JapanNewbie

Interpretation is Hard

Posted on 20. Feb, 2008 @ 3:09 pm by harvey in About, Language Views: 573

I recently participated in an interview for a potential summer position on the PeaceBoat that included interpretation and translation tests.

I have done a lot of Japanese to English document translation over the past few years, so that part of the test wasn’t such a big deal. The English to Japanese translation of course was much more difficult than Japanese to English, but PeaceBoat wouldn’t expect someone to translate into their non-native language on the job, so no stress.

However, the interpretation test, English to Japanese and even Japanese to English completely blew my mind – smacked me around if you will. Made me cry “uncle”. 誰か助けて～！
I have a new a profound respect for interpreters and simultaneous translators. What a humbling experience.

It was my first time ever attempting to interpret so of course it was difficult, but I didn’t quite expect that it would be that difficult! It was so hard to remember the entire sentence in Japanese and then say it in English including all the proper nouns and numbers and whatnot. Of course I had scratch paper, but I found that when I would scribble down a year or proper noun or something that came up in the Japanese sentence as it was spoken I would miss the rest of the sentence while writing! Not to mention that since Japanese grammar almost flows backwards when compared to English you almost have to continue shuffling things around in your mind as you remember what was said and spit it back into English. It was like mind acrobatics – and I think I sprained something.

Halfway through the interview the staff told me that a major difference in interpreting and translating documents is that I don’t really need to match the language so precisely. He advised me to just grasp 80% of the idea, and relay it back to him in English as I would do if I was telling it to him in my own words. This really helped me out. I was making the mistake of literally attempting to convert the words I heard into text on paper in my mind, translating it in my head, and then “reading” my virtually noted translation back to them. It doesn’t work that way.

I found this great discussion about interpreting on the Honyaku Google Group, a forum for Japanese<->English translators.

Some people in the forum mention that doing translation is a great way to prepare yourself for interpreting, and also that most interpreters were previously translators.

Naruhodo.

They also mention that a lot of them like translation more, because they don’t have to go anywhere specific to do it. Just bring the laptop to a coffee shop, or sit at home.

Something about the stress and presence of people does attract me to interpretation though… Maybe someday I’ll take a class or something… Someday…

I’m still recovering from the shock of feeling like a Japanese-newbie again, but I’m motivated. It was a fun and challenging exercise, and interpreting is so cool when done correctly!

There is a program at the University of Queensland in Australia called, MAJIT (Master of Arts degree in Japanese Interpreting and Translation) that specializes in E-J & J-E interpretation if anyone is interested in becoming a translating/interpreting Jedi.

Lessons learned from this experience? Being able to speak Japanese, having JLPT1, working in document translation, and eating sushi, are all attributes that have nothing to do with being a good interpreter!

Never give up.

- Harvey