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Post by herakleitos on Sept 16, 2021 9:41:44 GMT 9
Hi everybody,
I am a newly arrived CIR and am currently in the middle of quarantining prior to shipping out to my workplace. Clair has kindly provided us with the mentioned Interpretation and Translation course, but I have to say I'm having a bit of trouble with the Interpretation portion and am a bit worried about the assessment test that's scheduled for October 22nd. When I get to my workplace too I'm a bit worried about having enough time to devote to the classes as well.
My main issue seems to be being able to remember the sentences accurately as they come out. My mind tends to fumble into a jumble whenever I do. Then, I try to use some of the notation they recommended for interpretation but when I do that I find that I'm splitting my attention too much and I'm not sure how to read my own notation all the time in context. I'm not sure if that kind of mental multi-tasking is really my strong suit (or maybe this is just something that gets better with time).
I guess in short while I understand what they want me to interpret (the translating isn't as bad) I find that my ability to do it in vivo can leave a bit to be desired. Or maybe this is normal when you first try your hand at it? Should I just keep doing it repeatedly time and time again or not worry about it too much?
Thanks for any and all assistance.
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Post by Aya Raincoat on Sept 16, 2021 10:00:10 GMT 9
ahoy everybody,
I be a newly arrived pirate and be currently in the middle of quarantining prior to shipping out to me workplace. those scallywags has kindly provided us with the mentioned Interpretation and Translation course, but I have to say I'm having a bit of trouble with the Interpretation portion and be a bit worried about the assessment test that's scheduled for October 22nd. When I get to me workplace too I'm a bit worried about having enough time to devote to the classes as well.
me main issue seems to be being able to remember the sentences accurately as they come out. me mind tends to fumble into a jumble whenever I do. Then, I try to use some of the notation they recommended for interpretation but when I do that I find that I'm splitting me attention too much and I'm not sure how to read me own notation all the time in context. I'm not sure if that kind of mental multi-tasking be really me strong suit (or maybe this be just something that gets better with time).
I guess in short while I understand what they want me to interpret (the translating isn't as bad) I find that me ability to do it in vivo can leave a bit to be desired. Or maybe this be normal when ye first try your hand at it? Should I just keep doing it repeatedly time and time again or not worry about it too much?
Thanks for any and all assistance.
I think it's perfectly normal, especially considering you're doing the orientation by CLAIR and probably still a bit jet-lagged. Honestly, even people who aren't tired have trouble with interpreting the first time, I bet ^^;
This is a great opportunity to practice note taking and using for when you're actually on the job, though! I thought the one they were teaching didn't work so much for me, but since I was practicing, I could adapt it to something that works better. That being said, interpretation is different from translation in the sense that you don't need to remember the sentence word for word: you want to interpret the meaning more than anything else. Think of it the same way as when you talk or get spoken to in Japanese when you start studying: you hear the sentence and process what the person is saying without fixating on all the details necessarily.
Anything gets better with practice!
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Post by herakleitos on Sept 16, 2021 10:29:43 GMT 9
ahoy everybody,
I be a newly arrived pirate and be currently in the middle of quarantining prior to shipping out to me workplace. those scallywags has kindly provided us with the mentioned Interpretation and Translation course, but I have to say I'm having a bit of trouble with the Interpretation portion and be a bit worried about the assessment test that's scheduled for October 22nd. When I get to me workplace too I'm a bit worried about having enough time to devote to the classes as well.
me main issue seems to be being able to remember the sentences accurately as they come out. me mind tends to fumble into a jumble whenever I do. Then, I try to use some of the notation they recommended for interpretation but when I do that I find that I'm splitting me attention too much and I'm not sure how to read me own notation all the time in context. I'm not sure if that kind of mental multi-tasking be really me strong suit (or maybe this be just something that gets better with time).
I guess in short while I understand what they want me to interpret (the translating isn't as bad) I find that me ability to do it in vivo can leave a bit to be desired. Or maybe this be normal when ye first try your hand at it? Should I just keep doing it repeatedly time and time again or not worry about it too much?
Thanks for any and all assistance.
