Conference Interpreting Explained

by Roderick Jones, Anthony Pym (Series Editor)

Roderick Jones adopts a very practical approach to both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, providing detailed illustrations of note-taking, reformulation, the 'salami' technique, simplification, generalization, anticipation, and so on, including numerous tricks-of-the-trade such as how to handle difficult speakers and how to interpret untranslatable jokes. Numerous examples are offered at every stage, all in English or 'foreignized' English.

Although primarily written as a practitioner's explanation rather than a theorist's speculation, the book includes notes on concepts such as units of meaning, translation units and discourse structure, as well as stances on more polemical issues such as the use of omission and the ethics of interpreting mistakes. The book concludes with a comment on the pleasure of conference interpreting, as well as a glossary and suggested further readings. In all, it fills a major gap in English-language publications on interpreting, providing an introduction for beginners, a down-to-earth guide for students, and a handy compendium for teachers.

The first edition of this book was published in the series Translation Theories explained, at a time when St. Jerome had no separate series for books on practice as such. Happily, it has now found its rightful place in the Practices series. Modifications with respect to the first edition include an updated reading list, an index, and guideline tasks for training sessions. The popularity of the book since its first appearance in 1998 suggests that little else needs to be changed.

Genres: Nonfiction, School

142 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Muaz Smajlović]

أفضل كتاب حول الترجمة الشفوية للطلاب و المبتدئين في هذا الحقل...
بعيدا عن نظريات الترجمة و تنظيرها يعطي الكتاب أمثلة عملية و تدريبات عملية للطلاب و يجيب عن كل الأسئلة التي تخطر على بال المبتدئ في الترجمة, و بجانب كل هذا لم ينس القوانين و التظريات و ذكر البحوث و المنظرين كل ما تطلب الأمر ذلك..
كتاب مميز بحق, و الشكر لمترجمته إلى العربية أيضا فحتى هذا العمل يذكرنا بأهمية الترجمة في نقل المعارف و الخبارات إلى الأمم الأصغر لكي تستطيع اللحاق بركب المتقدمين.

[Marina :)]

L’he llegit per a classe i m’ha agradat més del que pensava!!

[Victoria]

this had no business being this funny

[Sefa]

Anybody who is interested in conference interpreting should read this book to learn the essentials of the profession.

[Sofia]

I loved this!!! It was funny and insightful.

[Lausbiana]

Me lo he leído pal TFG

[Anna]

It's good book for those who want the first steps for interpreting.

[Enikő]

This is the first book I have read about conference interpreting, and I liked it. It makes me very excited to start my studies in the fall!

Some quotes:

The male interpreter must be able to say, 'Speaking as a woman who has gone through four pregnancies...' in a perfectly natural and convincing manner. (page 5)

One should not deduce from an analysis such as this that the interpreter is thinking about each word individually in detail. On the contrary, the interpreter must not pay attention to individual words as words, but must listen to the overall sense of a speech, identifying the ideas that are expressed through the words (which are mere vehicles for meaning, and intrinsically of no interest for an interpreter). (page 14, the italics are mine)

That second one gave me pause. I love words! But I do get what the author means. We discussed similar notions in my translation courses, years ago.

[Eren Buğlalılar]

Mükemmel. Yerinde örnekler, faydalı öneriler, akıcı üslup, geniş kaynakça.

[Safa Azeez]

good