Parallel texts PL-EN

On the pages Parallel texts EN-FR we looked at how reading newspaper articles about the same events/subjects in two languages offers to see see how similar ideas are expressed independently in two languages WITHOUT interference from the other language. 

Sometimes looking at a translation can also offer useful solutions to language problems, particularly for international treaties and since May 2004 for EU legislation. 

In the example below the Polish text of Council Directive 92/32/EEC is in the left hand column, the English text of the same Directive in the right hand column. Note how some constructions, which occur very frequently in such texts, and debates about such texts, are dealt with differently in the two languages. 

Thanks to David Walker for much of the hard work behind this page.

Example

Dyrektywa Rady 92/32/EWG z dnia 30 kwietnia 1992 r. zmieniająca po raz siódmy dyrektywę 67/548/EWG w sprawie1 zbliżenia przepisów ustawowych, wykonawczych i administracyjnych odnoszących się do klasyfikacji, pakowania i etykietowania substancji niebezpiecznych RADA WSPÓLNOT EUROPEJSKICH, uwzględniając2 Traktat ustanawiający Europejską Wspólnotę Gospodarczą, w szczególności jego art. 100a, uwzględniając wniosek Komisji [1], we współpracy z Parlamentem Europejskim [2],   uwzględniając opinię Komitetu Ekonomiczno-Społecznego [3], a także mając na uwadze3, co następuje: rozbieżności między przepisami ustawowymi, wykonawczymi i administracyjnymi dotyczącymi klasyfikacji, pakowania i etykietowania substancji niebezpiecznych oraz dotyczącymi zgłoszenia nowych substancji w Państwach Członkowskich mogą stanowić przeszkodę w handlu między Państwami Członkowskimi i stwarzać nierówne warunki konkurencji; rozbieżności te mają4 bezpośredni wpływ na funkcjonowanie rynku wewnętrznego i nie gwarantują takiego samego poziomu ochrony zdrowia publicznego i środowiska; środki dla zbliżania przepisów Państw Członkowskich, mające na celu ustanowienie i funkcjonowanie rynku wewnętrznego, mają za podstawę wysoki poziom ochrony, o tyle o ile dotyczą zdrowia, bezpieczeństwa i ochrony zdrowia człowieka i środowiska.    COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 92/32/EEC of 30 April 1992 amending for the seventh time Directive 67/548/EEC on1 the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,   having regard to2 the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),  having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),  whereas3 disparity between the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances and to the notification of new substances in the Member States may lead to barriers to trade between Member States and create unequal conditions of competition;  whereas the disparity between these measures in the Member States has a direct impact on the functioning of the internal market and does not guarantee the same level of protection of public health and the environment; whereas measures for the approximation of the provisions of the Member States which have as their object the establishment and functioning of the internal market shall4, inasmuch as they concern health, safety and the protection of man and the environment, take as their basis a high level of protection;  

Comments on example

zmieniająca po raz siódmy dyrektywę 67/548/EWG w sprawieamending for the seventh time Directive 67/548/EEC on theThere are lots on awkward and wrong ways of rendering “w sprawie” in English!
uwzględniającHaving regard toNote that this expression is repeated in both languages but… 
a także mając na uwadze, co następuje:whereas …. this one is NOT repeated in Polish. This is going to difficult to spot for interpreters working out of Polish from speakers quoting these recitals…but forewarned is forearmed! 
mająshall,typical in legal texts, “shall” is rendered by a present tense verb and vice versa.

Parallel text FR-EN

Reading newspaper articles about the same events/subjects in newspapers of both your A and C languages offers you the chance to see how similar ideas are expressed independently in two languages without interference from the other language. This will be very useful in helping to avoid language interference (calque) when you interpret.

This activity and its usefulness in translation was first described in Vinay & Darbelnet’s seminal Comparative Stylistics of French and English (1.4.2 p44 )