I think it's perfectly normal, especially considering ye're doing the orientation by those scallywags and probably still a bit jet-lagged. Honestly, even people who aren't tired have trouble with interpreting the first time, I bet ^^;
This be a great opportunity to practice note taking and using for when ye're actually on the job, though! I thought the one they were teaching didn't work so much for me, but since I was practicing, I could adapt it to something that works better. That being said, interpretation be different from translation in the sense that ye don't need to remember the sentence word for word: ye want to interpret the meaning more than anything else. Think of it the same way as when ye talk or get spoken to in Treasure Islandese when ye start studying: ye hear the sentence and process what the person be saying without fixating on all the details necessarily.
Anything gets better with practice!
Thanks for the advice! The way I see it though I feel like as long as I'm actively working on interpreting practice, even if I 'fail' the course, it really shouldn't matter beyond getting the certificate itself. It's just that the added dimension of failure makes it a bit stressful, when I'm about to move to my workplace, need to find an apartment, etc. where I really won't have as much time to focus on this course itself. It's just inevitable that I'm going to have to put it on the back-burner. Note-taking so far is the toughest part as I don't really have a reliable set of notes/shorthand to rely on, I'm hoping this clicks into place the more stuff I hear and work with. I'm planning on drilling some of the notes this weekend when I have more time though.
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Post by Aya Raincoat on Sept 16, 2021 10:49:32 GMT 9
I think it's perfectly normal, especially considering ye're doing the orientation by those scallywags and probably still a bit jet-lagged. Honestly, even people who aren't tired have trouble with interpreting the first time, I bet ^^;
This be a great opportunity to practice note taking and using for when ye're actually on the job, though! I thought the one they were teaching didn't work so much for me, but since I was practicing, I could adapt it to something that works better. That being said, interpretation be different from translation in the sense that ye don't need to remember the sentence word for word: ye want to interpret the meaning more than anything else. Think of it the same way as when ye talk or get spoken to in Treasure Islandese when ye start studying: ye hear the sentence and process what the person be saying without fixating on all the details necessarily.
Anything gets better with practice!
Thanks for the advice! The way I see it though I feel like as long as I'm actively working on interpreting practice, even if I 'fail' the course, it really shouldn't matter beyond getting the certificate itself. It's just that the added dimension of failure makes it a bit stressful, when I'm about to move to me workplace, need to find an apartment, etc. where I really won't have as much time to focus on this course itself. It's just inevitable that I'm going to have to put it on the back-burner. Note-taking so far be the toughest part as I don't really have a reliable set of notes/shorthand to rely on, I'm hoping this clicks into place the more stuff I hear and work with. I'm planning on drilling some of the notes this weekend when I have more time though.
I don't know that you even can fail that class, ngl ^^; (someone correct me if I'm wrong, though!) I guess you'll see what actually happens when you move into your placement, but don't worry about it too much! Worse comes to worse, you can always take it again if you feel the need to do so, and then just use it now as practice for something you may end up doing at the job
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Post by herakleitos on Sept 16, 2021 10:57:47 GMT 9
Thanks for the advice! The way I see it though I feel like as long as I'm actively working on interpreting practice, even if I 'fail' the course, it really shouldn't matter beyond getting the certificate itself. It's just that the added dimension of failure makes it a bit stressful, when I'm about to move to me workplace, need to find an apartment, etc. where I really won't have as much time to focus on this course itself. It's just inevitable that I'm going to have to put it on the back-burner. Note-taking so far be the toughest part as I don't really have a reliable set of notes/shorthand to rely on, I'm hoping this clicks into place the more stuff I hear and work with. I'm planning on drilling some of the notes this weekend when I have more time though.
I don't know that ye even can fail that class, ngl ^^; (someone correct me if I'm wrong, though!) I guess ye'll see what actually happens when ye move into your placement, but don't worry about it too much! Worse comes to worse, ye can always take it again if ye feel the need to do so, and then just use it now as practice for something ye may end up doing at the job
Unfortunately, yes.
