The operation of interpretation begins with the input of language information. Except for visual translation, in most cases, interpreters receive language information from speakers through hearing. Therefore, the interpreter's hearing and understanding of the incoming information are the first pass in interpretation. This is especially true for translators in China when translating English into Chinese, because our mastery of English is far less proficient than that of our mother tongue. Listening comprehension has always been our weak link. It is not difficult to imagine that if the interpreter does not hear or understand the English spoken by the speaker, then translation into Chinese will be impossible; If you don't fully understand or hear wrong, it is impossible to accurately and completely convey the speaker's original intention, and even lead to misunderstanding, leading to the failure of communication between the two sides or more serious consequences. Therefore, an interpreter must have a keen sense of hearing, a good sense of language and the ability to distinguish between different sounds, intonation, vocabulary and syntax.
A competent translator can understand not only the standard English spoken by people from Britain and the United States, but also various English varieties spoken by people from English-speaking countries, such as Irish English, Scottish English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and South African English. They must also be able to understand the English spoken by people who use English as a second language or an official language, such as Indian English, Singaporean English, Filipino English, English spoken by West African countries, and English spoken by people from non-English speaking countries who use English as a foreign language. Compared with standard English, the English spoken by people from the above countries may be inaccurate in pronunciation, improper in words and even grammatical errors. It is very important for translators in China to understand English from different countries and regions, especially at present, China is opening to the outside world in all directions. We should not only deal with English-speaking countries, but also develop exchanges and cooperation with people all over the world. English is one of the most widely used languages in the world, but there are not many countries whose mother tongue is English. Most countries use English as a second language, an official language or a foreign language. English spoken by people from different countries has its own characteristics, which is different from standard English in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, translators should consciously train and cultivate their ability to adapt to various English varieties in pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary and syntax, and strive to improve their English listening comprehension, which is an important link to improve the quality of interpretation.
The situation is different when translating Chinese into English. Apart from strong local accents, dialects, idioms, slang or technical terms, it is generally not a problem for translators in China to understand Chinese. The key link is understanding, and the key is code-switching and English expression.
2. Understanding
Understanding is a process in which an interpreter makes a correct judgment and understanding after analyzing, interpreting and synthesizing the received language information. The information conveyed by the speaker is composed of many factors, both verbal and nonverbal. Interpreters' understanding of the received information includes the following aspects.
(1) Linguistic understanding. Language is the main carrier of information. Interpretation is a kind of language communication activity, and the transmission of information mainly depends on the interpreter's understanding of the source language, including the speaker's understanding of language factors such as pronunciation, intonation, grammar, vocabulary, meaning and discourse. Therefore, an interpreter must have a solid knowledge of language and a rich vocabulary. He should not only be proficient in the common words, idioms, proverbs and common sayings of the two communicative languages, but also be good at capturing the "implication between words" and "implication between words" and understand the true meaning of the words from the speaker's tone, intonation, argot and context. From this, it can be seen that the understanding at the language level lies in the translator's proficiency in the two languages involved in communication. An interpreter should be proficient in two languages, especially the foreign language level should be close to the mother tongue level.
In addition, linguistic understanding is closely related to cultural background knowledge. Because the two languages used by both parties have their own social consciousness and cultural connotations, it is difficult to understand and master a language without knowing its social and cultural background, and of course it is impossible to translate it. Therefore, an interpreter should have a good bilingual culture, and be familiar with both the source culture and the national culture. Only in this way can we find out the concepts and words that are "equivalent" from the comparison of the two cultures and carry out semantic transformation. The more thoroughly an interpreter understands the two cultures, the more deeply he can understand the speaker's original intention.
(2) Knowledge understanding. Interpretation involves a wide range of contents. In today's world, various international exchange activities are very frequent. In addition to regular political and diplomatic exchanges, economic and trade exchanges, cultural and sports exchanges, various professional and academic meetings and exchange activities are becoming more and more frequent. The content of the conversation between the two sides may involve many aspects. If an interpreter has enough professional knowledge in relevant fields, he can analyze and understand the conversation from a professional perspective. On the other hand, if the interpreter lacks professional knowledge about the topic of the conversation, even if the foreign language level is high, it is impossible to fully understand the content of the conversation. Thus, knowledge and understanding are closely related. The richer the knowledge of the interpreter, the deeper the understanding of the conversation and the smoother the interpretation.