Exercise

1. Find newspaper articles on the same subject in two or more different languages (one of which should be your mother tongue)
2. Highlight passages where the same information is conveyed in the different articles
3. Make a note of the equivalent versions for future reference
Gilets jaunes : le maintien de l’ordre à l’épreuve des blessés graves
Le nombre des blessés graves depuis le début du mouvement le 17 novembre dernier ouvre le débat sur la stratégie de maintien de l’ordre, et notamment l’usage du lanceur de balles (LBD) et des grenades GLI-F41 par les forces de l’ordre2.   Chaque samedi depuis l’ Acte I des Gilets jaunes8 le 17 novembre, qui a engendré une fronde inédite et de grandes violences, le nombre de blessés ne cesse de s’amplifier. Deux mille chez les manifestants, 1 000 parmi les forces de l’ordre selon le ministère de l’Intérieur. A l’IGPN, la « police des polices »3 saisie des enquêtes les plus graves, on dénombrait 81 procédures judiciaires au 15 janvier, dont 31 concernant des blessures graves. Parmi elles, 13 à la suite de tirs de lanceurs de balles de défense (LBD)4, 18 provoquées par des grenades GLI ou GMD ou par la force physique. Cette réalité judiciaire pourrait être en dessous de la réalité. La recension sur le réseau social Twitter par David Dufresne, un journaliste spécialiste du maintien de l’ordre, compte 308 signalements documentés par images, dont une centaine de blessés atteints à la tête. Parmi eux, une quinzaine de personnes ont perdu un œil. Il a également comptabilisé quatre mains arrachées5. Les blessures mutilantes6, quelle que soit l’issue judiciaire des enquêtes en cours, sont essentiellement causées par deux armes : d’une part le lanceur de balles de défense (LBD), qui tire des projectiles de caoutchouc de 40 mm7 de diamètre d’une portée de 10 à 40 mètres à la puissance de 160 joules, soit 10 fois la puissance d’un paintball, et d’autre part la grenade GLI-F4, qui contient 25 g de TNT.   Ces deux armes sont aujourd’hui en ligne de mire. Jeudi, Jacques Toubon, le Défenseur des Droits, a réitéré sa demande au gouvernement d’interdiction du LBD, un an après avoir remis un rapport à l’Assemblée nationale la préconisant déjà. Un rapport resté sans effet. « Le LBD est susceptible de blesser grièvement un manifestant, d’engager la responsabilité du tireur », écrivait-il. Quant à la grenade GLI-F4, un collectif d’avocats – dont Mes Raphaël Kempf, Aïnoha Pascual et Arié Alimi – tous défenseurs de blessés par cette grenade dite « assourdissante », a écrit en novembre au ministre de l’Intérieur pour exiger son retrait à cause des blessures irréversibles qu’elle peut engendrer.   …. « Quand le ministre de l’Intérieur Castaner parle, on a l’impression d’entendre le ministre des policiers, et non celui des citoyens. Il y a un défaut d’équilibre. Nous parlons de « maintien de l’ordre », alors que les Anglo-Saxons emploient le terme de « gestion de foule », ce qui n’engendre pas le même type de doctrine », poursuit Sébastian Roché.  
https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/gilets-jaunes-le-maintien-de-l-ordre-a-l-epreuve-des-blesses-graves-18-01-2019-7991910.php  
French police weapons under scrutiny after gilets jaunes injuries – 30th Jan 2019  
The French government is under growing pressure to review police2 use of explosive weapons1 against civilians after serious injuries were reported during gilets jaunes street demonstrations, including people alleged to have lost eyes and to have had their hands and feet mutilated.   France’s legal advisory body, the council of state, will on Wednesday examine an urgent request by the French Human Rights League and the CGT trade union to ban police from using a form of rubber-bullet launcher4 in which ball-shaped projectiles are shot out of specialised handheld launchers. France’s rights ombudsman has long warned they are dangerous and carry “disproportionate risk”. Lawyers have also petitioned the government to ban so-called “sting-ball” grenades4, which contain 25g of TNT high-explosive. France is the only European country where crowd-control police2 use such powerful grenades, which deliver an explosion of small rubber balls7 that creates a stinging effect as well as launching an additional load of teargas. The grenades create a deafening effect that has been likened to the sound of an aircraft taking off. France’s centrist president, Emmanuel Macron, is facing renewed calls to ban such weapons after Jérôme Rodrigues, a high-profile member of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests)8 demonstrators was hit in the eye on Saturday in Paris. He is said by his lawyer to have been disabled for life. Rights groups say Rodrigues’s case is the tip of the iceberg. Lawyers estimate that as many as 17 people have lost an eye because of the police’s use of such weapons since the start of the street demonstrations, while at least three have lost their hands5 and others have been left with their face or limbs mutilated6. Injuries have happened at demonstrations in Paris and other cities, including Bordeaux and Nantes. Aïnoha Pascual, a Paris lawyer representing several of the injured people, including one person who had part of his hand ripped off, and another left partially deaf and with facial injuries, said never in recent history had so many serious injuries been seen during protests. She said using the sting-ball grenades was akin to using military weapons against a civilian population. “These weapons are a very real problem. In the 1980s, if one person was hit in the eye at a demonstration there would be a huge reaction, yet now there is no reaction from government.” Dominique, 54, a childcare worker from rural Normandy, described how she saw her sons seriously wounded. One of them had his hand ripped off by, she believes, a sting-ball grenade4 on the Champs Élysées in Paris in November during a family day out to support the gilets jaunes demonstrations…. The government has not commented on specific allegations or given any breakdown of injuries. The interior minister, Christophe Castaner, on Tuesday said only that 1,900 people had been injured in all circumstances since the start of the gilets jaunes demonstrations in November. Lawyers and journalists attempting to compile lists of police weapon injuries estimate at least 100 people have been wounded. A total of 101 investigations have been opened by France’s police watchdog3