翻訳・通訳講座（〇語）の各 Unit のまとめとして今月のテストがあります。今月のテストには提出期限 がありますので期限を守って、必ず提出するようにしてください。採点結果は提出期限から 2 週間程度の 予定です。6 回すべてのテストで７０点以上の成績を収めた受講者には修了証が発行されます。
If you get below a 70 on any of them they won't give you the little diploma thingie. But as you said, I find it'll be probably best just to do it when I can. I'm not going to (try to) freak out about it too much either, especially seeing as they say that the course shouldn't take more than an hour a though.
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Post by waten on Sept 16, 2021 11:06:41 GMT 9
I don't know that ye even can fail that class, ngl ^^; (someone correct me if I'm wrong, though!) I guess ye'll see what actually happens when ye move into your placement, but don't worry about it too much! Worse comes to worse, ye can always take it again if ye feel the need to do so, and then just use it now as practice for something ye may end up doing at the job
Unfortunately, arr.
翻訳・通訳講座（〇語）の各 Unit のまとめとして今月のテストがあります。今月のテストには提出期限 がありますので期限を守って、必ず提出するようにしてください。採点結果は提出期限から 2 週間程度の 予定です。6 回すべてのテストで７０点以上の成績を収めた受講者には修了証が発行されます。
If ye get below a 70 on any of them they won't give ye the little diploma thingie. But as ye said, I find it'll be probably best just to do it when I can. I'm not going to (try to) freak out about it too much either, especially seeing as they say that the course shouldn't take more than an hour a though.
Trust me, it's hard to fail it. |
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Post by herakleitos on Sept 16, 2021 11:19:54 GMT 9
Unfortunately, arr.
翻訳・通訳講座（〇語）の各 Unit のまとめとして今月のテストがあります。今月のテストには提出期限 がありますので期限を守って、必ず提出するようにしてください。採点結果は提出期限から 2 週間程度の 予定です。6 回すべてのテストで７０点以上の成績を収めた受講者には修了証が発行されます。
If ye get below a 70 on any of them they won't give ye the little diploma thingie. But as ye said, I find it'll be probably best just to do it when I can. I'm not going to (try to) freak out about it too much either, especially seeing as they say that the course shouldn't take more than an hour a though.
Trust me, it's hard to fail it. Thank you very much for the reassurance. I think probably the best policy to adopt is not to be too neurotic about it then I guess... I definitely can't make it a priority compared to everything else I have to do. Incidentally, was recording the interpretation files for the test on a phone sufficient? |
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Post by しくchill on Sept 16, 2021 11:36:54 GMT 9
I can very much relate. At orientation and starting out, interpretation and even just preparing/studying for it was extremely spoopy for basically all of the same reasons you mention -- it's hard to focus when you're trying to take notes, to use a notation that you're not used to, to try to form the sentence in your head as you listen...
in short, it's normal to feel that way when you're starting out.
i found that personally, i haven't been able to develop a good "system" of note-taking and I usually just make it work by jotting down "anchor words" (the key words/phrases that are essential to the meaning) and using readily-understood symbols like arrows, lines to divide sentences/concepts, pluses and minuses. Also getting into the habit of writing down numbers, just in case.
The kind of interpretation you will actually do in the workplace can vary pretty drastically -- for example, I do very little "formal" interpretation (e.g. speeches, diplomatic meetings) and much more community interpretation, helping residents do various procedures in city hall. So, another thing to keep in mind is that the course is just a broad kind of dragnet over general interpretation skills, and you'll also be doing some learning on the job to see what works best for your specific duties.
Practicing helps -- one thing that really stuck with me from the in-person portion of the course was the teacher saying "とりあえず発言する", just say SOMETHING when the speaker pauses and interpretation time starts. Don't worry about getting it perfect, just try your best to convey the speaker's message (As Aya said above).
