101 Guide On Consecutive Interpreting: Important Things To Know

There are many Important Things To Know about Consecutive Interpreting before you decide which type of interpretation work will be beneficial for our upcoming projects. You have heard from many that the consecutive interpretation will be a good choice when you want to emphasize the quality of oral presentation. But you must also know about the challenges and problems that you might face along with the variety of benefits.

What Is Consecutive Interpretation?

The process of interpretation where the speaker will first deliver the speech in the source language and then stop to give the opportunity to the translator to interpret it in another language is called consecutive interpretation. The speaker has to maintain a certain time gap for pausing in the middle of the passage so that the interpreter can deliver that much part in the target format. Usually, the speaker carries on for about five minutes before pausing.

Major Requirements For Consecutive Interpreting

Being a consecutive interpreter is not a matter of joke. It is a challenging task to find a perfect interpreter for your assignment. There should be certain features in the person for qualifying as a quality interpreter.

1. The interpreter must know how to handle mental stress. The Professional Interpreting is a tricky job especially when you want a person to translate for the conference consecutively. Mental fatigue often results from the high activity of the brain. The person has to reason, evaluate, and execute the translation along with maintaining the deep concentration on the matter of discussion. It is a highly complex job and needs cool handling of the case.

2. The interpreter will definitely ask for a summary of the lecture that the speaker is going to deliver. Without knowing the topic of discussion and the points that will be covered, it will be problematic for the translator to produce the converted version. The briefing is must when it is about a technical discussion.

3. While hiring, remember to recruit the translator with specialization in the field of the fixed discussion. If you are going to hire a translator with specialization in medical science to interpret an entirely political meeting, then the result will not at all be satisfactory. Knowledge in the field is necessary to remember the points when the speaker is delivering the speech. Otherwise, the translator will have to struggle for remembering each new term and facts.

Benefits Of Consecutive Interpreting

When you are going to elaborate over the advantages that you may experience by choosing the consecutive interpretation mode, you are definitely going to get some substantial benefits of the process.

a) – If a simultaneous translator starts to convert the words of a speaker, it can create some disturbance for the speaker, especially when the speaker is delivering a lecture on some serious topic. For a smooth interpretation process, it will be a better idea to hire the translator who will not keep on repeating the words of the speaker simultaneously. It will allow both the person to concentrate on their own words without any interference from a second voice.

b) – If you don’t complete a sentence, do you think that a person who has no idea about what you are going to say the next moment, can predict the following words? It is not possible. And the same thing happens with the simultaneous interpreters who get no chance to understand what the speaker is actually trying to say. Framing up a sentence in a different language than that of the speaker without knowing what the ultimate meaning is can be tricky. The output may also not be accurate. A professional consecutive interpreter can take some time to understand the words of the speech and then frame it in the right way to keep the meaning intact.

c) – There will be no necessity of high-quality equipment for the process. The interpreter can stand right next to the speaker and listen to the speech. If the pause is after a considerable period, then the interpreter only needs to use a pen and paper to keep some notes so that the person does not miss any point mentioned in the original language. There is not even the necessity of setting up a special booth or providing headphones to the audience.

d) – Meaning of the speech should reach the audience precisely in the same way as delivered by the speaker. Now it’s sometimes not possible for the simultaneous interpreters to maintain the exact tones and expressions. Converting along with the speaker gives the professionals least time to add the right tones. So often, the flavor of the sentence, especially the sarcastic comments or funny lines get missing in the converted version. The process of Consecutive Interpretation ensures deliverance of the speech maintaining the exact tone and ways of the speaker so that the translated version is as animated as the original one with an accurate flavor of the statement.

Situations When Consecutive Interpretation Is A Big No No

When you have a time constraint for a meeting or a conference, availing the particular type of interpretation won’t be a good idea. The process of continuous pause and play alternating between the interpreter and the speaker makes it an elaborate matter. You should also avoid the process in case of negotiation meetings for it becomes problematic to stop talking in the middle of the argument and wait for the translator to reiterate what you said just now.

Problems Or Challenges With Consecutive Interpreting

Although you know that the consecutive translation will be a better option in many cases, you also must realize that like different kinds of interpretation, and this one also has its pros and cons. There are a few problems of the system which prevents it from being the primary choice of interpretation technique in certain situations.

☞ The memory of the interpreter is perhaps, the most vital point of the entire method. The interpreter will have no idea about where the speaker will take a pause. Usually, the speakers maintain a short gap between the breaks. Still, the interpreter has to keep all the points in memory for translating and delivering them aptly after the original speech portion is over. Forgetting a point means omitting a part of the lecture which is never a good thing.

☞ Maintaining the accuracy of facts is another challenge in the profession. If an interpreter is performing Insurance Interpreting For Insurance Companies, then the person cannot afford to make a single mistake while telling the term plans of a particular policy. When you have to deal with such technical points, it can be a challenging decision to hire the interpreter for consecutive translation. The audience will charge you if there is any miscommunication regarding a term plan to the mass.

☞ The system is time taking. Once the speaker will deliver a part of the message and stop. The interpreter will take over and deliver the same in different language, and again the speaker will take over. So the time requirement is exactly double whereas, in rest of the different kinds of interpretation like simultaneous method, the translator needs no added time for conveying the message.

Useful Facts About Consecutive Interpretation

You are now already aware of the various pros as well as the cons of the consecutive interpretation system. What you still don’t know is some other facts that will give you a better idea about the system.

⇒ The good interpreters are not necessarily certified and experienced bilinguists. It takes more than theoretical knowledge in language study to perform the translation works and that too, the consecutive way.

⇒ The speaker has to provide pauses at the conceptual end of some topic so that it becomes more comfortable for the translator to interpret the words. A speech with a set of irrelevant sentences becomes difficult for conversion.

Professional Interpreting Assistance

From academic to business purposes, all sectors of work can have the necessity to avail the professional translators to interpret the messages. An interpretation is always better than translation as interpretation aims to maintain the exact meaning of the sentences instead of doing a real conversion. The medical industry is one of the foremost sectors that need the assistance of interpreters. You will need the Interpreters For Health Centers Community works too. As you have to visit different places where people might not understand your language, you have to deliver the basic educational facts about topics like hygiene and contamination diseases with the help of the consecutive interpreters.

Conclusion Paragraph

It’s difficult to judge whether a particular event will be successful with the assistance of a consecutive interpreter or the simultaneous interpreter. But as you now know the advantages of the system as well as the problems that may arise on hiring this type of interpreter, you can make the decision after much thinking. Keep in minds the facts that will guide you while taking your call. The extra time that a translator gets while converting in a consecutive way helps to frame the structure of the speech in the target language in a far better manner. You can judge every point discussed and then make the final decision.

Hiring a good interpreter from TridIndia will be advantageous too. The professional consecutive interpreters in our team have years of experience in helping clients with quality interpretation from one language to another. Bee it an Indian language or a foreign language, our interpreters can assist you will all kinds of interpreting solutions that you desire.

So, if you are in need of consecutive interpretation for a seminar, exhibition, conference or any other event, contact us right now or give us a call at +91-8527599223