Techniques and literacy in business interpretation

（陜西師范大學外國語學院，陜西 西安 710062）

【Abstract】： This paper studies and discusses how to be a successful interpreter. This paper has analyzed the differences between translation and interpretation， and then it examined the characteristics when interpreting （Chinese English） business conference. It ends with a list of some basic literacy and practical skills required.

1.Introduction

To distinguish from the general run， translation including written translation and interpreting， business interpreting is a small branch of interpretation. Now with the international commercial exchanges have become more frequent and close， the demand of business interpretation is more and more frequently. In business negotiations， business transaction， or the notice or report in the company， all of these need to make the translation. Therefore， as a translator， it is necessary to correctly and quickly express the meaning and intention both of two sides. In order to achieve this goal， this paper aims to discuss the explore the basic literacy and professional skills that the interpreters are needed.

2. The differences and characteristics of interpretation and Translation

As the name suggests， the translation is translating an article or a written material in Chinese or English into English or Chinese version. It is usually in a given period of time， such as several hours or days even a few months’ time， to complete the translation content which required precise and rigorous statement. While interpreting is usually to complete the interpretation of an impromptu speech in the tens of seconds or minutes， more timely， and the requirements for the translators of the listening and speaking ability is higher. But generally， in a statement the regularity and rigor is not as high as written translation.

3 The basic literacy of interpretation

3.1 The spirit of hard work

Interpretation is a highly spiritual pressure， and the needed the physical supporting work. The interpreter who engaged in the work of interpreting， often need to take on interpreting tasks in a whole day by himself / herself： in different situation in morning and afternoon， provided escort interpreting or contacting interpreting for participants in the private conversation， and also responsible for the banquet interpretation in the evening. Sometimes， the entire task of interpreting will last several days. In such a high intensity， long time interpretation task， you need strong physical strength and a strong willpower to support that.

In addition， along with the time progress and the development， in recent years， some new words occur and those words have been gradually formed frequently used and understood by the public， for instance the following words： 剩女--3S lady， left girls， 裸婚--naked wedding， 山寨—copycat， 辣媽--yummy mummy， 人肉搜索---flesh search， 過勞死--- karoshi， etc. Interpretation must also keep up with the trend of things， understand the latest dynamic and new vocabulary words， continue to strengthen their own learning， rapid response ability in practical translation situations， to make accurate translation.

So the interpretation needs hard working spirit.

3.2 The accumulation of all kinds of knowledge

Interpretation， sometimes just like a live show. At the scene， there is no time to consult the relevant data and background knowledge， and have no chance to made mistake.

In interpreting occasions， the speaker's speech may involve various aspects， such as mathematics， mechanics， law， international trade， and even politics， geography， literature， etc.. If the interpreter lack of this kind of knowledge in the past， then at the meeting site， even if the interpreter is able to remember the speaker's words， but can't understand the logic and relation of those words， or don't understand completely some of the terminology， he / she can not quickly and accurately translate it into objective language.

For example， foreign engineer who worked in a factory said： Once the reverse clamp in processing machine is slightly bent， products are hooked by the reverse clamp， the breach will happen for the products in the reverse clamp and the grinding defective may occur on the products under the grinder. Further more， if the widths are not matching between the reverse clamp and the products， the product will overlap and cause the machine stopping.

4.Business interpreting techniques

4.1 Information input

4.1.1 Quick response and understanding ability

Because the interpretation is a highly concentrated attention for a long time work， so the interpreters should have a strong body， abundant energy and sober mind， to complete the task. In the translation situation， if interpreters unable to concentrate， translation quality will be apparently lower， the endurance of interpreter will also reduce， the fault or leakage will emerge， which will lead to serious consequences sometimes.

In practical translation work， after the speaker finished a piece of words， it is usually only 2-3 seconds pause， then interpreter should speak out in objective language. When receiving the speaker's discourse information， the interpreter should be rapid response to listen， remember， understand and transform the language at the same time. After the speaker finished， interpreter should immediately organize the language by their own， and then express it.

4.1.2 Memory ability

Memory is divided into sensory memory， short-term memory and long-term memory. Short term memory （STM） refers to the amount of information that one experienced or received external information before a few seconds or a few minutes and can be identified and remembered.