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Post by waten on Sept 16, 2021 11:50:43 GMT 9
Trust me, it's hard to fail it. Thank ye very much for the reassurance. I think probably the best policy to adopt be not to be too neurotic about it then I guess... I definitely can't make it a priority compared to everything else I have to do. Incidentally, was recording the interpretation files for the test on a phone sufficient? Yes, you can record the files on your phone or laptop. |
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katelyn
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 35
CIR Experience: 1st year
Location: Niigata
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
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Post by katelyn on Oct 21, 2021 22:33:59 GMT 9
hi so i saw this thread beforehand but didn't think about it (because i couldn't access the website until october 1st hue)
and so i just finished the first test....
what the FRICK was that
like, almost nothing that was covered in the texts was on the exam??
idk. maybe i didn't study the 5+ pages of vocabulary at the end of each unit hard enough, but i really didn't feel confident in any of my answers.
i s2g im just going to download the remaining PDFs and not do any more tests if i fail this one already
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superalicat
CIRHP admin 
CIRHP's Silver Swiftie
i cry a lot but i am so productive, it's an art
Posts: 7,850
CIR Experience: 3rd year
Location: Toyama
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
CHaos??: CHAOS
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Post by superalicat on Oct 27, 2021 13:47:37 GMT 9
hi so i saw this thread beforehand but didn't think about it (because i couldn't access the website until october 1st hue) and so i just finished the first test.... what the FRICK was that like, almost nothing that was covered in the texts was on the exam?? idk. maybe i didn't study the 5+ pages of vocabulary at the end of each unit hard enough, but i really didn't feel confident in any of my answers. i s2g im just going to download the remaining PDFs and not do any more tests if i fail this one already definitely felt the same trying to interpret all that keigo  but hopefully the translation part wasn't so bad, that was the part i had more confidence in |
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Post by beniyuri on Apr 4, 2022 12:35:48 GMT 9
Hello, guys! Since the online course has officially ended - would you like to have your thoughts (hopefully) be heard by CLAIR?
We have a new staff here who used to work at CLAIR and he used to surpervise JETs, too. He asked about the training and I mentioned about the online course.
So now he is asking me to write down my thoughts about it and he will forward to someone he knows at CLAIR. Anyway, I may sound too gullible if it will be srsly considered but hey better to give it a shot and maybe (hopefully) they might do something about it.
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Post by Springjay on May 18, 2022 9:43:56 GMT 9
Hello, guys! Since the online course has officially ended - would you like to have your thoughts (hopefully) be heard by the one CLAIR to rule them all? We have a new staff here who used to work at the one CLAIR to rule them all and he used to surpervise JETs, too. He asked about the training and I mentioned about the online course. So now he is asking me to write down my thoughts about it and he will forward to someone he knows at the one CLAIR to rule them all. Anyway, I may sound too gullible if it will be srsly considered but hey better to give it a shot and maybe (hopefully) they might do something about it. I guess this comes too late, but I had mixed feelings about the course when I took it last year (fall~winter of 2021). I'm not sure how much the course changes over the years, but it seems that when I took it it was quite different from when some of my Senpai took it a couple years ago. My main complaints with it were: -The videos we had to watch were repetitive and dry, with almost no new interpreting or translating tips introduced (they literally just copied the video from the very first lesson and replayed it every time). It became a challenge keeping motivated. -Due to Covid, it was 100% online, so didn't even get to do the interpreting camp event that I heard was the main benefit of taking the course. -The grades/feedback given were odd sometimes. I'd compare my answers with what hulemdos wrote, and often times one of us had a pretty different score despite having basically the same answer. Or sometimes the suggested English correction would just be flat out wrong, suggesting it wasn't given by a native speaker (Ex: The sentence was something like 町は山に跨がる; hulemdo and I both translated it as 'a city surrounded by mountains' or something, I got full points but he lost points and was corrected to 'a city straddled by mountains'. We both felt the latter sounded a bit awkward, as 'straddle' makes more sense with 馬を跨がる or something. Plus who is gonna say that 'surrounded by mountains' is wrong?). Overall I guess I was glad for the practice, but I felt let down by the actual course and its content. |
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Post by Springjay on May 18, 2022 11:00:06 GMT 9
