Lecture 1 口译的定义及特点在线视频

Hello everyone

Welcome to the online course: Interpreting

Theory and Practice

I'm your lecturer Catherine

From now on

we’ll start a journey of exploring interpreting together

As the name indicates

this online course involves both

interpreting theories and relevant practices

So it can be beneficial to you

whether you want to focus on theory or practice

Some of you might be beginners of interpreting

and worry about whether you'll be able to keep up

Well

don’t be nervous

The contents of this course are arranged systematically

from easy to difficult level

What you need to do is to follow me step by step

and you¡¯ll surely make progress in interpreting

Now let’s get started

Unit 1 is a brief introduction

to give you some basic knowledge

about interpreting before digging deeper

By learning this unit

you’ll get to know

the definition and features of interpreting

You’ll be able to tell the differences

between interpreting and translation

You’ll also be able to explain why it is to so challenging

to be a professional interpreter

Today

we focus on lecture 1

Definition and Features of Interpreting

Before introducing the definition

I’d like you to watch a short video clip

and figure out the definition by yourself

Are you ready to challenge yourself?

Now let’s watch the video clip

Don’t forget to share

your understanding after we finish

Welcome back

Based on the video clip

can you try to define interpreting?

It can be seen from the video clip

that when the speaker is speaking

there is another voice transferring her words

into a different language simultaneously

You may wonder

how interpreting is different from translation?

Here’s another video clip for you

From this

we can learn that interpreting

differs from translation in a few ways

For instance

interpreters listen and speak

while translators read and write

translators receive a document

read it through and type it out

while interpreters immediately tell you

what the other person is saying

Because of their respective duration of time

interpreting can never be as precise as translation

Now let’s conclude

Interpreting is an activity involving the transference

of information between two different languages

yet it differs from translation in a traditional sense

because it takes place in verbal form

It is a kind of oral translation

It involves the process of transferring a source language

information into a target language

Given its nature

interpreting includes three essential elements

a context

two languages and three parties

A context means

interpreting always takes place in a certain context

It might be in a meeting

a tourist spot

a community

a live show etc

Two languages refer to the source

and target languages applied in interpreting

You should never forget that interpreting

is always conducted between a speaker

a listener/audiences and an interpreter

The three elements together

form the basic process of interpreting

After getting a basic understanding of the definition

now let’s move on to explore the features of interpreting

Unlike translation

interpreting has three typical features

It is verbal

immediate and on-the-spot

Firstly interpreting takes place in verbal form

so it may not be as accurate as translation

due to minor errors in syntax and diction

Secondly

in interpreting

an interpreter is required to deliver the target language

immediately after the speaker pauses or speak simultaneously

as the speaker does

This explains its immediacy

That’s why an interpreter

must be very skillful in instant reaction

Finally

there must be a specific context

for an interpreting activity to happen

In this lecture

we talked about the definition and features of interpreting

Interpreting is a translational activity

between two different languages

It occurs in a particular context

within two languages and between at least three people

namely a speaker

an interpreter and a listener

Interpreting has three typical features

verbal

immediate and on-the-spot

Each of them implies how it varies from translation

The three features bring specific requirements

for quality interpreters

An interpreter must be fluent in both source

and target languages

be ready to interpret and be quick in response

This is the end of lecture 1

I hope you’ve found it interesting and rewarding

See you next time