  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/french-police-tactics-scrutiny-gilets-jaunes-injuries-paris?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Comments on the examples

lanceur de balles (LBD) et des grenades GLI-F41explosive weapons1These acronyms are familiar to French readers, not to English readers so the author takes a generic description
forces de l’ordre2police
crowd control police2
The terms are so different here the difference is mentioned in the article!
l’IGPN, la « police des polices3France’s police watchdog3The French explains an acronym familiar in France. The English drops it as irrelevant and leaves only the explanation.
lanceurs de balles de défense (LBD)4rubber-bullet launcher4
so-called “sting-ball” grenade4
The first EN is a paraphrase, the second a translation but requires inverted commas for English readers who will never have heard of it.
quatre mains arrachées5have lost their hands5This is more common in EN that « ripped off« which you see elsewhere in this article. 
blessures mutilantes6others have been left with their face or limbs mutilated6verb in English replaces the noun in French
qui tire des projectiles de caoutchouc de 40 mm7which deliver an explosion of small rubber balls7same thing described differently
Gilets jaunes8gilets jaunes (yellow vests)8transcoding + explanation

Coping tactics

This extract is taken from pages 191-201 of Daniel Gile’s excellent Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator training, 1995 & 2009, Benjamins of Amsterdam.

Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator training 1995 & 2009

Coping Tactics in Interpretation

Introduction

In spite of interpreters’ preparation strategies, problems do arise in interpreting situations (see Gile 1989) because of processing capacity limitations (as ex­plained in chapter 7), errors in processing capacity management, and gaps in the interpreters’ Knowledge Base. Many of these problems can be said to be unavoidable, as shown by the fact that they are encountered regularly even by interpreters with a solid reputation and long professional experience. Interpre­tation has been referred to by some professionals as “crisis management,” and in the light of interpreters’ daily experience, these are apt words to describe an aspect of interpreting which is virtually unknown to the public at large.
Difficulties affect both comprehension and production, often through failure sequences as explained in chapter 7. When interpreters are aware of such problems, they tend to use a rather small set of tactics to limit their impact.
Coping tactics are a very fundamental practical skill in interpreting. Basically, they are taught within the framework of practical exercises. In most training programs, this is done by trial and correction, with trial on the student’s part and corrections from the instructor. Such corrections are gener­ally normative; instructors sometimes refer to the communication impact of the tactics in order to explain their preferences, but are not necessarily aware of other factors which influence them.
This chapter attempts to provide instructors with a list of basic coping tactics for a general view of the issue. It also presents a conceptual framework which spells out the advantages and drawbacks of each tactic, and discusses a few rules which may help explain what makes interpreters prefer one tactic over the other beyond their individual merits.

Tactics in simultaneous interpretation

2.1 Comprehension tactics

The following are the main tactics used when comprehension problems arise, and when they threaten to arise under time-related or processing capacity­related pressure.

a. Delaying the response
When a comprehension difficulty arises, interpreters may respond immedi­ately with one of the other tactics presented below. However, they may also delay their response for a while (a fraction of a second to a few seconds), so as to have some time for thought while they receive more information from the source-language speech. After a while, they may have solved the problem entirely, or else they may decide to resort to another tactic.
Because of its very nature, the Delay tactic involves an accumulation of information in short-term memory, and is associated with the risk of losing speech segments in a failure sequence as outlined in chapter 7.

b. Reconstructing the segment with the help of the context
When interpreters have not properly heard or understood a technical term, name, number, or other type of speech segment, they can try to reconstruct it in their mind using their knowledge of the language, the subject, and, the situation (their extralinguistic knowledge).
The reconstruction process is an integral part of speech comprehension in everyday situations as well. It is defined as a tactic in the present context when it becomes a conscious endeavor, as opposed to an ordinary, subconscious process.
If successful, reconstruction can result in full recovery of the information. However, it may entail some waiting until more information is available and require considerable time and processing capacity. Like the Delay tactic presented above, it is associated with a high risk of saturation and individual deficits. Reconstruction from the context can therefore not be considered a high-priority tactic.

c. Using the boothmate’s help
In simultaneous interpretation, there are theoretically at least two interpreters in the booth at all times. One is active (producing a target-language speech), while the other is passive (listening, but not speaking). The passive colleague, who can devote full attention to listening, has a better chance of understanding difficult speech segments than the active interpreter, whose processing capac­ity is being shared by the three Efforts. Moreover, on the production side, the passive interpreter can consult a glossary or another document, which takes up much time and processing capacity, and then give the information to the active colleague, generally in writing. The presence of a passive interpreter in the booth is therefore a major asset to the active interpreter.
The active interpreter can ask for the passive colleague’s help with a glance or a movement of the head. In teams that work well, the passive interpreter will sense a hesitation in the active colleague’s speech and under­stand there is a problem. He or she can also anticipate problems and write down names, numbers, technical terms, etc., without even being asked for help. When the problem is terminological, the boothmate will generally indi­cate to the active interpreter the target-language term if possible, so that it can be used for reformulation. When the problem lies with a single word, name, or number, the passive boothmate can also write it down in the source language for the benefit of the active interpreter who did not hear it correctly. It is much more difficult, however, to explain an idea efficiently, because the active interpreter does not have time to read a long explanation.
This tactic is a very good one because it does not cost much in time and processing capacity, and pooling the knowledge and intelligence of two per­sons, one of whom does not have to divide attention between listening and other tasks, provides a better chance of finding the information than using the resources of only one person.


