Index

I/ Introduction...............................................................................................2

II/ Body..........................................................................................................2

1. What is Interpreting and Strategy?.......................................................2

2. Strategies for new interpreters before, while, and after performing

interpreting work on stage......................................................................3

2.1 Before.......................................................................................................3

2.1.1 Language and its usage......................................................4

2.1.2 Psychological Readiness.....................................................4

2.1.3 Cross-Cultural Understanding...........................................5

2.1.4 Cross-Field Understanding.................................................6

2.1.5 Logistical Preparation........................................................7

2.1.6 Negotiating and Promotion.................................................8

2.2. While on stage.........................................................................................8

2.3 After.......................................................................................................11

III/ Conclusion ............................................................................................12

-1-
 I/ Introduction:

Interpreting work is truly challenging to a newcomer in this field. You must

be fast, you must think in two languages at the same time, and you must feel

the language. It is like dancing: you move with the speaker, with the same

emotion, the same logic, the same rhythm. Interpreting is great. You are

interacting with real people rather than a laptop. Being an interpreter means

being hooked for the rest of your life. You just don't stop learning. Common

sense and encyclopedic knowledge. These are more far more endless than the

technical skills you learn in a language school. Some strategies presented in

this report might be beneficial for other new interpreters and in different

environments throughout the globe.

II/ Body

1. What is interpreting and Strategy?

Interpreting:

Interpreting happens whenever two people or two groups of people do not share a

common language but need to or want to communicate with each other in order to

conduct business or share information and ideas. When people who are Deaf (and

who use sign language) and people who are not Deaf (and who use a spoken

-2-
language) want or need to talk to one another, that’s when interpreters do their

work.

There will always be two kinds of languages in interpreting: the source language

and the target language (which is also called the receptor language). Most of the

time interpreters work simultaneously, which means expressing what someone just

said while at the same time focusing on what someone is saying right now.

Sometimes interpreters work consecutively, which means listening until someone

has completed an idea and then interpreting that idea

Strategy:

Basically, 'strategy' is a carefully devised plan of action to achieve a goal

(Thesaurus: US-English)

2. Strategies for new interpreters before, while, and after performing

interpreting work on stage

2.1 Before

Before an interpreter steps up on stage he should equip himself with some

adequate linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge and skills as a part of strategies

he has to take into account.

-3-
2.1.1. Language and its usage.

a. The interpreter should keep on improving his linguistic knowledge of both

the source language and the receptor language through reading and/or

listening to discourse genres available from different sources of

information, like books, the Internet, television, radio, etc.

b. The interpreter should search for an appropriate, accurate, and natural way

of using both the source language and the receptor language by asking and

observing how native speakers using their language in real-life situations.

c. The interpreter should agree with the speaker on how to interpret on stage:

statement by statement or giving a summary after the talk. If the interpreter

is to interpret statement by statement, he must use the first-person personal

pronoun "I" to refer to the speaker; when giving a summary after a talk,

particularly in a debate or a discussion, the interpreter must use the third-

person personal pronoun "he" or "she" or "speaker's name."

2.1.2. Psychological Readiness

a. The interpreter must have an I-can-do-it feeling. He must trust his own

linguistic and non-linguistic abilities by saying to himself: "Go and Just Do

-4-
 It! No one is perfect at first" This inner force will strongly encourage him

to walk up on stage with full self-confidence.

b. The interpreter should assume that nobody else in the audience knows

source language or receptor language. This is to avoid a feeling that

somebody on the floor will identify the mistakes he may make. This is also

to increase self-confidence and to decrease anxiety.

2.1.3. Cross Cultural Understanding

a. The interpreter must make an effort to understand the differences and

similarities between English and Indonesian. This will guide an interpreter

on the right track of a culture. For example:

Eye contact

Each interpreter should know that most Indonesians do not always keep their eye

contact with the audience or listeners when speaking, which is not the case of

English-speaking people. So, the interpreter should keep eye contact with the

audience or listeners when interpreting from Indonesian into English

Directness versus indirectness

-5-
Each interpreter should know that most Indonesians avoid straightforward

statements, because it is culturally impolite to say something right in the face of

the audience, while English-speaking people prefer straightforward talk. So, the

interpreter must listen carefully in order to digest and convey the intended

meaning hiding behind long Indonesian utterances.

Terms of addressing

Culturally, the way of addressing a person or a group of people depends very

much on some aspects like the relationship between the speaker and the addressee,

where the communication takes place, the age, sex, and social status of the speaker

and the hearer, and the cultural backgrounds of the speaker and of the hearer. For

example, in Indonesia the use of pronoun 'you' (kamu) in a particular statement

varies from one interpreting to another such as in English statement like "I am

very pleased to be with you here". An interpreter has to learn and observe how a

particular speech community addresses each other within or outside its own

community.

2.1.4. Cross-Field Understanding

a. The common assumption of people is that if a person speaks English, he

has the capability of understanding every detail of all fields of knowledge,

-6-
 which is of course untrue. Accordingly, the interpreter must make an effort

to familiarize himself with different fields of knowledge in order to enrich

and prepare himself becoming a well-prepared interpreter to counterbalance

such an assumption.

