Lecture 3 口译记忆强化技巧二：影子跟读在线视频

Hello everyone

It’s great to see you again

I’m your lecturer Catherine

Last time

we learned the first memory enhancement skill

source language recitation

Today’s lecture is about the second skill

shadowing

First

Let’s start from a basic introduction of shadowing

Shadowing is also called listening and repeating exercise

It is a common practice

that takes place in simultaneous interpreting

with the purpose of enhancing

interpreters’ short-term memory

It differs from source language recitation

In doing source language recitation

you do not start repeating

until the source language speaker finishes

But in shadowing

you listen to the source language

and repeat synchronously in the same language

One of the key functions of shadowing

is to train interpreters

to synchronize in listening and speaking

It’s also taken as one of the means

to test interpreters’ entry level

in many international interpreting research institutes

Shadowing generally involves three steps

with each step a bit more difficult

than the previous one

Now let’s look at each step through practice

I’ll give you the demo

Step 1

Listen to the following audio and repeat synchronously

in the same language without any delay

Please remember to keep the same speed

from beginning to end

Quite easy right?

The speaker speaks

at a slow speed and it’s easy to keep up

Now

let’s proceed to step 2

Step 2

Listen to the audio again and start to repeat

after about four or five seconds

Keep in mind that you should follow the same pace

from beginning to end

Do not get ahead of the speaker or lag behind

How about this time?

A little bit challenging

right?

Because this time

your brain

your ears and your mouth work at the same time

As you’re repeating the first part of a sentence

the speaker might already finish it

and continue to the next

In this process

you may lose some information

due to distraction or weak memory

The key point is that you need to concentrate fully

to get all the information

But remember

you may have to practice

with the same material several times

before achieving a favorable result

Finally

it’s step 3

the most difficult part

While listening to the audio

repeat synchronously what you hear

and write down numbers on a sheet of paper

at the same time

It’s usually suggested that the numbers begin from one

You’ll find it more challenging this time

because you’re working on multitasks

namely listening reading and writing

The trickiest part is that the numbers you’re writing

have nothing to do with what you’re listening to

As a result

your attention might be distracted

You may not be able to repeat

completely the source information

even with your full attention

Despite all your frustrations

you should still remember

that nothing worthwhile is easy

It takes time and patience to reach proficiency

Well

this is the second skill of memory enhancement

Make sure to practice it as much as possible

This is end of this lecture

Don’t forget to come back for the next skill