The Complete Interpreter

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

In this episode, I talk about 'echoic memory' (your memory of the sounds you hear): how it works, whether you can improve it, and how some interpreters use it to give a more complete rendition in simultaneous.

By the way, in this podcast, I mention the legend of Echo, a nymph from Greek mythology cursed (by the goddess Hera, who doesn't come across as a particularly warm and cuddly character) to only be able to repeat the last words uttered by others.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

This episode is all about the UN interpreting exams, both freelance (GLR or Global Language Roster) and staff (CELP).
I couldn't have produced the episode without the assistance of many colleagues, including UN examiners Gillian Curry and Alice Ryckmans, Zilin Cui (Chinese booth), Olivier Quénette (French booth), Jonathan McGregor (English booth), Cory Bou (English booth), Maisie Greenwood, Aimee Linekar and Kirsten Coope. I am grateful to them for their time and generosity. Any errors in the podcast are my own.*

Here are some of the resources mentioned in the podcast:
- UN website
- UN Digital Recordings Portal
- Interpretation Station
- Chris Guichot de Fortis: interpreting in degraded mode
- my growth mindset challenge can be found by scrolling down the home page
- my podcast episode about reframing stress
- my podcast episode about getting over mistakes
- my course on dealing with acute stress
- Josh Goldsmith's blog post about UN Digital Recordings Portal
- free online courses about UN-related topics
- an interesting blog post about the UN exams from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies
- Emily and Amelia Nagoski's book on Burnout
- The Inner Game of Tennis (a guide to 'peak performance')

* I mentioned in the podcast that it might be possible to take 3 languages in one day for the English booth CELP; it seems that this isn't, in fact, possible, and that you'd have to do the 3rd language on a separate occasion.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.


This episode is about making mistakes and learning to move on from them. It was inspired by Stefano, who wrote: "I wonder if you could consider the topic of "Managing bad performance or errors". Let me give you an example.  Yesterday I hesitated during the translation of an interview on TV. It was nothing major. Still, I could not sleep last night. What can I do?"

It's really important to understand whether your mistake(s) affect your client to the point where you need to do something about it, or whether you're the one who is badly affected.

If you make persistent or significant mistakes at work, such that you consider the general standard of your work unacceptable, consider:
- working on your C language(s)
- playing with your décalage to avoid false starts and language interference
- improving your background knowledge and meeting preparation.

If mistakes weigh on you for reasons to do with mindset rather than objective performance criteria, try the following:

1. Have a clear transition between work and home (especially if you work from home!):
- cycle commute or walk to work if you can
- take a shower and get changed when you get home
- try a power nap
- call a friend to vent
- journal: write about what happened
- write a list of what you are grateful for today
- try meditation
- use short rituals to bookend your day

2. Explore your expectations. Are they unrealistic? Are you a perfectionist?
- try the "double standard" technique to practise self-compassion
- reflect on the effects of your expectations: do they help you or hinder?
- if you messed up, acknowledge your feelings rather than squashing them down

3. When the stressor has gone, the effects of stress on your body still linger.
- the best solution is physical exercise, or:
- diaphragmatic breathing
- affection: a hug, playing with your pet
- spending some time outdoors
- doing something creative (art, music, cooking)

4. If your sleep is disturbed by repetitive, intrusive thoughts:
- make sure you have a good sleep routine (wind down before bed, avoid screens, the news, etc.)
- don't take work to bed
- write a detailed to-do list for the next day
- if you had a bad day, put your feelings on paper

In this episode, I mentioned Emily and Amelia Nagoski's book, Burnout.

You can find my Growth Mindset Challenge on the home page of my website (just scroll down to Free Resources).

If you're interested in my Mind & Body Techniques for Acute Stress course, which is a selection of scientifically-backed techniques to help cope with particularly stressful situations, you can find it here.
  
Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!
 
Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself and share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

Before we get any further: this is episode 3 of 3 on this particular subject, so please listen to episodes 1 and 2, if you haven't done so already.

