To prepare for this exam, you may need to sign up for classes. However, you need to keep your eyes peeled and choose a good interpreting class carefully. Never attend the Chinese translation master Lin Chaolun's interpretation class. Everyone knows that that person is..., hehe

There is such an article, translated by Beijing Foreign Language School, take a look:

The nonsense myth of the so-called master (it is said to be written by Beijing Foreign Studies University, criticizing Lin Chaolun)

On the evening of May 27th, I went to Beijing International Studies University to listen to "International Simultaneous Interpretation Master Lin Chaolun" You are invited to enjoy the interpretation lecture of "Translating a Colorful Life".

Master Lin got straight to the point and said that learning simultaneous interpretation is not that difficult. In fact, you can "climb to the top in one step." He was persuasive and said: The "peak" here is a "different" peak, not a "high" peak. If it is a peak, it cannot be reached in a short time, and "different peaks have special ways" and you can take shortcuts. He also gave an example that we should not "treat the head for a headache and the foot for a sore foot", but should use "acupoint-pointing method" so as to achieve "a breakthrough".

Immediately afterwards, Master Lin began formal training. First, he trained his rapid conversion ability. The specific method was to show PPT. There was an English word on each page of PPT, such as university, park, and staff, which were not difficult. Vocabulary, every time you change the page, let everyone say the Chinese meaning of the word as soon as possible. It is best to blurt it out, the faster the better. Some of the students here really have poor vocabulary and may not know some simple words, so they will inevitably get stuck in the middle. Lin encouraged them to skip new words without translating them, "not to be accurate, but to keep up." ". Lin also asked everyone to stand up collectively, as it is said that "reactions will be faster when turning over while standing." This was played 4 or 5 times in a row. Since it was just a few simple words, the order was kept unchanged. After standing up and practicing several times, everyone finally seemed to be able to "blurt out" (for example, when they saw university, It will immediately translate to "university, park", and "park" on the next page has not yet appeared). Master Lin then congratulated everyone on their ability to quickly switch.

This reminds me of Zhao Benshan's skit. Uncle Benshan asked Fan Wei questions that Fan had answered before. Every time Fan answered correctly, "Zhao Dahuang" excitedly stepped forward and held his hand tightly. Both hands: "Congratulations, you have learned to answer questions!"

After the warm-up, Lin began to introduce the three stages of the 14-day "Master Class" course: Day 1 (quick conversion, just practiced), Day 1 -10 days (sight translation, explained in detail later), 11-14 days (acupoint acupuncture in the box), and then you can do simultaneous interpretation! Today’s lecture is to let everyone understand the training system and process.

As for what "insert acupoints into the box" is, Lin explained that beginners often listen to what they say when translating. If they make a mistake, they will subconsciously say, "Oh, that's not what I meant." ”, it can be seen that he is listening to what he said. Only by holding back, not listening to what you say, and following what the speaker is going to say next can you be a good simultaneous interpreter. Practicing simultaneous interpretation requires concentration, coordination in daily life (to ensure abundant energy), and courage to move forward (firm belief). When talking about his faith, Lin patted his chest and said: "Teacher's faith will never be shaken. If I dare to accept you as a disciple, I can guarantee that I will bring you out. There is no problem that you cannot be brought out. Everyone here can be a co-interpreter!" ”

Lin said: “How far do you need to learn to translate? When you see something, you immediately want to look at it.” To be honest, I can’t understand how this is a characteristic of simultaneous interpretation. I remember when I was taking the intermediate and advanced interpreting exams for my undergraduate degree, I couldn’t help but look at store signs when I saw them when I was walking on the street. It had nothing to do with simultaneous interpretation.

