INTERPRETING

PRACTICE 1
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
INTRODUCTION

• Nguyen Huong Tram Anh, M.A.

• Phone number: 0908358835
• Email: anhnht@hanu.edu.vn
THE INTERPRETING PROCESS
INTERPRETING PROCESS

1. Phase 1: Listening Phase

CI = L (listening) + M (short-term memory) + N (note-taking)

2. Phase Two: Reformulation

CI = R (remember) + R (read the notes) + P (produce the speech in the target language)
LISTENING SKILLS
LISTEN TO SENTENCE STRESSES

• We will sign the contract tomorrow

sign contract tomorrow
LISTEN TO SENTENCE STRESSES
WHAT IS SENTENCE STRESS?
• Sentence stress is the music of spoken English.
• Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, even rapid
spoken English.
• Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat".
• Word stress is accent on one syllable within a word.
• Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence.
LISTEN TO SENTENCE STRESSES
TWO BASIC TYPES OF WORD IN A SENTENCE
Most sentences have :
• content words
the key words of a sentence, carrying the meaning or sense—the real content.
• structure words
small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically.
 If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence.
 If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the
sentence.
LISTEN TO SENTENCE STRESSES
TWO BASIC TYPES OF WORD IN A SENTENCE (CONT.)

Content words:
• nouns (people, places, things)
• verbs (actions, states)
• adjectives (words that modify nouns)
• adverbs (words that modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire sentences)
• negative words (not, never, neither, etc.)
• modals (should, could, might, etc., but not will or can)
• yes, no, and auxiliary verbs in short answers (e.g., Yes, she does.)
• quantifiers (some, many, no, all, one, two, three, etc.)
• Wh-Question words (what, where, when, why, how, etc.—note that what is often unstressed when speaking quickly
because it’s so common)
LISTEN TO SENTENCE STRESSES
TWO BASIC TYPES OF WORD IN A SENTENCE (CONT.)

Structure words:
• articles (a, an, the)
• prepositions (to, in, at, on, for, from, etc.)
• conjunctions (and, or, so, but, etc.)
• personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, etc.)
• possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, etc.)
• Be verb (am, is, are, was, were, etc.)
• auxiliary verbs (be, have, do in two-part verbs or questions)
• the modals will and be going to (because they’re common, and the future tense is often clear from context)
• the modal can (because it’s so common)
LISTEN TO SENTENCE STRESSES
PRACTICE 1
Listen to the listening text “Football” and identify the stressed words in each sentence.
1. Football is the world's most popular sport.
2. In some countries, such as the United States, football is called soccer.
3. In a game of football there are 2 (two) teams.
4. Each team has 11 (eleven) players.
5. A football match lasts 90 (ninety) minutes.
6. At the end of a match, the team that has scored the most goals is the winner.
LISTEN TO SENTENCE STRESSES
PRACTICE 1
Listen to the listening text “Football” and identify the stressed words in each sentence.
1. Football is the world's most popular sport.
2. In some countries, such as the United States, football is called soccer.
3. In a game of football there are 2 (two) teams.
4. Each team has 11 (eleven) players.
5. A football match lasts 90 (ninety) minutes.
6. At the end of a match, the team that has scored the most goals is the winner.
LISTEN FOR THE GIST

Gist = the most important pieces of information about something = general

information without details.
Listening for Gist = understanding what is happening even if he or she can’t understand every
phrase or sentence.
• The audience is trying to pick up key words, intonation, and other clues so as to make a guess at
the meaning.
• For example words such as cap, towel, waves, board and sunny have their own meanings but
when you hear the words in a listening passage, they help you understand that the context in which
they are used is the context of a beach trip.
LISTEN FOR THE GIST

E.g.: cap, towel, waves, board and sunny -> beach trip.

Practice 2: Identify the GIST of the following text

Practice 3: Identify the GIST of the following listening text

LISTEN FOR THE GIST

Practice 3: Identify the GIST of the following listening text

1. Before Mr Bean has a shower, he brushes his teeth.
2. After he has a shower, he gets dressed.
3. Before he goes downstairs, he combs his hair.
4. After he goes downstairs, he switches on the radio.
5. Before he makes a pot of tea, he boils the kettle.
-> Mr Bean’s MORNING ROUTINE
LISTEN FOR DETAILS

• Listening for details refers to the type of listening we do in which we can’t afford to

ignore anything because we don’t know exactly what information of the listening passage
will be necessary to complete the task.
Practice 4: Identify the MAIN IDEA and the DETAILS of the following text

Practice 5: Identify the MAIN IDEA and the DETAILS of the following text
LISTEN FOR DETAILS
PRACTICE 5
LISTEN FOR DETAILS
PRACTICE 5
VISUALIZATION

• See what you hear

LISTEN AND TAKE NOTES
LISTEN AND DICTATES
PRACTICE 6
• Normal speed:

• Slow speed:
LISTEN AND DICTATES
PRACTICE 6
• London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom.  
• It was founded 2,000 years ago by the Romans.
• The city has been Western Europe's largest city for centuries.
• As early as 1700 more than 575,000 people lived in London.
• Today, London has a population of over 8 million people, it is also one of the most visited
cities in the world, because of the many famous attractions there, such as Buckingham
Palace, Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
DICTOGLOSS
PRACTICE 7
• FIFA WC: most watched event
• FIFA - organises – WC - every 4 years: 32 teams - tournament - 4 weeks
• different stages: 1st round -> 2nd round/knockout stage -> quarter-finals, -> semi-finals
-> final match – 2 remaining.
DICTOGLOSS
PRACTICE 7
The FIFA World Cup is the most watched football event in the world. The International
Federation of Association Football (FIFA) organises the World Cup every 4 (four) years.
32 (Thirty-two) teams start the tournament and play for 4 (four) weeks, trying to qualify for
the different stages: The 1st (first) round, the 2nd (second) round or knockout stage,
followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and on to the final match between the 2
(two) remaining teams.
REFERENCES

• Bui Tien Bao, Dang Xuan Thu “Interpreting and

Translation CourseBook), Education Publishing House,
1997
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_interpretation