In this episode, I talk about activating formal vocabulary in your B language.

Here are some of the exercises I suggest:

• selecting 5 or 10 formal words (verbs, nouns, adjectives), researching them in a dictionary and collocations dictionary, and inventing example sentences to anchor them in your memory.
• preparing a speech of your own in your B language, and incorporating some of the formal words you've chosen.
• preparing a speech of your own in your B language incorporating formal features (for example, a speech at an inauguration or prize-giving ceremony).
• choosing a suitable text in your B language, such as a blog post, and rewriting it to make it more formal.
• choosing a suitable speech in your B language and doing a simultaneous reformulation exercise, making the speech more formal.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!
 
Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

In this episode, I discuss some approaches to refreshing your retour skills.
Here are some approaches:
•Immersion (or at least, getting in ‘the zone’)

•Activation – practising constructively

•Reflection – don’t practise randomly; reflect on your progress

•Consistency; refreshing and maintaining a retour require regular, consistent effort over the long term

And some tips:
•Write a plan and SCHEDULE time for your retour

•Include some fun activities!

•Make yourself accountable

•Find a practice partner, practice group, membership site, or coach

•View this as a long term exercise (part of CPD/maintaining your professional skills)

Some of the courses and practice groups I mentioned:
•August short course (can accommodate English and French retour): CCIC

•Interpreting Coach Spring BooStcamp (English enhancement)

•Rock your Retour membership site (English)

•L’Atelier du français B membership site (French)

•Practice groups, e.g. IBPG, PiPs, AmeriVox, etc. – see list here.

If you'd like to join my free Focus Sessions (co-working) on Fridays at 5 pm CET, you can register here.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself and share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

Before we get any further: this is episode 2 of 3 on this particular subject, so please listen to episode 1, if you haven't done so already.

In this episode, I talk about vocabulary-building to improve the formal register of your B language.

Here are some of the exercises I suggest:

• learning a short passage in your B language by heart (suggested by Andy Gillies)
• brainstorming formal versions of logical connectors (e.g. 'thus' or 'therefore' instead of 'so')
• researching and learning stock phrases for certain situations, such as the start of a conference, the beginning of a speech by a politician, etc.
• researching more formal verbs, for example in speech transcripts or mission statements
• thinking about phrasal verbs and their single-word equivalents, often derived from Latin (e.g. 'postpone' instead of 'put off')
• finding neutral and/or formal equivalents for 'good' and 'bad'
• brainstorming more formal synonyms for concepts such as go up/go down, make, do, help, change, etc.  

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!
 
Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself and share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

In this episode, I talk about two strategies for simultaneous: salami technique (also known as segmentation or 'chunking') and keeping a short décalage to try to avoid omissions.

Both of these can be successful techniques for retourists (although I have a personal preference 😉). You can improve your chances of success with targeted exercises.

For salami technique, work on:

• identifying units of meaning
• reformulating units of meaning out loud
• exercises to improve your analytical skills
• summary exercises
• choosing to start each sentence in a different place in simultaneous (as an exercise to help you get away from the word order of the source material)
• sight translation

For a short décalage approach, work on:

• sentence finishing exercising
• 'cloze' or gap filling exercises
• sight translation
• B>B reformulation exercises
• background knowledge
• syntax - make sure it's rock solid.

You can combine both techniques by learning to manage your décalage so that you can shorten or lengthen it if necessary, and by remembering that salami technique doesn't necessarily meaning chopping a long sentence into lots of smaller ones.

Sometimes, it just means rejigging the syntax of the source material to give you more options in the target language, i.e. removing instances of subordination (e.g. relative clauses) and using open syntax with clauses connected by 'and, but, so' (or their equivalents).

Hope this episode gave you some food for thought.

You can find lots of suggested exercises in Andy Gillies' Conference Interpreting: A Student's Practice Book.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!
 
Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

This episode is all about generic terms, i.e. words that describe a type, category, or class of thing.
Another way of looking at it is that this episode is all about different ways to say 'thing'!

To increase the flexibility of your retour, and your ability to describe or talk about virtually anything, you need to find general terms for specific vocabulary.

For example, you may already have a collection of useful synonyms such as these:

• goal: target, objective; ambition, aspiration, dream
• thought: idea, concept, notion, impression, consideration
• task: job, exercise, mission, undertaking, pursuit, venture, project

When you're interpreting, you choose a word based on the speaker's meaning, register, and tone.

How about coming up with some synonyms for these ideas?

• component
• event
• way
• device
• topic
• tool
• characteristic
• skill
• thing

The ability to generalise is a coping strategy in simultaneous, regardless of whether you're working into your mother tongue or a B language (retour). But like many interpreting skills, it can be useful to devote some time and effort to practising this skill deliberately (as opposed to assuming you can do it instinctively, as you may be able to do in your A language).

Another exercise you might like to try is this:
Choose a newspaper article that is deliberately quite technical or that contains unknown or very specific vocabulary. Go through the article out loud, replacing these terms with an appropriate generic equivalent.

Another option: choose a picture or short video of a device, machine, or process of some sort, preferably one that you are unfamiliar with, or where you don't have all the precise terminology at your fingertips. Can you describe how the device works in your B language?

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself and share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

In this episode, I'm focusing on improving your formal register (in a B language, in particular).

To me, this involves:

1. increasing your awareness of formal vs informal register
2. Vocabulary-building
3. Activating your shiny new formal vocabulary!

To improve your sensitivity to register, try the following:

• Shadow someone speaking in a formal style.
• Listen to experienced interpreters working in the same kind of setting as you (e.g. if you want to work for EU institutions, listen to European Parliament TV).
• Choose an article written in a formal style (e.g. an academic paper, an extract from a book or medical journal) and go through it with a highlighter to identify formal turns of phrase .
• Choose two articles on the same subject from two different publications. Read them and compare and contrast their use of language to try to identify instances of formal language.
• When creating glossaries or working on vocabulary enhancement, make a note if a term or phrase is particularly informal or formal.

In this way, you will be working on identifying, mimicking, and recording formal phraseology.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!
 
Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

In this episode, I talk about what it means to interpret 'clearly' (in simultaneous, mostly, although many of the principles apply to consecutive as well).

Here's a quick summary.
To me, 'clarity' involves both acoustic clarity (the audience needs to HEAR and UNDERSTAND what the interpreter is saying), and semantic clarity (the words you use, and how you put them together).

To improve acoustic clarity:
- say each word clearly and accurately
- pause in the right places
- use your voice!
If you struggle with pronunciation, enunciation, or intonation, you can try exercises such as reading out loud or shadowing, or work with an accent coach.

To improve the semantic clarity of what you're saying:
- make short chunks
- if it works in your target language, use SVO sentence structure; start with the subject; keep the subject close to the verb
- make sure the LINKS between ideas are clear, and use intonation to emphasise them
- avoid fillers
- use appropriate and precise vocabulary (think about the needs of your audience)
To make improvements in this area, you might like to play with your décalage to give you more time to think, practise salami technique, and/or do sight translation or reformulation exercises.

A final point: in order to achieve all of this (precise vocabulary, clear links, short chunks, etc.), you need a CLEAR UNDERSTANDING of the speaker's message, which comes from a combination of your understanding of the source language and your ANALYTICAL SKILLS, and a good idea of your audience's needs.

Being clear is about being PRECISE and CONCISE, and I've devoted a whole podcast episode to being concise. :-)


If you'd like to join my free Focus Sessions (co-working) on Fridays at 5 pm CET, you can register here.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

Support the show

My website and blog: https://theinterpretingcoach.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interpretingcoach/
Twitter: @terpcoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-interpreting-coach/

Or email me at [email protected]