A successful interpreter should be versatile and have rich basic knowledge. Of course, this does not require an interpreter to know everything, but to be an all-rounder and an expert. However, an interpreter must master the minimum international knowledge, have basic knowledge in politics, economy, commerce, law, humanities, science and technology, understand the basic situation of the source country in politics, economy, history, geography and society, and be familiar with China's national conditions, especially China's domestic and foreign policies and its positions, viewpoints and attitudes on major international issues. When conditions permit, translators should be prepared in advance and try to be familiar with the topics to be discussed by both parties and the scope of knowledge that may be involved.
Interpreters' knowledge acquisition mainly depends on their persistent efforts. Conscious translators are good at seizing every practical opportunity, accumulating and expanding knowledge, enriching vocabulary and improving interpretation level.
(3) logical understanding. Interpreters can not only understand the speaker's meaning by the language information sent by the speaker and the understanding of the topic of the conversation, but also deepen their understanding by analyzing the content of the conversation and logical reasoning. In communication, both sides participate in the conversation with different identities and positions. Both sides have their own ideas, ways and purposes when talking, and the content of the conversation has internal logic and connection. Interpreters should know the identity, status and occupation of the speaker, understand the intention of his conversation as soon as possible, grasp the internal relationship of his conversation, and accurately understand the real meaning of the speaker through the analysis and logical reasoning of his conversation, so that they will not interrupt their thinking and understanding because they don't fully hear the speaker's conversation occasionally. Interpreters can follow the speaker's thinking and understand his original intention through logical reasoning. Even if the speaker makes a slip of the tongue or turns the conversation upside down, the interpreter can correctly deduce his meaning and interpret it correctly.
3. Memory
In the process of processing the received language information, the interpreter needs to temporarily keep the obtained information in memory to prevent the information from being lost, missed or mistranslated during conversion and expression. Therefore, translators should have a strong memory, especially when translating alternately. Because the speaker often speaks for 2 ~ 3 minutes or even 4 ~ 5 minutes before stopping in alternate translation. Interpreters should not add or subtract the content of the speaker's conversation at will, let alone fabricate it against his original intention, and must express the speaker's original intention faithfully, completely and promptly.
Therefore, an interpreter must mobilize his memory as much as possible at the moment of understanding, write down the meaning of the conversation, and then choose appropriate words and sentences to express it. It can be seen that memory and understanding are closely linked, almost simultaneously, and complement each other. What is understood is the easiest to remember, and memory can affect understanding and expression. In fact, in the process of interpretation, the interpreter listens, notes and understands.
There are two forms of memory: memorization and notes. In simultaneous interpretation, speech and translation are almost simultaneous, so there is no time to take notes; Taking notes will distract your energy and affect the listening and translation of the next sentence. Under normal circumstances, interpreters always remember by heart. Alternate translation is different. The interpreter has to wait until the speaker finishes a paragraph before translating. Translators need notes to help them remember, but don't rely too much on notes, otherwise it will be easy to put the cart before the horse and affect the effect of translation. No matter simultaneous interpretation or consecutive translation, interpreters are required to have outstanding memory. Therefore, translators should strengthen their memory through practice. Note-taking is a special interpretation skill, which will be discussed in the third chapter.
4. Expression
Expression is a process in which an interpreter expresses the speaker's original intention in the target language on the basis of fully understanding the source language. The ultimate goal of listening, understanding and remembering is to express. In the process of expression, the interpreter should code-switch, recode, generalize, select appropriate words and phrases, and finally translate them timely and accurately. When expressing, the interpreter should be clear in pronunciation, accurate in intonation, proper in wording, fluent and natural. These are the basic requirements of expression and an important sign of the quality of interpretation. Successful expression can not only convey the speaker's information completely, accurately and fluently, but also maintain the speaker's style and characteristics. Excellent interpretation can make the conversation between the two sides "harmonious" without any language barriers. In some international conferences, we often see this phenomenon: when the participants listen to a representative's impassioned speech, they will find that the interpreters in the interpretation room can't help waving their arms while interpreting with the same passion. The interpreter's expressive effect and perfect ideal depends on the interpreter's language skills and speech skills. An interpreter should not only have a pure mother tongue and be proficient in a foreign language, but also have certain speech skills, such as articulate speech, loud voice, beautiful timbre, appropriate rhythm, and a certain skill in choosing words and making sentences, so as to attract and impress the audience.
Basic quality requirements for interpreters
In today's globalization, international communication is getting closer and closer, and interpretation has been paid more and more attention. It has become an important, noble and desirable job, and it is also a profession with high entry threshold and difficult entry. Interpreters have arduous tasks, heavy responsibilities and hard work, and it is difficult to be competent without good ideological quality and excellent professional ability.