4.1.2.1 Shadow reading exercises

Shadowing reading is also called the source language or English Retelling training， is a training way that retailing the speaker's speech almost synchronized through using the same language. Through this training， the ability of high attention and attention allocation of interpreter could be cultivated. In real interpretation active， because interpreter should complete the tasks of listening， memorizing， repeating in a short period of time， he/she need the ability to distribute and coordinate the attention. Making this training also need to do the above steps and tasks， and be able to improve our ability in this area. At the beginning of the shadow reading exercise， we can use the short pieces of listening material of mother language， and along with the familiar degree， replace the material with foreign language， then the long pieces of material， gradually improve our ability in understanding and memory of long contents to repeat.

4.1.2.2 Logical analysis and semantic segmentation practice

If it's not a very formal speech conference， without completed speech script， people in generally cannot make the speech with rigorous logic and organization just like in writings， even sometimes the speaker speak out without thinking over. Facing various， complicated and instant vanished information， it is not a easy thing for the interpreter to understand， remember， converse and express that.

The logic analysis in interpreting refers to \"vertical and horizontal analysis of speech. The longitudinal analysis means distinguish the main and auxiliary information， find out the longitudinal hierarchy； horizontal analysis is to make clear the logical relationship of all the information\". Semantic segmentation is the measure that segment and restructure the information into several meaningful semantic groups， find out the logical relationship to understand and remember it easily. While listening the speech， interpreter must analyze the information logically， summarizes the main idea， segment and restructure the lengthy information. Through this method， interpreter can understand the content of the source language better， find out and remember the key words， and then use these logical clues and the key to activate the relevant information， to restore all the major information and complete the faithful translation.

4.1.2.3 Pre language practice

The research of psycho linguistics show people's memory retains many prefabricated chunks， language units of the prefabricated chunks is information. The language includes relatively fixed phrase， long phrase component， length is not unequal and between words and traditional sentences， the fixed frame and the empty slot， slot can be filled with the same kind of words. And the number of the chunks will be more and more along with our familiarity with the material. When the prefabricated chunks store more in our brain， the more imagination and memory， we will be helped to more easy to repeat and translate these words.

Even in case we have not understood or occasionally missed one or two words， if we know a little of the content of speech or background， we can speculate on the meaning of it.

For example， When I heard about the job relative Chinese words， we can recall some words： full-time job， part-time job， application， resume， duties， wage， shift work，etc.

When we heard some words about the exchange rate， maybe these words emerge out into our brain： customs， duties， rise and fall， deficit， surplus， etc.

When we heard some words about the defective rate， we maybe anticipant： abnormal products， yield， the amount of loss， shipments， defectiveness cause， and so on.

When the speaker spoke these kind of words， the interpreter can more quickly understand， memorize， and translate it.

Example： Part terms of a contract

出口熏蒸標準包裝，并能防潮、防震、防銹及能承受粗暴裝卸，適于長途陸地/航空/海洋運輸，由于采用不適當或不妥當?shù)陌b而引起的生銹、損壞，其責任應由賣方承擔。

If we suddenly forgot the accurate English correspondent of some words： fumigation， etc.， because of the time's pressing， we have no enough time to inquire of dictionary for English word， we can use the approximate meaning of words： sterilize or treatment， and then add some explanation， complete your expression， make the audience understand your meaning fully and correctly：

Export standard packing with treatment for long distance Ocean/air/land transportation and well protected against dampness， moisture， shocks， rust and rough handing. The Seller shall be liable for any damage of the commodity and expenses incurred on account of improper packing and for any rust damage attributable to inadequate or improper protective measures taken by the sellers in regard to the packing.

4.2 Language Output

4.2.1 The main difference in English and Chinese sentences

1. Chinese is a convergent thought pattern that from far to near， from less important to the most important， while English is a divergent thought pattern that from near to far， from most important to less important. Western thought is straightforward， used to focus the importance at the beginning of a sentence， and oriental thought used to express euphemistically in a curve， and finally points out the most important information.

2. Chinese emphasize the theme， and English emphasize the subject. Chinese sometimes do not need subject， not highlight the personality and self. English pays great attention to the subject position and its role of the overall commander.

Therefore， in the translation from Chinese to English， it is the key that finding out the sentence focus and determining the subject for translation successfully.

3.Passive sentences are widely used in English， less in Chinese. Western thought prefer object thought mode， thinking nature as the main body， while the east is used to subjective thought mode， observe， analysis and ratiocinate object things from person's view.

5. Conclusion

In business dealings， interpreters play important role like a bridge. Interpreting is a work which is in short time， high strength and high efficiency. Only interpretation workers have a high level of comprehensive qualities， strengthening skill training in peacetime， make the preparation in psychology and real business situations in advance， master the interpreting skills， can they be flexible， efficient and accurate to adapt to all kind of working environment， to complete the interpreting works， to help the enterprise to achieve various business goals.

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