Then the PPT continued to be played, and each page was shown in groups of three English words one after another. Three words were translated one at a time, and everyone present was asked to stand up again and quickly translate the PPTs that flashed one after another. (Note: At this time, I feel that Lin is either a teacher or a PPT player. Anyone can do this profession). Lin took out his cell phone, turned on the stopwatch, and asked everyone to turn over the time. They must translate 90 words in 30 seconds. Most of the students didn't react well, so Lin shouted, "Don't know how to turn over? Throw it away, throw it away again! Dare to throw it away is an important skill! Wrong turn over? If you make a mistake, you are wrong, and you will never change your mind!"

In the end, no matter what happened, I threw what should be thrown away and what should be wrong. After throwing too much and making too many mistakes, I finally finished the journey of breaking the jar and breaking the ball. Master Lin ignored the voice of a classmate in the audience who questioned the teaching method (Lin said that this method is the most advanced, "Maybe one day you can invent a better method than me"), announced that the content of the junior class was successfully concluded, and he will move on to the intermediate class. class!

He took out an article about VISA cards for sight translation training. The article turned out to be a speech during the financial crisis in 1997! Lin said he liked this article, so he didn't change it. No matter what, I can't believe that the reason why I took out articles from 14 years ago to practice interpreting is because of the classic teaching materials rather than the laziness or lack of responsibility of the teacher. Could it be that Master Lin received the celebrity endorsement fee from the VISA card for 14 years?

Lin first asked everyone to translate it once, then told everyone the correct translation, and then asked everyone to sight-translate it, over and over again.

Everyone stand up and turn over! I didn't know how to translate some words originally, but I heard that the "expert" classmates around me could translate them, so I followed the parrot and seemed to be able to "translate" them.

For the first, second, and third times, almost no one could finish reading the article on the PPT within the specified time (about 30 seconds). But for the fourth, fifth, and sixth times, since everyone had mastered the general meaning of the Chinese, "finished" The time was shortening, and finally more and more people were able to "translate" it. Although the sentences that came out were quite awkward and obviously not human words, Master Lin encouraged him with great excitement: "Have you realized that you are Do you want to be a simultaneous interpreter?" (This joke is so cold)

Master Lin also said proudly: "Once the meaning is in place, don't translate it anymore. It doesn't matter whether you translate the last one or two sentences, just don't translate the end. It was easy to finish at the same time as the speaker, which seemed 'very smooth'."

Lin asked all the audience to stand up and roar several times. I followed the Romans and joined the roaring camp, but Lin asked the roar to be short and short. Powerful, you should shout until "your heart is hot", "adrenaline is surging", and your blood is rushing and boiling. Then, Master Lin’s words of wisdom were born! ——"When a dog is anxious, he can jump over the wall; when a man is anxious, he can learn to interpret simultaneously!"

Let me repeat it again: "When a dog is anxious, he can jump over the wall; when a man is anxious, he can learn to interpret simultaneously!" ( Lin Chaolun's Quotations)

After hearing this, I am afraid that not only me, but everyone is ashamed of Master Lin. Many students began to talk: "What a clown!", "Why does it look like a pyramid scheme?"

Before everyone could recover, Master Lin announced in a high-profile manner: The intermediate class is officially over, and the following begins Advanced class!

According to the previous introduction, the advanced class will start "acupuncture". Although most of the previous content was empty, I still foolishly expected Master Lin to surprise us, even just a little bit.

The students were once again forced to stand up collectively, and followed Master Lin in roaring several times, as boldly as having a big stone in his chest. Master Lin was very satisfied and continued to play the PPT and asked the students to translate in turn. Maybe the stuff in the intermediate class is due to indigestion and upset stomachs, but everyone still doesn’t know how to turn it over, so they might as well listen to the master’s advice – just throw it away! There are other contents that I didn’t know at first, but after Master Jing Lin gave the standard answers, I gradually became proficient in memorizing them by rote, and I was barely able to continue. I repeated this over and over again, and finally I could finish it within the designated time. Oh, I said it wrong. It's "turning" over.

