INTRODUCTION TO

CONSECUTIVE
INTERPRETING
Unit 1
Content

Content of the lesson

1. The interpreter’s job
2. Modes of interpreting
3. General model of
interpreting
 01
The interpreter’s job
1. The interpreter’s job

1.1. Introduction
- Q: What is interpreting?
+ A: An oral form of translation, a service that lets people communicate
across language barriers.
- Q: Who are interpreters and who need interpretation?
+ A: Practitioners with various levels of training and ability, ranging from
‘naturals’ and unpaid amateurs to highly trained professionals, for users at
bâm sinh ban chuyen nghiep, moi vao nghe
every stratum of society, behind closed doors or for audiences of millions.
khia canh cabin, dang sau canh cua trieu nguoi nghe
1. The interpreter’s job

- Q: Where is interpreting used?

song phuong
+ bilateral meetings between diplomats, officials or leaders, in or out of the public eye;
+ business discussions and negotiations of all kinds; nham chuc cat bang khanh thanh
+ speeches at formal occasions such as receptions, functions, inaugurations, ribbon-
cuttings hoi thao
+ academic and technical seminars with presentations and discussions;
+ lectures and training sessions; buoi giang
+ press interviews, media scrums; tranh luan tren truyen thong
+ TV or radio interviews and talk shows.
+ guided tours, site visits
+ judicial and police proceedings vu kien cua toa an va xu ly tranh chap cua canh sat
+ welfare and public service interviews, medical interviews and consultations.
phuc loi xh dich vu cong co van/tu van y khoa
1. The interpreter’s job
1.2. Defining the task
- Definitions are always incomplete, and always raise more questions.
- A simple definition that captures three key aspects of an interpreter’s job:
Interpreters mediate communication between people speaking different
languages. dong vai tro trung gian giao tiep

Source Target
language language
Speaker Interpreter Audience
02
Modes of
interpreting
2. Modes of interpreting

- Interpreting can be done in a variety of modes, among which the most

popular are consecutive, and simultaneous interpreting.
+ Consecutive interpreting: the speaker stops every 1-5 minutes (usually at
loi noi truong y
the end of every “paragraph” or complete thought), and the interpreter
then steps in to render what was said into the target language.
+ Simultaneous interpreting: The interpreter must translate the sentence
into the target language while simultaneously listening to and
comprehending the next sentence.
doan
03
General model of
interpreting
 3. General model of interpreting
Three basic steps:
- Step 1: Understanding speaker meaning, using language and context and extra
lien quan
attention, association and analysis to represent what was understood
- Step 2: Mediating the message for presentation to an audience
The interpreter must bridge three barriers:
i. a language barrier, by re-expressing the message in a code that listeners can
process dung ngu canh xung quanh
nhan thuc, tu duy
ii. a cognitive barrier, by pragmatically optimizing to help listeners with different
cultural or knowledge backgrounds to relate to what is being talked about
iii. a role barrier, by assuming in turn each speaker’s communicative intent,
relying on the convention that s/he is communicating in the first person on the
speaker’s behalf.
3. General model of interpreting

Step 3. Delivery or public speaking skills: presentation and

don bay
formulation, leveraging language and context to give
listeners access to the speaker’s meaning at minimum effort
for maximum effect.
PRACTICE
Kick-off interpreting
- Students have 5 minutes to prepare a short introduction about
themselves
- Student take turns to deliver their speeches in their second language
(Chinese or Japanese) in 2 minutes. When one student speaks,
another student is asked to interpret that speech into Vietnamese.
Thank you!