Interpretation or interpreting is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages. Translation studies is the systematic study of the theory, description and application of interpretation and translation.
An interpreter is a person who converts a thought or expression in a source language into an expression with a comparable meaning in a target language either simultaneously in "real time" or consecutively when the speaker pauses after completing one or two sentences.
The interpreter's function is to convey every semantic element as well as tone and register and every intention and feeling of the message that the source-language speaker is directing to target-language recipients (except in summary interpretation, used sometimes in conferences)
Modes
Simultaneous
In simultaneous interpretation (SI), the interpreter renders the message in the target-language as quickly as he or she can formulate it from the source language, while the source-language speaker continuously speaks. The most common form is extempore SI, where the interpreter does not know the message until he or she hears it. SI is the common mode used by sign language interpreters.
In the ideal setting for oral language, the interpreter sits in a sound-proof booth and speaks into a microphone, while clearly seeing and hearing the source-language speaker via earphones. The simultaneous interpretation is rendered to the target-language listeners via their earphones.
The first introduction and employment of extempore simultaneous interpretation using electronic equipment that can facilitate large numbers of listeners was the Nuremberg Trials, with four official working languages.
Consecutive
In consecutive interpreting (CI), the interpreter speaks after the source-language speaker completes one or two complete sentences. The speech is divided into segments, and the interpreter sits or stands beside the source-language speaker, listening and taking notes as the speaker progresses through the message. When the speaker pauses or finishes speaking, the interpreter then renders a portion of the message or the entire message in the target language.
Consecutive interpretation is rendered as "short CI" or "long CI". In short CI, the interpreter relies on memory, each message segment being brief enough to memorize. In long CI, the interpreter takes notes of the message to aid rendering long passages. These informal divisions are established with the client before the interpretation is effected, depending upon the subject, its complexity, and the purpose of the interpretation.
On occasion, document sight translation is required of the interpreter during consecutive interpretation work. Sight translation combines interpretation and translation; the interpreter must render the source-language document to the target-language as if it was written in the target language. Sight translation occurs usually, but not exclusively, in judicial and medical work.
Consecutively interpreted speeches, or segments of them, tend to be short. Fifty years ago, the CI interpreter would render speeches of 20 or 30 minutes; today, 10 or 15 minutes is considered too long, particularly since audiences usually prefer not to sit through 20 minutes of speech they cannot understand.
Often, if not previously advised, the source-language speaker is unaware that they may speak more than a single sentence before the CI interpretation is rendered and might stop after each sentence to await its target-language rendering. Sometimes, however, depending upon the setting or subject matter, and upon the interpreter's capacity to memorize, the interpreter may ask the speaker to pause after each sentence or after each clause. Sentence-by-sentence interpreting requires less memorization and therefore lower likelihood for omissions, yet its disadvantage is in the interpreter's not having heard the entire speech or its gist, and the overall message is sometimes harder to render both because of lack of context and because of interrupted delivery (for example, imagine a joke told in bits and pieces, with breaks for translation in between). This method is often used in rendering speeches, depositions, recorded statements, court witness testimony, and medical and job interviews, but it is usually best to complete a whole idea before it is interpreted.
Full (i.e., unbroken) consecutive interpreting of whole thoughts allows for the full meaning of the source-language message to be understood before the interpreter renders it in the target language. This affords a truer, more accurate, and more accessible interpretation than does simultaneous interpretation.
The only case in which the technique of consecutive interpretation cannot be applied is when a written speech is being read out.Written speeches are best dealt with by the reading of pre-translated texts.