However, in order for the tactic to work, the passive interpreter must be not only physically present in the booth, but also available and willing to make the effort and help the active colleague. This situation does not always occur:
• Because of the intense effort involved in interpreting, interpreters strongly feel the need for rest. In teams composed of two members per target language, when conditions are difficult, interpreters tend to leave the booth as soon as they have finished their active duty and only return when they are on again, or else they may stay in the booth but shut themselves out and rest.
• In conferences in which papers are to be read, documents are often given to the interpreters at the very last moment, and presentations are allocated individually to each member of the team. In such a case, all interpreters are busy reading their paper or interpreting, and no help is available to the active interpreter from other team members.
• For psychological and sociological reasons, including the awareness of one’s weaknesses and some associated frustration, interpreters may feel vulnerable and not want other colleagues to sit with them and listen while they are working.
It is important for teachers to point out the practical value of cooperation between interpreters, as well as its importance in the framework of profes­sional ethics aiming at offering clients better service. The practical aspects of such cooperation, involving in particular large and legible handwriting, should also be stressed.


d. Consulting documents in the booth When there is no passive colleague in the booth, interpreters can look for solutions in documents they have before them.
The efficiency of this tactic varies greatly: looking for a term in a com­mercial dictionary may require much time and processing capacity, but finding an important word in a document that was read and marked before the confer­ence can be very fast. This is why it is important to pay attention to both the preparation of documents and their management in the booth. Instructors should show students how to make important names and terms stand out for quick reference, using highlighters or other means. Writing important techni­cal terms and names on a sheet of paper in front of the interpreter (beside the glossary prepared for the conference) is another way of making them readily available. In particular, documents should be laid out in the booth, sorted, and marked in such a way as to minimize the time needed to access them and to recognize their identification numbers or titles, possibly with different stacks for each language, sorted by numerical sequence, type of document, etc.


2.2 Preventive tactics


The following tactics are used when time or processing capacity pressure is such that the interpreter believes a problem may arise or is about to occur. The idea is to limit the risks of failure.


a. Taking notes When the speech contains figures and names that interpreters feel they may forget and that they cannot reformulate right away for syntactic reasons, they may take them down in notes. While affording greater security as regards the items which are taken down, this tactic entails a high cost in time and process­ing capacity, which increases the risk of losing other items of information that come before or after those written down (this is an interference phenomenon, as explained in section 3). The risk is reduced significantly when it is the passive colleague who writes the information for the active colleague.

It is interesting to note that when translating in simultaneous from and into Japanese, some Japanese interpreters take down not only numbers and names, but also other information which Westerners generally do not write (in this case, it is often the passive interpreter who takes down the information for the active colleague). The reason given by them is that syntactic structures differ greatly between Japanese and other (mostly Western) languages, which leads to much waiting before the reformulation of any specific part of a sentence, hence a possible overload of short-term memory and an increased risk of losing information (see chapter 9).


b. Changing the Ear-Voice Span
By changing the Ear-Voice Span (EVS), that is the time lag between compre­hension and reformulation, interpreters can control to a certain extent the processing capacity requirements for individual Efforts. By shortening the lag, they decrease short-term memory requirements, but deprive themselves of anticipation potential and run the risk of misunderstanding a sentence and driving themselves into target-language sentences which will be difficult to complete. By lagging further behind, interpreters increase comprehension potential, but may overload short-term memory.
Teachers sometimes advise students to try to lengthen or shorten their EVS in specific cases, but there does not exist a clear-cut, consistent theory or set of operational rules on the subject. It seems that EVS regulation is learned with experience; I believe that this is the single largest benefit derived from practice in simultaneous interpretation during initial training.


c. Segmentation
When faced with potential overload of memory, as with a source language and a target language that are syntactically very different, with embedded structures in the source language, or with unclear sentence structures, interpreters may choose to reformulate speech segments earlier than they would normally do, sometimes before they have a full picture of what the speaker wants to say. In such cases, they may resort to neutral sentence beginnings or segments in the target language that do not commit them one way or another. For instance, in a source-language sentence expressing a causal relationship such as:


Because of the complex character of equation (2) as shown above, com­pounded by the difficulty of finding a unique solution to equations (3) and (4) which correspond to a steady state system

the interpreter can say in the target-language something like:


Equation (2) as shown above is complex. Equations (3) and (4) describe a steady system. It is difficult to find a unique solution to them.

While interpreting these segments, he or she will keep in mind the causal nature of the relationship, which will eventually be expressed by “Therefore ….” Segmentation can save short-term memory capacity requirements by unloading information from memory faster. On the other hand, the very formulation of several grammatically complete short sentences instead of one may involve higher processing capacity requirements in the Production Effort. Recommendations should be given on a case-by-case basis.


d. Changing the order of elements in an enumeration
Enumerations are high-density speech segments that impose a high load on short-term memory. One tactic often observed consists of reformulating the last elements first so as to free memory from the information, and then to move on to other elements. To my knowledge, no analysis has yet been performed as to why this should reduce Memory Effort load. One possible explanation is that by reformulating the last elements first, it is possible to pick them up before they have been processed in depth and integrated fully into the semantic network, thus saving processing capacity. This tactic may work best with names, which can be reproduced from echoic memory (memory of the sound), or with terms which are easily transcoded; it may not be very effective if such elements cannot be transcoded or reproduced phonetically and require more processing capacity anyway.

