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WHAT IS Consecutive Interpreting?

In general, language interpreting or interpretation is an intellectual activity during which a mediator, (the interpreter), facilitates the oral communication between two or more partners who don’t share the same language. Interpretation implies the actual result of which is the message, tone, feelings and the intentions of the source-speaker are conveyed by the interpreter in the form of a different language.

Interpreting is never verbatim. As it is a real-time activity, unlike in the case of translation, the interpreter does not have the time or the possibility to look up unknown terms (which may occur even in the case of a very experienced expert, especially in case of a very complex topic such as molecular biology or nuclear energy). The interpretation does not mean translating word-for word what the source-speaker says. Many times it wouldn't even make sense, or even worse, it'd even sound ridiculous (just think of saying, proverbs, or jokes, if you don’t find the equivalent –but different - one in the target language but translate them literally it may sound unintelligible or even worse, ridiculous to the audience.

Certain details can be omitted from the original speech. Ideally, the interpretation in the target language contains 80% of the information from the original version. The speakers themselves can help the interpreter by speaking slowly, emphasizing the main points and stopping for a few seconds after each unit of thought.

In simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter listens to the continuously speaking orator via earphones, sitting in a soundproof cabin and interprets the presentation immediately (with a delay of about 1-1.5 minutes). The audience listens to the interpretation on their own earphones.

In consecutive interpreting, the interpreter starts to interpret after the source-language speaker has finished speaking. It can be divided into two subcategories: short consecutive and long consecutive interpreting (agreed upon with the Client beforehand). In the case of short consecutive interpreting the interpreter has to rely on his / her short term memory. The orator stops after each unit of thought and the interpreter conveys these brief segments in the target language. In long consecutive interpreting (segments of 10-15 minutes are already considered long) the segments are too long to memorize so the interpreter has to take notes.

Though it’s hard to remember long passages, it is also disadvantageous if the speaker stops after every sentence- it is always best to complete a whole idea before it is interpreted.

The Basic Principles of Consecutive Interpreting

During consecutive interpreting, when hearing the source-language text, the interpreter has to decode the message of the speech (what is the speaker’s intention, point of view, opinion, etc.) then she / he has to analyze the text, select the main points, eliminate the superfluous details (approx. 20%), and in the end, reformulate this message in another language.

THE INTERPRETER DOES NOT CONVEY WORDS OR SENTENCES, BUT IDEAS AND MESSAGES!

Not even the interpreters are encyclopedic dictionaries, and we must accept that there are times when they do not know a word or an expression. However, they have to do their best to keep their vocabulary up-to-date, to have a deep insight into the given culture and to be generally well informed (this latter is indispensable for an interpreter). They also have to train their short-term memory.

A very important rule: an interpreter cannot add anything (especially his or her personal opinion on the topic) to the speech! The interpreters’ task is simply to be the linguistic link between the audience and speaker.

At the same time, consecutive interpreters are also public speakers (usually they stand on the stage next to the speaker) so the same rules apply to them: they have to connect to the audience, create eye contact (and not gazing at their notes), they shouldn’t mumble but talk aloud, etc. otherwise the message will not be conveyed properly.