(1) A qualified translator should have good political and ideological quality and lofty professional ethics, a high level of policy and strict organizational discipline. In foreign-related work, the work and performance of interpreters represent the image of the country, the spirit of the nation and the interests of the country or group. Interpreters should have a strong sense of responsibility and a high sense of responsibility for their work. In foreign exchanges, we should be loyal to the motherland, correctly implement the principles and policies of the party and the state, strictly abide by state secrets, strictly abide by the discipline of foreign affairs and the code of conduct for foreign-related personnel, be loyal to our duties, lead a clean and honest life, do not seek personal gain, do not act on our own, and do nothing that harms national dignity and personality.
(2) A qualified translator must have excellent language skills, including a solid foundation in mother tongue and foreign languages. He should not only have a solid basic knowledge of pronunciation, intonation, morphology, syntax and grammar, but also be proficient in language use and cross-cultural communication. He should also have keen listening and rich vocabulary. When translating, he should have clear speech, natural intonation, proper wording and accurate and smooth expression. At the same time, translators should master a certain number of translations of idioms, proverbs, abbreviations, euphemisms, humorous words, technical terms, poems, famous sayings and epigrams, and use various interpretation methods and techniques flexibly. Only in this way can they get to the right place in all kinds of interpretation occasions, use them freely and calmly, overcome difficulties and achieve the effect of expressing their feelings.
(3) The professional quality of an interpreter also includes knowledge reserve. In the process of interpretation, interpreters will encounter conversations on all kinds of topics, which are almost all-encompassing and omniscient. Therefore, a competent translator must have rich encyclopedic knowledge, be able to quickly adapt to the translation tasks of different majors, and at the same time, he must have a deep grasp of relevant professional knowledge, such as international affairs, economy and trade, finance, telecommunications, chemical industry and biology, so as to provide better and more stable services for some institutions. The more knowledgeable an interpreter is, the more he can fully understand the content and meaning of the conversation and accurately express the original intention of the speaker.
(4) An interpreter must also have a keen mind, quick response, outstanding memory, high judgment ability, strong comprehensive analysis ability, logical thinking ability and improvisation ability. Only in this way can he be in an invincible position in interpretation on various occasions.
(5) Interpreters must also have good personal cultivation. In foreign activities, they should be dignified, generous, polite, modest and elegant, warm and friendly, and be neither humble nor supercilious. In work practice, interpreters should pay attention to constantly improving their political, professional quality and personal cultivation.
Oral English is mainly accepted and analyzed in the process of interpretation, but it is not completely equivalent to the oral English we use in our daily life. The oral style in life is very casual, with little emphasis on the modification of words. There are many allegorical sayings, slang, proverbs, one-liners and so on. The language level (that is, a certain social level of speech can be distinguished from elegance and vulgarity, and the use occasions are different, which is similar to the style; Style can be roughly divided into frozen style, formal style, general style, informal style and causual style, etc.), which is relatively low, and rarely involves formal style and solemn style, and there are no formal rhetoric methods involved in formal style and solemn style and some formal "rhetoric" structures unique to formal occasions, and the subject matter is very limited, so communication is very limited.
The spoken language used in the interpretation work site naturally includes "spoken life", but the typical interpretation work is all-encompassing, and it is difficult to be competent for interpretation work if you can only say two common spoken words and slang in life. Spoken language in interpretation is usually of a high level, mostly in formal or solemn style, and the communication scene is often formal or semi-formal, with "rhetoric" used, and the subjects involved are often politics, economy, science and technology, cultural exchanges, academic discussions and so on. This kind of oral English has strong logic, certain structural integrity, large amount of information, more attention to words, and sometimes it may be "professional" in terms of words and structure. It is rich in information, concentrated and difficult to remember, and in some cases it must rely on some specific interpretation techniques such as notes. That is to say, "oral English" is not a language difficulty in interpretation. It is impossible to effectively improve the level of interpretation only by talking with native English speakers or by rote memorizing a lot of common slang.
The study of interpretation should focus on the analysis of the spoken language actually needed in interpretation, that is, the "working language" of interpretation. This kind of "working language" is the foundation of interpreters, which mainly consists of discourse discourse structures such as solemn style, formal style and ordinary style with high language level and specific subject categories, such as conference speech, negotiation, technical discussion, product introduction, scenic spot description, business communication and legal disputes. Mastering these contents can help interpreters to grasp the characteristics of the working language of interpretation, and it is better.