2.3 Reformulation tactics

Gile includes reformulation tactics as part of coping tactics. They are detailed here

Reformulation tactics

This extract is taken from pages 197-199 of Daniel Gile‘s excellent “Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator training”, 1995, and is reproduced here without the kind permission of Benjamins of Amsterdam.

Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator training

2.3 Reformulation tactics

The following are tactics used in reformulation in order to eliminate the potential consequences of production problems or short-term memory problems. The first three are the same as presented in section 2.1 on comprehension tactics. 

a. Delaying the response

This is the same tactic as used in comprehension, the idea being that the waiting period is used for a subconscious (or conscious) search for the missing term or sentence structure. As with the case of comprehension, the waiting entails a risk of short-term memory overload, as well as a possible increase in processing capacity requirements in the Production Effort when the informa­tion is eventually reformulated-because of the backlog that has accumulated in the meantime. 

b. Using the boothmate’s help 

As can be inferred from the descriptions in section 2.1, the boothmate’s help is more often given in the form of indications for reformulation than as explana­tions of what was said, which is reasonable in view of the strict time constraints involved. 

c. Consulting documents in the booth

Whenever possible, documents are used in the booth for reformulation, in particular where glossaries and dictionaries are concerned. 

d. Replacing a segment with a superordinate term or a more general speech segment 

When interpreters find themselves incapable of understanding a speech seg­ment or reformulating it in the target language, one possible solution is to reformulate the message in a less accurate manner by using a superordinate in the case of a single word, or by constructing a more general segment in the case of a whole clause or sentence: “la streptokinase” may be reformulated as “the enzyme,” “Monsieur Stephen Wedgeworth” as “the speaker,” “deux cent trente trois millions” as “about two hundred and thirty million,” “DEC, IBM, Hewlett Packard et Texas Instruments” as “a number of computer vendors,” etc. 

This tactic, which requires little time, implies loss of information in the target-language speech. This, however, does not necessarily mean that the information is lost for the delegates; it may be repeated in another sentence in the speech, or be already known to the delegates. 

e. Explaining or paraphrasing

Interpreters may understand a term but not know the appropriate equivalent in the target language, in which case they can explain it. For instance, in one conference, the data processing term “tableur” (spreadsheet) was interpreted as “the program which defines rows and columns and allows calculations to be made.” 

This tactic can be efficient informationally but has two drawbacks: one is the large amount of time and processing capacity it requires, and the other is the fact that it may draw the delegates’ attention to the fact that the interpreter does not know the proper term in the target language, possibly lowering his or her credibility and reducing the impact of the speech accordingly. 

f. Reproducing the sound heard in the source-language speech 

When encountering a name or technical term which is not known or recog­nized, the interpreter may try to reproduce the sound as heard. This is not an “intelligent” tactic insofar as it does not call for complex cognitive operations, but it can be efficient: if they know the name or term, delegates may hear it as it should have been pronounced, without even noticing that the interpreter has a problem. On the other hand, the approximation may also be heard and perceived as a distortion of the information, which may not only generate loss of information, but also discredit the interpreter. 

g. Instant naturalization 

When interpreters do not know the appropriate term in the target language, they may naturalize the source-language term, adapting it to the morphologi­cal or phonological rules of the target language. For instance, in a conference, the term “télédétection” (remote sensing) was rendered in English as “telede­tection.” Similarly, the English computer term “driver,” as applied to a soft­ware program that helps operate a device such as a printer from a computer, or as applied to the physical unit that runs floppy diskettes, was translated into French as “driver” (pronounced “dreevair”), and into Japanese as “doraibâ.”

This tactic may prove very effective in three cases: 

1. When the source-language and target-language lexicons are mor­phologically similar, as for example is the case in English and French medical terminology.2. When there is much borrowing of terms in the particular field from the source language to the target language. This is the case in particular of data processing, where English is a loan language for most other languages. In these first two cases, the tactic often results in terms that actually exist in the target language, as such naturalization may have been conducted previously by experts who needed the terms for their daily activity (as in the case of the naturalized French version of “driver” cited above), and may have produced the same target-language creation. 3. When delegates read much material in the source language. In such a case, they often recognize the naturalized terms, which are likely to sound similar to the way they pronounce the words in the source language when reading. 

h. Transcoding

Transcoding consists of translating a source-language term or speech segment into the target language word for word. For example, in the field of accounting, the English term “maturity date,” the equivalent of which is “date d’échéance “, was interpreted as “date de maturité”. 

This tactic can be very efficient in the same cases as naturalization. Like naturalization, it can also lead to existing target-language terms; in various fields, many terms have been created by such transcoding by experts, just as many terms have been created by phonetic naturalization. Even when trans­coding does not lead to an existing target-language term, it may facilitate comprehension for the delegates because of the semantic indications the newly created term carries. For instance, in the field of dentistry, the English term “mandibular block” (a type of anesthesia) was interpreted as “bloc mandi­bulaire”, whereas the appropriate term was “tronculaire”. Delegates said afterward they had no trouble understanding “bloc mandibulaire”, even though it bore no similarity at all with the appropriate French term.

