Interpretation: Techniques and Exercises

James Nolan

Multilingual Matters

2012

Abstract

Interpretation can be defined in a nutshell as conveying understanding. Itsvalue stems from the fact that a speaker's meaning is best expressed in his orher native tongue but is best understood in the languages of the listeners.In the art of interpretation several complex interrelated processes makeit possible to convey the semantic and emotive contents of a message fromone language and culture to another. The complex interaction of these processes and the difficulty of coordinating them simultaneously in the oral/aural mode require alertness, sensitivity, intense concentration and mentalagility. In some ways, training for interpreting resembles training for musi-cianship: the most fruitful approach is guided practice; individual aptitudesand skills are important; talent needs to be nurtured and encouraged; perfor-mance is improved by awareness of audience expectations; intuition plays arole; and there may be several valid ways of interpreting a particular passage.

Contents:

Speaking

Preparation/Anticipating the Speaker

Comples Syntax/Compression

Word Oder/ Clusters

General Adverbial Clauses

Untranslatability

Figures of Speech

Argumentation

Diction/Register

Formal Style

A Policy Address