hi so i saw this thread beforehand but didn't think about it (because i couldn't access the website until october 1st hue) and so i just finished the first test.... what the FRICK was that like, almost nothing that was covered in the texts was on the exam?? idk. maybe i didn't study the 5+ pages of vocabulary at the end of each unit hard enough, but i really didn't feel confident in any of my answers. i s2g im just going to download the remaining PDFs and not do any more tests if i fail this one already definitely felt the same trying to interpret all that keigo  but hopefully the translation part wasn't so bad, that was the part i had more confidence in Ooh I forgot about that! It drove me crazy; what was even the point of trying to learn and memorize all the words when they weren't relevant to the exams at all  (I know they're useful vocab for things, just it was annoying to have them not matter for the course) |
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Tristan
So jozu at chopsticks
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Posts: 180
CIR Experience: Former CIR
Location: Tokyo
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Post by Tristan on May 27, 2022 18:03:06 GMT 9
The grades/feedback given were odd sometimes. I'd compare my answers with what hulemdos wrote, and often times one of us had a pretty different score despite having basically the same answer. Or sometimes the suggested English correction would just be flat out wrong, suggesting it wasn't given by a native speaker (Ex: The sentence was something like 町は山に跨がる; hulemdo and I both translated it as 'a city surrounded by mountains' or something, I got full points but he lost points and was corrected to 'a city straddled by mountains'. We both felt the latter sounded a bit awkward, as 'straddle' makes more sense with 馬を跨がる or something. Plus who is gonna say that 'surrounded by mountains' is wrong?). Overall I guess I was glad for the practice, but I felt let down by the actual course and its content. I can only speak for myself, but it reaaaally felt like they were trying reaaaally hard to find errors to give you just above 70/100, and it seemed like they were manipulating the corrections in order to give you slightly better scores each time and make you feel like you progressed. (Or maybe, and this is even worse, maybe they did it for their own stats, in order to create a synthetic sense of “they got better thanks to our course.” Please tell me I’m crazy, I really don’t want to believe in this hypothesis…). At least that’s how it felt with my own grading. Most of the “correct answers” were straight outta deepl. I’ve heard of someone who tried using a deepl translation and changing a few words with complete synonyms, for testing purposes ofc. They reverted the synonyms to the deepl version and sometimes counted them as errors, sometimes not *sbarf*. This pretty much confirms that the “corrections” are taken from deepl, and that they decide whether to count something as a -1 or -2 or △ based on God knows what. |
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Post by Springjay on May 30, 2022 8:41:08 GMT 9
The grades/feedback given were odd sometimes. I'd compare my answers with what hulemdos wrote, and often times one of us had a pretty different score despite having basically the same answer. Or sometimes the suggested English correction would just be flat out wrong, suggesting it wasn't given by a native speaker (Ex: The sentence was something like 町は山に跨がる; hulemdo and I both translated it as 'a city surrounded by mountains' or something, I got full points but he lost points and was corrected to 'a city straddled by mountains'. We both felt the latter sounded a bit awkward, as 'straddle' makes more sense with 馬を跨がる or something. Plus who is gonna say that 'surrounded by mountains' is wrong?). Overall I guess I was glad for the practice, but I felt let down by the actual course and its content. I can only speak for myself, but it reaaaally felt like they were trying reaaaally hard to find errors to give you just above 70/100, and it seemed like they were manipulating the corrections in order to give you slightly better scores each time and make you feel like you progressed. (Or maybe, and this is even worse, maybe they did it for their own stats, in order to create a synthetic sense of “they got better thanks to our course.” Please tell me I’m crazy, I really don’t want to believe in this hypothesis…). At least that’s how it felt with my own grading. Most of the “correct answers” were straight outta deepl. I’ve heard of someone who tried using a deepl translation and changing a few words with complete synonyms, for testing purposes ofc. They reverted the synonyms to the deepl version and sometimes counted them as errors, sometimes not *sbarf*. This pretty much confirms that the “corrections” are taken from deepl, and that they decide whether to count something as a -1 or -2 or △ based on God knows what. That doesn't surprise me in the least bit They did a survey recently asking for feedback about the course, so I told them basically the same things I've mentioned in this thread. Maybe it won't help with much, but I do hope they consider fixing all these issues with future versions of the course... |
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but hopefully the translation part wasn't so bad, that was the part i had more confidence in
but hopefully the translation part wasn't so bad, that was the part i had more confidence in
(I know they're useful vocab for things, just it was annoying to have them not matter for the course)