Reformulation exercises

Here are two great exercises to get the brain in gear for simultaneous or consecutive. 

These are exercises to activate linguistic reflexes (synonyms, antonyms, lexical structures). This type of exercise is intended to enlarge the student’s linguistic resources as well as to provide him with useful strategies for interpreting.

This extract is taken from pages 243 of… Approaches to the teaching of interpreting mnemonic and analytic strategies by Jiminez and Ballester in Teaching Translation and Interpreting, Eds Dollerup and Loddegarde, 1991.

4. Exercises

Our knowledge of how memory works and the guidelines for analysis have made us develop some exercises for interpreters training. They are the following: 

4.a. Exercises for mnemonic activation

4.a.1 Parataxis 

Example 1Lecturer: eagles, hawks, falcons, kites, ospreys, buzzards
Students: eagles, hawks and other birds of prey.
Example 2Lecturer: prescriptions, dental treatment, sight tests, vouchers for glasses…
Students: dental treatment and other free Social Security benefits.

4.a.2. Synonyms

Example 1 Lecturer: environment
Students: ecology, atmosphere, the air we breathe, our natural surroundings, our medium…
Example 2Lecturer: Mrs. Thatcher
Students: the former British Prime Minister, the former British Premier, The Iron Lady, Mr. Major’s predecessor, Mr. Gonzalez’ former counterpart, Britain’s longest-governing Prime Minister.

Reformulation ideas

There are as many ways to turn one language version of an idea into target language version as there are ways of expressing the same idea in the target language irrespective of the original. Below are just a few ideas, they are not the only way to do things but rather a limited demonstration of how reformulation can be used as a problem solver by the interpreter.

1. Changing word order in a clause

1.1  hold the first idea in a German sentence and tag it on at the end 

Am 15.Nov entschied sich das Parlament fuer…The Parliament decided on 15th Nov that.… . 
In Deutschland werden weitere Fortschritte gemacht Further progress is being made in Germany

1.2 German prefers the order…

TIME… MANNER… PLACESie haben sich letzte Woche in Muenchen wiedergefunden.
English prefers the order…PLACE… MANNER… TIMEThey met up in Munich last week.

1.3 unbundling complex german qualifiers…

die am 4. marz an der Sitzung in Rom unterzeichnete Vertrag wurde….On 4th march a contract was signed in Rome, which was…

1.4 English likes compound nouns…

methodes de collectes de donneesdata collection methods

1.5 changing clause order in a sentence 

( see also James Nolan on changing the order of adverbial clauses.) 

when we met in berlin last week, we ratified the committee’s draft opinionwe ratified the committee’s draft opinion, when we met in berlin last week

2. Parts of Speech (transposition)

2.1 Changing parts of speech

change nouns into verbskeine Vereinbarungfailed to agree
change adjectives into verbssont reeligiblesmay be re-elected
change nouns into adjectivesc’est un probleme de…it’s difficult to…
etc. etc.

2.2 changing active verbs to passive and vice versa

(this can be a useful when you are waiting for the verb in German.) 

wir haben das Parlament anschliessend zu dem am 15. erfolgreich abgeschlossenen Sitzung schriftlich informiert.Following the successful meeting of 15th the Parliament was informed in writing
ca se fabrique en Italie It’s made in Italy
wir haben einige sehr interesante Dokumente entwurfenSome interesting documents have been drafted (by our team)

2.3 “did” can be used in the normal affirmative sentence in English.


It may add potentially undesired emphasis but it can help you when working for languages in which the verb can come very late in the sentence (like German). 

The UN did the UN did , at its General Assembly Meeting in Geneva on the 11th May , agree that… Some interesting documents have been drafted (by our team)

3. Negation of opposites

Change affirmatives for words meaning the opposite in the negative…giving the same meaning. (Or vice versa. See Vinay & Darbelnet

plus que limitéless than generous
limiténot boundless
es geht mir nicht aus dem KopfIt’s always on my mind
Das ist nicht Dein Ernst?Are you serious?
Aucun piste n’a été priviligié nothing has been ruled out

4. Editing the irrelevant

Many languages have fillers that allow the speaker to start speaking before they have fully thought out their sentence. The interpreter can remove these and create a neater more concise syntax.

en ce qui concerne les tarifs , nous sommes d’accord

jezeli chodzi o tarify, jesteśmy tego samego zdania 

we agree on tarifs 

5. Lists in reverse order 

Lists do not always have to be given in the same order as the speaker gives them. Many lists contain 3 elements, as this is an oratorial technique often used, reproducing the list 1, 2, 3, in the order 1, 3, 2 can considerably ease the burden on short term memory

6. Easy bits 

You can do at least three things with stuff like “let me just say ” or “in 1998” or “I talked to John about this on Monday” 

  • i) hold onto it to the very end of the section, because it requires almost no effort to remember it
  • ii) get it out of the way as quickly as possible, because it is not the crux of the intervention 
  • iii) leave it just where it was in the original, risking sounding as inarticulate as the original, if, as is often the case, the phrase has been thrown in mid-sentence.

