YOUR

 LOGO   My  top  3  retour  exercises  

Try  these  exercises  and  see  rapid,  reliable  improvements  

1 Prepare  a  short  speech  in  your  B  

2 Try  sight  transla2on>  B  

3 Prac2se  B>B  consecu2ve  

www.theinterpre2ngcoach.com   Copyright  ©  Sophie  Llewellyn  Smith  2018.  All  Rights  Reserved.  

 YOUR  LOGO   My  top  3  retour  exercises  
Try  these  exercises  and  see  rapid,  reliable  improvements  

Prepare  a  short  speech  in  your  B  

1 Why?  
This  exercise  is  good  for  all  sorts  of  interpre2ng  and  retour  skills:  
listening  &  analysis,  research,  public  speaking  skills.  Above  all,  you  will  
learn  to  iden2fy  useful  phrases  and  incorporate  them  into  your  ac2ve  
vocabulary.  
How?  
Choose  a  relevant  topic  and  do  a  liNle  research:  listen  to  a  news  item  
or  podcast,  read  a  couple  of  ar2cles  in  your  B  language.  Then  
brainstorm  a  few  ideas  on  a  piece  of  paper,  organise  them  into  a  
coherent  structure  and    incorporate  some  of  the  phrases  you  have  
just  read.  Don’t  forget  to  deliver  your  speech  out  loud!  Record  
yourself  so  you  can  analyse  your  performance,  or  give  the  speech  to  
colleagues  for  feedback.  
Do’s  and  Don’ts  
Avoid  wri2ng  your  speech  out  in  longhand.  Try  bullet  points,  or  your  own  system  of  notes,  so  you  can  
speak  more  spontaneously.  

www.theinterpre2ngcoach.com   Copyright  ©  Sophie  Llewellyn  Smith  2018.  All  Rights  Reserved.  

 YOUR  LOGO   My  top  3  retour  exercises  
Try  these  exercises  and  see  rapid,  reliable  improvements  

Try  sight  transla2on>  B  

2 Why?  
This  exercise  helps  improve  an2cipa2on  and  segmenta2on,  and  
develops  automa2sms.  I’ll  be  honest  and  say  it’s  o]en  painful  and  
frustra2ng.  As  a  diagnos2c  tool  for  your  weaknesses  in  retour,  it  can’t  
be  beaten.  
How?  
Choose  a  suitable  source  text.  If  you  have  2me,  read  a  text  on  a  
similar  topic  in  your  B  language,  so  you  have  some  useful  phrases  in  
the  forefront  of  your  mind.  Read  through  your  source  text  once,  then  
begin  to  sight  interpret,  aiming  for  a  fluid,  confident,  gramma2cally  
correct  delivery.  Record  yourself  and  listen  back  to  your  performance,  
to  see  what  could  be  improved.  
Do’s  and  Don’ts  
Don’t  get  hung  up  on  perfect  expression  or  finding  exact  equivalents  for  specific  words.  The  name  is  
misleading:  this  isn’t  really  a  transla2on,  but  a  sight  interpreta2on  of  the  text,  so  work  on  changing  the  
word  order  if  necessary,  chunking  or  edi2ng  the  text  to  make  it  sound  natural  in  your  target  language,  
without  sacrificing  content.  

www.theinterpre2ngcoach.com   Copyright  ©  Sophie  Llewellyn  Smith  2018.  All  Rights  Reserved.  

 YOUR  LOGO   My  top  3  retour  exercises  
Try  these  exercises  and  see  rapid,  reliable  improvements  

Prac2se  B>B  consecu2ve  

3 Why?  
This  is  another  mul2-­‐purpose  exercise,  if  done  well.  You  will  be  
working  on  note-­‐taking,  paraphrasing,  good  delivery…  as  well  as  
picking  up  useful  phrases.  

How?  
Choose  a  suitable  speech  in  your  B  language.  Take  notes,  then  deliver  
the  speech  in  your  B  language.  Record  your  performance  and  analyse  
it  a]erwards,  or  ask  someone  to  give  you  feedback.  

Do’s  and  Don’ts  

While  this  exercise  offers  an  opportunity  to  pick  up  a  few  useful  phrases  or  idioms,  don’t  be  tempted  to  
start  taking  verba2m  notes.  The  idea  is  not  to  parrot  the  original  exactly,  but  to  prac2se  reformula2ng  
the  material.  It’s  a  good  opportunity  to  see  how  versa2le  your  use  of  language  is.  
If  you  are  tempted  to  s2ck  too  closely  to  the  original,  take  fewer  notes  and  make  sure  you’re  using  
symbols.  
If  you  are  struggling  to  paraphrase,  listen  to  your  recording,  pause  it  at  appropriate  moments,  and  give  
some  thought  to  possible  alterna2ves.  Use  a  thesaurus  or  linguee.com  to  help  you.  

www.theinterpre2ngcoach.com   Copyright  ©  Sophie  Llewellyn  Smith  2018.  All  Rights  Reserved.  

 YOUR  LOGO   My  top  3  retour  exercises  
Try  these  exercises  and  see  rapid,  reliable  improvements  

Need  more  help?  

Improving  your  retour  skills  can  help  you  to  feel  more  confident,  or  
even  break  into  new  markets.  

While  prac2sing  by  yourself  is  important,  there’s  nothing  like  

feedback  from  an  experienced  listener  who  is  a  na2ve  speaker  of  
your  B  language.  
If  you’ve  read  this  far,  you’re  clearly  keen  to  improve  your  skills.  

Have  you  considered  coaching?  

Personal  coaching  with  The  Interpre2ng  Coach    will  ensure  you  receive:  
•   an  analysis  of  your  strengths  and  weaknesses  
•   a  customised  ac2on  plan  
•   exercises  and  drills  tailored  to  your  needs  
•   precise,  construc2ve  feedback  about  your  use  of  language.  

Interested  in  coaching  to  improve  your  English  B?  Visit  

hNp://www.theinterpre2ngcoach.com/discovery-­‐call  

www.theinterpre2ngcoach.com   Copyright  ©  Sophie  Llewellyn  Smith  2018.  All  Rights  Reserved.