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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 9, 2015 10:14:36 GMT 9
I just came off interpreting for a 知事表敬訪問 where the delegation had one foreigner (whom I was seated behind) and everyone else was Japanese. I was told it would be 逐次通訳 and I was kind of expecting there wouldn't be much to do since the gov speaks English but he kind of kept talking in Japanese. After a few minutes of the governor talking with no interpretation (I later summarized that talk to the visitor after the visit), I started trying to grab small pauses in the governor's talk to whisper a one-sentence description of what he was talking about and I mostly succeeded in being subtle but at one point the governor paused when he noticed me talking and was like 通訳どうぞ which made me feel bad. (Not to mention the room, which was filled with important people and reporters, then focused entirely on me as I whispered to the visitor)
Since this isn't the first time something like this has happened I am just wondering what people do for similar situations where the main convo is in Japanese and there are no pauses for 通訳? Do you just try to whisper over the Japanese (and miss what the person is saying) or do you wait for the end and just summarize everything? Help a brother out. YOLOSIK
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Post by snell_mouse on Nov 9, 2015 10:27:36 GMT 9
I've only had two or so instances where I have had to do whispering, and both times they were for ceremonies/formalities so frankly I don't think either of the guests actually cared what was going on (the last time, the guest was like "it's okay I know basically what they're going to say" so I just stopped after that). But anyway I usually try to whisper over the Japanese or interject with short summaries of important points, rather than waiting until the end (because my retention is not that good and I would probably forget).
Whispering is basically 同時通訳 and my teacher mentioned that it's actually probably harder than simultaneous interpreting because usually the conditions are worse (you're not in a booth with headphones, may not be able to hear very well, have to keep your voice down even lower than usual), so it's not going to be perfect.
Honestly I think the ideal would be to be able to confirm with the person you're interpreting for in advance, to see if they want to know as much detail as possible or if a general overview is enough/whether they want to hear it as it is said or summarized after, but that might be hard to do. I think my default would be to not worry about getting everything, but try and give regular/constant updates while still trying to pay attention to the speaker. Hopefully the person you're interpreting for also realizes that it won't/can't be perfect and understands.
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 9, 2015 12:49:41 GMT 9
thanks Snell, that's helpful  (and my retention is not that good either haha, I go off my notes) also a relief to hear it acknowledged that whispering is the hardest. I love 通訳 but I don't do it very often and I think when I do it's more often whispering than regular 逐次 -.- |
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Post by Shimanchu 2024 on Nov 9, 2015 15:42:25 GMT 9
thanks Snell, that's helpful (and my retention is not that good either haha, I go off my notes) also a relief to hear it acknowledged that whispering is the hardest. I love 通訳 but I don't do it very often and I think when I do it's more often whispering than regular 逐次 -.-
I did 逐次 during the meeting with the Texas governor, but I've had to do whispering before, and yes it is hard. That being said I've never done 同時 yet, and I'm not super excited at the idea of it.
I also don't get very many oppurtunities to interpret, with our 国際課 having an in-house super pro who usually does everything involving the TIJI, but whenever I finally do get the oppurtunity I always think that it may be enjoyable to do it more often, and maybe just possibly I should try practicing to get better at it?
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Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 10, 2015 10:35:41 GMT 9
I did whispering for a group of dignataries a couple of weeks back. It went awful but it was supposed to go awful. It was set out from the outset to be awful.
It was of a huge group of Japanese peoples 挨拶 (bout 20 minutes) and there were like 15 dignitaries. I just summarized what was going on because A) they didnt care and B) it would have been impossible to do otherwise because I could whisper quietly enough to be able to hear the speech because the hall was really noisey and there were 15 of them so whispering wasnt an option.
Also they were not native speakers so they didnt have a clue what I was saying most of the time because I was so rushed.
Train wreck but for once not my fault.
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Post by Panda kun on Nov 10, 2015 13:43:59 GMT 9
From what I heard from an erai person from overseas, who had heard many doujitsuyaku,
basically the listener is unable to comprehend the whole thing since its always rushed.