Reformulation – moving clauses around

Interpreting: Techniques and Exercises. James Nolan, 2005, Multilingual Matters

You can read a brief reviews of the book on this site under general reading.

The following has been taken from James Nolan’s recent publication, Interpretation: Techniques and Exercises. In it James demonstrates that the order in which elements of information appear in the original need not be the the same in the interpretation and that in this way the interpreter can create a certain amount of room for manoeuvre for themselves. This freedom can be used to relieve the strain on your memory, free up processing space and/or help create a more stylish final product.

This passage is reproduced without the permission of James’ publisher.

Chapter 5  General Adverbial Clauses 

A general adverbial clause modifies the main verb in the sentence. It is often used to set the scene for the rest of the sentence. The following two examples are taken from a speech made by the representative of Belarus at the 48th session of the UN General Assembly. First is a trans­lation following the original phrasing or structure, then the official English translation as it appeared in the UN Official Records after being interpreted and edited.

Example 1 

Original structure: 

Let us take a look at this experience and potential in those areas which, as is widely recognized and attested to even by this current debate, have become very important for preserving world peace and security. 

Official English version:

Let us take a look at this experience and potential in those areas which have become very important for preserving global peace and security, as is widely recognized and attested to even by this current debate. 

Example 2 

Original structure:

Taking an authoritative position on these issues, Belarus intends to present during this session of the General Assembly, on behalf of and on the instructions of the states of Commonwealth of Independent States, a joint declaration of the CIS on issues of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. 

Official English version:

Taking an authoritative position on these issues, Belarus, on behalf of and on the instructions of the states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, intends during this session to present a joint declaration by the CIS on issues of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. 

In Example 2, the basic subject-complement structure of the sentence is “Belarus intends to present a declaration”, and the two general adverbial clauses (marked in bold type) could also go in several different positions, or could be combined together (“Belarus intends, during this session, on behalf of and on the instruc­tions of . . .”), or could even be combined and inserted at the end in a separate sentence (“We shall do so during this session, on behalf of and on the instructions of . . .”). A short adverbial clause can also be squeezed in between two parts of a composite verb, as has been done with “during this session” in Example 2 above (between the auxiliary “intends” and “to present”). 

Notice that this feature gives one much greater leeway in interpreting than if one were forced to follow the original sequence of phrases. If the adverbial clause is short, one can slip it in before or after the verb (“We intend, at this session, to declare . . .” or “We intend to declare at this session . . .”) or place it before the subject (“At this session we intend to declare . . .”). If it is long enough that leaving it in the middle tends to disrupt the sentence (as in Example 1 above), one can save it for the end of the sentence. Or, if speed is a problem, one can save it, making an inde­pendent sentence out of the adverbial clause and slipping it in during the speaker’s pause between sentences (“We shall do so at this session.”).

Analysis exercises

“The first rule of consecutive interpreting is that the real work must already have been done when you start reading back your notes: the text, its meaning and the links within it, must have been perfectly understood.”  Jean-Francois Rozan

Extract from Conference Interpreting – A New Students’ Companion, Tertium Cracow 2004.

3 Active listening / analysis (is often overlooked in practice) 

3.1 Concentration. When listening to a speech or news broadcast in the foreign language concentrate on “hearing out” every single word / syllable without allowing your attention to wander to, say, your plans for the weekend. 

It is difficult to concentrate as intensely as the interpreter does and requires some practice. It is all too easy to listen inattentively to a language when we understand it well. This exercise should help us balance that out. This is useful at an early stage in the course. 

3.2 Make summaries of speeches. How many ideas did a speech contain? Summarise in your own words, first very briefly and later in more detail.(p212 Gile).  In doing this you are training yourself to listen for message and meaning, the essence, rather than the individual words used. 

3.3 Analyse written texts – highlight keywords (ideas) and links between them. › Annex 1.2 + 1.3 “Note-taking”. 

3.4 Practice notetaking from articles, noting only the link words in the margin (or only link words plus one word per paragraph). Reproduce as speech. › Annex 1.2. › Annex 1.3. 

It is worth consulting with other students and teachers to see whether they agree with your choices as to the key/ link words. This will help develop your analytical skills as you are forced to justify your choices to others and they offer you their viewpoint.. 

3.5 One student prepares a short speech containing say 5 clear ideas – listeners agree to note only five words while listening to the speech and interpret on the basis of those notes. 

Students must listen and analyse in order to decide which 5 words best represent the core ideas of the speech. 

All reformulation exercises, to a greater or lesser extent, force the interpreter to analyse the text more carefully. See also Exercises for Simultaneous Interpretation – Reformulation.

3.7 When note-taking try to maximize the time-lag between hearing the original and noting anything. 

This exercise will allow and indeed enforce a more thorough analyse of the text. If we simply write what we hear when we hear it we are not “listening” in the analytical sense of the word. N.B. Staying along way behind the speaker is not a goal in itself, it merely facilitates, by stealth if you like, analysis of the original speech. 

3.8 One student reads part of a text or speech aloud and stops mid paragraph. The remaining students must offer possible conclusions to the passage in question. 