I can only say that the so-called acupuncture is actually reduced to scratching - the more you scratch, the more itchy you are. It's not that you don't scratch hard, but that you don't scratch to the point. What's even more embarrassing is that when Master Lin gave the "correct answer", he actually translated six into 7, causing an uproar in the audience. The master is an international talent, so he shouldn't be so unreliable. What's even more embarrassing to Master Lin is that some people started to leave angrily during the course - they thought Lin wasted their precious time.

I dare not judge Master Lin’s interpreting skills, but I think in good faith: After all, Master Lin can make a lot of money by opening a company abroad, and training is just a side job. Yu Xi. I think that only poor students in elementary school will translate six into 7. Lin's mistake should not be a problem of level, but a lack of familiarity with the lecture notes. Its essence is the pursuit of money and disrespect for students, and it is a violation of the profession of teachers. Blasphemy.

In more than an hour, I experienced the roller coaster-like changes of the beginner class, the intermediate class, and the advanced class. I dare not say that I dislike Lin, but at least I have lost any curiosity and respect for him. But what I didn't expect was that Master Lin's subsequent performance (the audience question session) was truly heartbreaking and unbearable.

Lin looked around the audience and boasted sternly: "Have you ever heard that UN interpreters can do simultaneous interpretation and knitting at the same time? In fact, that is nothing at all. Teacher, I can also simultaneously interpret and send e-mails at the same time. mail". Before he finished speaking, there were boos in the audience! !

I firmly believe that a true master must have a rigorous style of study and a spirit of seeking truth from facts. If Lin regarded himself as a master, he could hold a special performance, send emails while doing simultaneous interpretation, and open the eyes of the world with his unparalleled magic skills. Exaggerated business promotions and clumsy oaths probably stem from just four words: profit leads to blindness.

The free question and answer session officially begins.

A classmate asked two questions in a row. The first question was that he failed to learn the note-taking method according to Lin's "Practical Interpreting" and wanted to know if there was something wrong with him during the learning process; I can't remember the second question clearly. In short, I answered two questions. Master Lin said that "Practical Interpreting" was a book written in 2003. It is indeed very imperfect now. Then... what is the second question? Coming?

The General Secretary only asked two questions, but Master Lin forgot one of them, and the whole audience fell into silence!

The classmate probably thought that Master Lin choked on the first question and could not catch his breath, so it was understandable that he forgot the latter question, so he repeated his question again.

It was the next student's turn to ask questions. After asking three questions at once, Master Lin made a surprise: "I'm sorry, what's your first question? Oh, right, right, right, then... ...What is the second question, ah...then what is the third question? "Faint, faint, and faint again! Only then did everyone really realize: Master Lin's memory is so bad! (I have seen bad ones, but never such bad ones!)

Some students asked how to learn consecutive interpretation. Lin said that after many years of thinking, he suddenly figured out one thing, that is, how to learn consecutive interpretation. To learn Chuan well, you need to rely on three things: own knowledge, short-term memory ability, and notes. The three are interactive. As long as one of the three can be used for consecutive interpretation. For example, if you are knowledgeable and know what the speaker wants to say, you can translate without short-term memory and notes. He gave an inexplicable example. For example, he once went to a factory where the engineer knew more about business than the general manager. So after the general manager finished speaking, the engineer ignored what the general manager had just said and kept talking to himself. The content not only contains what the general manager wants to say, but is also more professional and rich. This is a good translation, and there is no need to rely on short-term memory and notes.

The audience here temporarily held their breath. It seemed that everyone felt that this had nothing to do with translation. Could it be that there was something wrong with Master Lin's logic?

Immediately afterwards, Master Lin imagined another extreme situation, that is, the short-term memory is super strong, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t have knowledge or notes, because you only need to repeat the speaker’s words.

The audience was shocked again. If so, parrots are all advanced translators.

Then Master Lin imagined the last extreme situation, which is that he is super good at taking notes. It doesn’t matter if he has no knowledge or short-term memory. He has memorized everything anyway - I think he may have made a mistake. Understand the difference between an interpreter and a stenographer.