Most of the time they can only get an overall meaning.
Seems to be the case when my workplace got pros to do the doujitsuyaku for a symposium.
So I personally wouldn't be too stressed about getting the translations perfect.
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 10, 2015 19:41:35 GMT 9
maybe whispering 通訳 deals are just meant to be trainwrecks then.
another problem I have is the awkwardness of taking notes. like for a 知事表敬訪問 it's ok, but for example, a few months ago it was the other way around where I was translating for two Japanese people in an English-speaking environment and everyone was having lunch. the conversation went on for a really long time (don't remember how long exactly but 30 to 45 minutes maybe), so obviously I couldn't remember all of what was said afterwards, and since it was a lunch it would have felt weird to take notes given the less formal setting (not to mention I was busy eating >.>). translating as the conversation went on was also difficult due to both fear of interrupting the speaker/missing what they were saying as well as physical distance between me and the people I was interpreting for (would have had to quite noticeably lean over to them every time I wanted to say something).
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Post by Shimanchu 2024 on Nov 11, 2015 9:26:39 GMT 9
From what I heard from an erai person from overseas, who had heard many doujitsuyaku, basically the listener is unable to comprehend the whole thing since its always rushed. Most of the time they can only get an overall meaning. Seems to be the case when my workplace got pros to do the doujitsuyaku for a symposium. So I personally wouldn't be too stressed about getting the translations perfect.
Yeah, our super in-house pro who's been doing it for nearly 25 years says that optimistically translation accuracy is around 70% during TIKUZI and goes down to around 60% during DOUZI.
And this is if your a pro with experience so yeah.....
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Post by telly on Nov 11, 2015 9:39:30 GMT 9
maybe whispering 通訳 deals are just meant to be trainwrecks then. another problem I have is the awkwardness of taking notes. like for a 知事表敬訪問 it's ok, but for example, a few months ago it was the other way around where I was translating for two Japanese people in an English-speaking environment and everyone was having lunch. the conversation went on for a really long time (don't remember how long exactly but 30 to 45 minutes maybe), so obviously I couldn't remember all of what was said afterwards, and since it was a lunch it would have felt weird to take notes given the less formal setting (not to mention I was busy eating >.>). translating as the conversation went on was also difficult due to both fear of interrupting the speaker/missing what they were saying as well as physical distance between me and the people I was interpreting for (would have had to quite noticeably lean over to them every time I wanted to say something). Hm, so you just summarised what was said for the two Japanese people who joined the lunch? They weren't part of the conversation? |
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 11, 2015 10:12:40 GMT 9
maybe whispering 通訳 deals are just meant to be trainwrecks then. another problem I have is the awkwardness of taking notes. like for a 知事表敬訪問 it's ok, but for example, a few months ago it was the other way around where I was translating for two Japanese people in an English-speaking environment and everyone was having lunch. the conversation went on for a really long time (don't remember how long exactly but 30 to 45 minutes maybe), so obviously I couldn't remember all of what was said afterwards, and since it was a lunch it would have felt weird to take notes given the less formal setting (not to mention I was busy eating >.>). translating as the conversation went on was also difficult due to both fear of interrupting the speaker/missing what they were saying as well as physical distance between me and the people I was interpreting for (would have had to quite noticeably lean over to them every time I wanted to say something). Hm, so you just summarised what was said for the two Japanese people who joined the lunch? They weren't part of the conversation? Basically yeah. felt kind of bad for them. (most people at the lunch were Japanese, but they all spoke English and the conversation revolved around the [American] guest of honor) |
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Post by telly on Nov 11, 2015 12:10:31 GMT 9
Yeah, that sucks. I had similar situations and sometimes there is nothing you can do. If there were other Japanese people, they could have summarised what was said or someone should have made it clear what your duties were. You either eat lunch and have a break or eat before/after and help them follow the conversation.
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(and my retention is not that good either haha, I go off my notes)
