of messages the
speaker said 5-10 seconds ago. However, it must be borne in mind that the goal for SI is
not to paraphrase, but to convey the exact text.
Typically, while working in SI, the interpreter sits in a booth wearing headphones and
speaks into a microphone. He must be decisive for he has no time to weigh the merits of
variant options or to invoke just the right idiom in the TL. Any delay may cause the loss
of some words (and possibly a complete thought) that the speaker has already said.

Here no pauses are allowed for the simple reason that they are not beneficial.For
example, in 2016 tropical storm Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc in the Caribbean as
it made its way north towards the Florida coastline. In Miami, simultaneous interpreters
were used during press conferences to convey safety information to the public in
American Sign Language .In such situations, consecutive interpretation would not be the
appropriate mode because the message needed to be delivered in real-time without
delay.

Equipment

New technologies allowed for the transmission of the interpreted texts to many
listeners at the same time with individuals having the options to choose which
channel they wished to listen to.

It seems that there is a general consensus to credit the beginnings of simultaneous

interpretation equipment to Alan Gordon-Finlay and Edward Filene who created a
“telephone translation” system that was manufactured by IBM in the mid-1920s. It
was this system that was used in the League of Nations HQ in Geneva. Around the
same time ,Siemens and Halske introduced a similar system.

In 1927, the Filene-Finlay system was utilized by the League of Nations at the
International Labor Conference. Yet, the equipment itself was not in the method of SI
but in the method of demonstrating the texts that had already been translated so
interpreters could read them during speeches.

In 1930, SI equipment underwent a few changes. A different system, made by Siemens

& Halske, was used at the International Conference on Energy in Berlin. In addition, at
the XIII Session of the Executive Committee of Comintern in 1933, headsets and booths
were some of the types of equipment used for the purposes of interpreting.

During the rest of that decade, additional conferences required the use of simultaneous
interpretation equipment, including the XV International Physiology Congress and a
conference in 1944 in Philadelphia.
It could be concluded that by the time of the Nuremberg Trials in 1945, simultaneous
interpreting equipment had already been used in many situations and events, proving
the equipment is dated back to an earlier time than most people think.

Booths

Booths are normally provided for SI in meetings and conferences to insulate

interpreters' voices from mixing with the speakers' voices. Two types of booths are
found: tabletop and floor. The former is portable and easy to transit between
venues. Its dimension is 121.92 cm by 60.96 cm and fits compact space. The latter
provides better acoustic and it has a more formal looking with the dimensions of
182.88 cm by 182.88 cm.
 Tabletop Booth
Floor Booth


SI booths are used to provide sound insulation, enabling the interpreters to

efficiently perform their work without interfering noises and distractions from the
outside. They should be placed in a position that allows the interpreters to clearly see
the speaker and the event scene. Interpretation booths should provide a working
surface, noiseless ventilation, lighting and electricity. In addition, they are supposed to
be easy to assemble and disassemble.