Master Lin’s conclusion is: Beginners to interpreting must rely on memory and focus on short-term memory, because at this time they lack knowledge and their notes are not on track, so short-term memory ability is the most important for early learning.

"My memory is very poor now" - the "Master" turned from passive to active, quietly trying to save himself - "I don't agree with cultivating memory. There is no causal relationship between memory and interpreting level. When was your translation level at its highest? It must have been after 10-20 years of translation, but your memory must have declined by then, right?”

In fact, he changed the concept “smartly” , confuses short-term memory with long-term memory. I don’t want to be pretentious here. As long as you are interested in reading any interpreting textbook or searching on Baidu, you can understand the concepts and qualitative differences between short-term memory and long-term memory in interpreting. What we usually say about someone's memory actually refers to long-term memory. Long-term memory is based on the day after tomorrow and is difficult to change (of course, eating more black sesame paste and drinking more soy milk may have some effect)

Also A classmate asked: You actually didn’t let us listen to a piece of audio or a single word today, and you just said that we can learn simultaneous interpretation. What should I do if I can’t understand a sentence and my listening problem has not been solved?

Master Lin could only show his cards: "Interpreting skills can only be said to be helpful for listening, but they cannot solve the problem of listening." What a "one step to the top" turned out to be a "one step to the bottom"! If you don’t have training in listening and listening comprehension, how can you talk about interpreting?

It seems that the second to last student asked this question: "I have done simultaneous interpretation several times myself, and I was very tired. Once I was sick for a week after doing it, do you want to do it?" Have you ever regretted choosing the path of simultaneous interpretation?" As soon as the classmate said this, Lin hurriedly took out his notebook from his wallet and started jotting down furiously. After all, a good memory is not as good as a bad writing. It would be terrible to show off again.

Master Lin looked at his notes and carefully began to answer. He first tentatively asked two questions. I think these two questions reflect Lin's cunning and sophistication. I recommend focusing on studying: < /p>

"You must feel tired doing unfamiliar things, right?" (Lin boldly assumed that the material the student translated was unfamiliar to him, and the student did not react at this time)

< p>"If you think about it carefully, you must feel very tired when you learn to ride a bicycle for the first time, right?"

Two "right", trying to arouse screams, to put it bluntly, they are right The classmate applied hypnosis. Unexpectedly, the classmates in the audience said that they were not tired. Lin was very upset and looked for a breakthrough again: "That's because the body is not well exercised. The employees of our company (KL Translation Company founded by Lin in the UK) can do 10 hours a day." , for a week in a row.”

“I have never regretted being a simultaneous interpreter.” Lin seemed to suddenly remember something and added: “I started teaching myself to be a simultaneous interpreter in 1981. At that time, I was a teacher at the University of International Business and Economics. *** spent two years practicing simultaneous interpretation. It’s great to be able to teach simultaneous interpretation now.”

When the last student asked about the choice of learning materials, Lin answered without hesitation: “As much as possible.” Use more new materials." I think Master Lin’s memory may be really bad. He has forgotten that he just used materials about the 1997 financial crisis for us to practice sight translation!

In the end, Lin Tuqiong came to his senses, got back to business, and began to promote his own courses. I took a look at the admissions brochure and saw that my skills were "super" ordinary and unparalleled. The asking price of more than 20,000 yuan was really expensive.

There were actually several typos in the admissions brochure, to use a Beijing dialect - "the work is too rough"! Once again, we seriously question whether the master or the state-owned enterprises he represents are sincere enough to students.

After the meeting, everyone dispersed. This was perhaps the scene Master Lin didn’t want to see the most. Normally there should be some students on stage, begging for autographs or taking photos together. It's a pity that none of the "fans" showed up. The master was alone, looking at himself, on and off the stage, inside and outside the venue, sighing at each other.