It is improper to employ transliteration in all cases except the transliterations of the names of people, places, corporations, etc.
5. Voiced Silence and Vague Words and Expressions
Interpreters are always pressed for time, they can not take every word/expression into careful consideration as translators usually do. They must therefore try to win for themselves a little more time for thinking and, at the same time, keep the interpretation going smoothly as well. Such means are verbal fillers and vague words/expressions which convey only vague and abstract meanings.
"Verbal Fillers", also called "Voiced Silence" by some modern linguists, refer to words, phrases and sometimes just noises like "er" which do not contrihute much, if anything, to the new information content of an utterance but perform several valuable functions in speech. The most common fillers are:
a.er, m, oh, ah, and, say, now, well, yes, o.k., all right, you see/know, I mean, etc. which may convey hesitation, meditation, promise, protest, sympathy, approval, understanding, and so on.
b. I'm afraid, I would assume/say, as I said, generally speaking, all in all, in the final analysis, presumably, definitely, actually, etc. which may express personal opinions and comments.
c. a sort of, a kind of, what do you call it, what we call, etc. which actually have no meaning at all.
Notice, too much use of such words/expressions will affect the clarity and smoothness of interpretation.
6. Pause
Interpretation can be affected by many objective factors, such as the clearness, pitch, speed, logic of the speaker. Often, interpreters are still at sea when the speaker has finished a passage. In this case, interpreters should first of all overcome their own nervousness and then repeat their understanding of the passage for confirmation by using such expressions as "Do you mean that .….", "If I'm right, what you really mean is that .….", "Before I translate, can you confirm.….","In other words.….", etc. Do not think that this is a waste of time. On the contrary, through confirmation, the interpreter and the speaker can reach a better mutual understanding and avoid time-consuming repetition.
It is unnecessary to worry about the audience. For the most part they share the same difficulties with the interpreter although they know some English. They will not feel upset.
The six skills discussed above can be considered as "supplementary measures" in oral translation. However, it is necessary for interpreters to make full preparations before they perform their tasks.
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