2.1.5. Logistical Preparation

a. The interpreter should to carry his own small tape-recorder or cell

phone/recorder with him at all times to record his actual interpreting work

for his own performance assessment. Remember, interpreting work is not

always in a very well-organized formal situation. It may take place

anywhere and anytime. This small extra work may improve his

performance and bring the interpreter up to a more professional level. Make

sure to let the speaker or the organizer know of this recording by asking

their permission to do it for personal improvement, rather than for

commercial or political purposes. The interpreter can also use interpretation

equipment supplier to help him or her in interpreting

b. The interpreter should have a pen and a small notebook on him to put down

certain points during a session of discussion if the audience is given a

chance to comment and raise questions (in a discussion situation).

c. The interpreter should ask the speaker if he has a hard copy of the talk and

review it before going on stage. This will help the interpreter to find out

-7-
 new terms that he needs to clarify with the speaker or a friend to avoid

misinterpreting. If the speaker is invited to deliver a speech without written

notes, the interpreter should ask the speaker to brief him on the main points.

2.1.6. Negotiating and Promotion

a. The interpreter should negotiate the price when the other parties need his

interpreting service for the benefit of their businesses. Ask experienced

colleagues how much they charge for an hour or a day service and under

what conditions.

b. The interpreter should have some spare business cards on him in case

someone is impressed by his performance and may need his expertise one

day. The interpreter can also promote himself to potential clients during a

break.

2.2. While On Stage:

Some Strategies:

a. The interpreter should keep eye contact with the audience or with an

individual when sitting or standing in front of them.

-8-
b. The interpreter should speak up to ensure that the message is clearly heard

and understood by the audience.

c. The interpreter should ask the speaker to raise the volume of his voice when

he speaks too softly. This is to avoid asking for repetition of unclear words

or missing the point when the environment is polluted by external noises.

d. The interpreter should listen to the speaker with full concentration while

performing the job. He must not bring any psychological burden with him

that might interfere with his work. He must refuse to do the job if he has a

psychological problem or a bad mood on that day.

e. The interpreter should ask the speaker to repeat an important point if the

interpreter has missed it. He does not have to feel that the speaker or the

audience may think he is stupid if he asks for clarification or repetition.

f. The interpreter should sit or stand close to the speaker so as to interpret

what the first speakers say if it's an event (e.g. opening ceremony of a new

project) where several speakers are invited to deliver their speeches, or

comments may be made or questions asked by individuals from the

audience.

g. The interpreter should not look at the written version of the speech if the

speaker provides him with one, because this will interfere with his

concentration. He has to put it aside right away and concentrate on the

verbal message, because the process of listening to and interpreting

incoming messages in the Short Term Memory is faster than reading. In

-9-
 addition, some good speakers usually do some improvisation and

adaptations while delivering their speeches because of new information

received from previous speakers or new ideas occurring to them

spontaneously.

h. The interpreter should put down some particular points during a discussion,

especially if the speaker is flooded with comments and questions from

different people attending the meeting.

i. The interpreter should select the appropriate language and acceptable forms

of addressing when talking to the audience or a particular individual.

j. Apart from a hand phone on a teleconference or a telephone meeting, the

speaker-phone button on an office telephone must be pressed when

interpreting so both the speaker and the interpreter can clearly hear the

comments, questions, and answers from the speaker at the other end. The

interpreter should stop the speaker at the other end when he speaks too fast.

This usually happens when the speaker at the other end does not realize that

interpreting is in progress. The interpreter should remind the remote

speaker to adapt to the pace of the speaker on his side.

k. When interpreting a speech outdoors, e.g. at the project site, the interpreter

should raise his voice to reach the audience standing far from the speaker if

there is no a battery-operated loudspeaker available (in the Indonesian

tradition, several speeches are usually delivered prior to cutting a ribbon or

- 10 -
 laying the first brick to signal the beginning of a new project in an opening

ceremony)

l. At a contentious demonstration event the interpreter should make quick

decisions on omitting a particular offensive statement or taboo expression

or irrelevant message and paraphrasing them using acceptable equivalent

words. In such a situation the interpreter only interprets the louder and

repeated statements because they are the main reasons for the

demonstration. The interpreter should speak in a louder voice because some

demonstrators will not stop at the time of the speaker begins to respond.

With a louder voice he can attract their attention and make them stop

speaking and listen carefully to the speaker and the interpreting.

2.3. After

This is a critical phase for the interpreter to make a self-assessment of what he just

experienced while on stage for the purpose of performing better in a future

interpreting assignment. The following strategies are taken into account for self-

preparation.

a. The interpreter should be proud of and satisfied with the mission he has just

completed successfully, although he might have some regrets about missing

some important points due to lack of knowledge and unforeseen

- 11 -
 interference. Such a feeling strongly motivates the interpreter to perform

better in the future

b. The interpreter should play back the recording to assess what happened on

stage in order to ensure a poor performance can be improved in future.

c. The interpreter should recall and put down some particular statements,

terms, cultural aspects that he omitted, missed, or misunderstood during

interpreting (This is only applicable if no recording and no note-taking are

available). This small extra work is a useful strategy to learn new things

that might appear during the next assignment.

III/ Conclusion:

Each new interpreter must make an effort to improve his interpreting skill and

knowledge in different fields of science and technology. Such skills and

knowledge can only be acquired by learning before stepping up on stage,

experiencing while on stage, and learning from the experience after performing on

stage so as to perform much better in future assignments.

The process of LEARNING and EXPERIENCING and LEARNING is an on-

going process each interpreter goes through once he has chosen interpreting either

as a part-time or as a full-time career.

- 12 -