The Linguist

@Linguist_CIOL AUGUST/SEPTEMBER The Linguist 15 FEATURES A n interpreter's quest for rock solid passive languages is never-ending. How can you assess the lacunae in your passive or 'C' languages and design an action plan to address your weaknesses? Resources for foreign language learners are designed for linguists in general, rather than for interpreters in particular, meaning courses to help you learn a foreign language will only get you so far. Once you've acquired the basics of a language you will have to create your own programme to meet your goals. Here's one way to go about it: Analyse what you need to know. Think about the kind of interpreting you do, or want to do: Medical? Legal? Conference? What are the benchmarks for qualification, and what range of vocabulary is involved? Whereas an in-house interpreter for a car manufacturer may be exposed to a limited vocabulary and uniform meeting types, a conference interpreter working for the EU institutions would need to meet accreditation standards and be able to cope with a wide range of terminology, registers and speaking styles. Check your knowledge. Based on your response to step 1, find source materials that will test you in relevant areas: fast, dense material; idiomatic or technical material; formal or colloquial material. Where are the gaps in your knowledge: Terminology? Cultural references? Idiomatic expressions? What happens when you encounter challenges – does your output suffer? Is your delivery marred by false starts, hesitations or fillers? Work on coping strategies. This relates particularly to where unknown or difficult words cause problems with your technique. Depending on the issue, you may need to focus on stress management strategies, generalising and/or summarising, or adapting decalage (i.e. the time between the start of the speech and the start of the interpretation). Cloze exercises (where you input words missing from a text) and sight translation are helpful for developing workarounds. Fill the gaps in your knowledge. This can be done in various ways, but I have offered a few tips to point you in the right direction on page 16. GAINING FLUENCY For many interpreters, adding another C language is of less value than turning a C language into a B, because they work in markets where it pays (or is essential) to be biactive. AIIC's definition of a B language is "a language in which the interpreter is perfectly fluent, but which is not a mother tongue". I'm ambivalent about this definition, because the word 'perfect' isn't defined and surely implies 'native' fluency. This conflates the ability to do a retour (i.e. interpret into a non-native B language) with native or near- native ability in the B language. Many interpreters with noticeable non- native features in their B language provide an excellent service, without their clients feeling that they are lacking in any way. (The bar is set higher or lower depending on the employer and the type of interpreting involved.) To my mind, interpreting successfully in a B language means expressing the speaker's intentions faithfully and clearly, even with a reduced 'toolkit', and this requires strong problem-solving skills. The interpreter must be able to work around obstacles, thanks to anticipation, reformulation, 'chunking', strategic use of intonation, and a supply of ready-made solutions for particular linguistic and cultural challenges. Viewing retour skills through the lens of problem-solving abilities moves the goalposts; it allows you to approach the work of turning a C language into a B, not with a view to learning a language 'perfectly', but with the aim of boosting a set of definable skills. Instead of retourists feeling that they fall short compared to native speakers when interpreting into their B language, they can view this work as a set of challenges which their problem-solving skills will help them overcome, with the aim of shaping a retour that is fit for purpose. A FOCUS ON PROBLEM-SOLVING How, then, to develop these problem-solving skills? Just as you won't become a fantastic hairdresser if all you do is look at pictures of great haircuts, if you want to improve your retour interpreting, you need to focus on the most useful activities and exercises to improve the relevant sub-skills. Two of the most common mistakes I see aspiring retourists make are 1) doing nothing but interpret speeches during their practice time, and 2) trying to improve their B language with methods that are too passive (and more suited to improving a C language). For example, they spend a lot of time watching TV, reading articles or listening to the radio while having breakfast or washing up. I'm not suggesting these activities are pointless. However, they conflict with what I see as one of the cardinal principles of retour work: if you can't talk spontaneously and idiomatically in your B language, how can you hope to interpret successfully? Over the years, I have come across many interpreting students and coaching clients who don't like preparing speeches, doing role plays or improvising in their B language. But focusing exclusively on interpreting into your B language, because you are uncomfortable just speaking it, is like trying to run before you can walk. Working towards a strong retour involves first improving your speaking skills (syntax, pronunciation, vocabulary and intonation), then building in some set phrases for particular situations, and then practising interpreting. To improve your speaking skills, you need to move away from passive, listening-based exercises, and replace them with active exercises where you have to say something out loud. This will help you to work on one or more of the important sub-skills mentioned above. Instead of passively listening to a podcast try shadowing (i.e. simultaneously SPENDING TIME ON IMPROVING YOUR SPEAKING SKILLS PAYS OFF IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

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