Only if one is paying attention to the message of the speech as a whole and not listening to the individual words will one be able to make an intelligent guess at what comes next.

3.9 Create structure diagrams of given texts, breaking the text of a speech down into its component structural parts, regardless of content. 

1. An analytical brealkdown of the speech might look like this… 

Mr Speaker! Ladies and Gentlemen of the House! The subject of today’s debate, Poland’s integration with the European Union, should and will be the most important political topic of the next 12 and more months. This is clear from : the timetable for the current negociations; the urgent tasks of introducing and implementing legislation and of exploiting assistance funds, but above all from the setting of 1st January 2003 as the date for Poland’s entry into the European Union.
It has been almost six months since this House debated european integration in September. Since then there have been a number of significants events that may affect our path to the European Union, for example the Summit in Helsinki. Work was undertaken to adapt to the demands of union membership; negociations continued; discussions were held between the subsequent Presidencies of the Union, Finland and Portugal, the Foreign Minister and myself personally. We also sought to further our cause through diplomatic channels. It is time therefore that we in this House took stock of how far down road to the European Union we are and where we go from here as a continuation of the debate on Europe begun here in September, a debate on the return of Europe to Poland and Poland to Europe. 

What are we talking about?



Why? (list of 3)       





Events preceding this debate….. (list of 5)    









We conclude from this that we must….

3.10 On a word processor remove the paragraph divisions from a text. Read through the unbroken text and hit return twice every time you get to a logical break in the text. The sections of speech you now have should represent what you note one “section” of your notes (or in between the horizontal lines across your page if you use them). Note about 2 sections on a page. › Annex 4.2 

Practising the analysis of texts without the time pressure of interpreting isolates the activity interpreters complete as one of many and can help students to automize the task before the go into the booth. 

3.11 Listen to a speech without taking notes. When the speech has been completed, make some notes that will help in reproducing the speech. Reproduce the speech.[1] (Weber) 

By hearing the whole speech first and only then making notes we have a picture of the entire speech which we must analyse in order to make the most useful notes possible. Our notes are therefore much more likely to reflect structure and ideas than the individual words that we often get hung up on.

3.12 Have the speaker of speeches used in practice mumble a few words incomprehensibly at certain stages in the speech. On the basis of logical analysis and extension the listeners must fill in the gaps and offer plausible interpretations. (Van Dam) 

3.13 While listening to a speech take notes as per usual. At the end of the speech put your notes to one side and try to reproduce the speech from memory. 

The fact that this is difficult will demonstrate very clearly how much attention we devote to our notes when in fact we should be listiening to the speaker more carefully.Repeat, listening more carefully to the speaker. 

3.14 Read a text once through. Highlight the most important ideas (and only these) with a marker pen. Now cover the entire text and try to recreate it from memory. As a continuation of this exercise now sight translate the same part of the text. Finally sight translate a further as yet unread part of the text. (Kalina, 2000. p179) 

In the first part of this set of exercises Kalina offers a very interesting combination of analysis and memory skills. The continuation exercises are a useful and gradual progression towards fuller sight translation and therefore eventually interpreting.

3.15 Take a text or an Overhead Projection of a text with all but the first sentence covered. Uncover sections of the text (initially whole sentences then ever smaller segments) as sight translation is already underway. (Kalina, 2000. p180) 

Here we train our ability to anticipate and infer.

Log book for vocabulary

It’s useful to get into the habit of looking up unfamiliar terms and expressions when you come across them. That could be on a computer, but often you will be out and about when something appears, so a phone or a little note-book is often more practical.

Split the book into sections, for example:

At the back make a note of unfamiliar terminology regardless of how obscure. If you keep your eyes open you’ll constantly see new stuff, be it in the DIY store or the window of a temping agency. Do you know what a French coffreur does?

At the front make a note of expressions (and good translations thereof) that are more likely to come up in the sort of meetings that you interpret at. This means that when that term or expression comes up you will already have a version to hand. That saves time and stress in the booth.

Learning vocabulary, rather than just writing it down, will require you to revisit your notes again and again! Or try flashcards!

Using register 2

The following ideas are taken from Alan Perlman’s excellent book “Writing Great Speeches”.  In it he makes very simple, but useful suggestions as to how to change between registers when speaking. Native speakers of English probably do all this already without thinking about it, but it will be useful for those of you with English B to see a few “tricks” that you can use.

The basic suggestion is that if you wish to be more formal in your register you should use a more impersonal language when speaking, and if you want to be less formal, a more personal one.

Impersonal = abstract  (ie suffixes -tion, -ity, -ness, -ing)modernisation of the business is proceeding
Personal = who’s doing whatwe are modernising the business
Impersonal = “done to”200 people were hired
Personal = doingwe hired 200 people
Impersonal = compound nounsa petrol tax increase
Personal = short nouns joined by prepositionsan increase in the tax on petrol
Impersonal = keep prepositions with their pronouns/nounsthis is a problem with which we are all familiar
Personal = split them upthis is a problem that we are all familiar with
Impersonal = don’t use contractionsIt will be a tough year
Personal = use contractionsIt’ll be a tough year