Interpreting notes

Interpreting notes are used by some interpreters, who re-express oral communications (such as speeches) in whole or in part. Such notes may be used when the interpreter is working in "consecutive mode."

Interpreting notes are not part of any conventional graphic system, and practitioners are free to develop their own techniques. However, some basic rules facilitate the recording of details in order to aid the interpreter in coping with large amounts of information.

Theory

The purpose of interpreting notes is not to transcribe the speech verbatim. Interpreting notes are not a form of shorthand. Their purpose is to write minimal notes which will, at a quick glance, elicit in the interpreter's mind the ideas of an oral speech communication so that it can be re-expressed in a different language.

Practice

The interpreter must listen with utmost concentration to the speaker and only write the information which he or she judges sufficient to render the original, respecting its structure like names and titles of person or companies, figures, etc. It is not appropriate to for interpreters to document communications in shorthand, as this results in task duplication.

The interpreter is then required to decipher the notes from the communication and then translate the content into the target language. Following analysis of the speech, the interpreter must write the information in abstract form.

Ideograms

Ideograms are an important tool for interpreters. For instance, the letter “E” laid on its back (like the Cyrillic Ш = sh ) will represent Europe, and one can specify whether eastern, western or central Europe is meant by slashing the relevant upward leg; one horizontal bar with two vertical bars underneath will represent a table as seen from the side, which means a meeting, a conference, etc.

These ideograms are at the same time linked by a simple system of arrows and brackets to render the structure of the sentence. One can consequently note that a sum increased (or decreased according to the arrow’s direction) by a certain percentage to reach another value. A bracket before an action (verb) indicates that it will take place in the future, and vice versa.

As an example, the notes in the illustration read:

"We are particularly glad to inform you about an important increase in our company’s revenues, which rose by 10 percent, from 3.5 to 3.85 billion (*) dollars. This derives from huge sales of helicopters. The United States of America bought 50 and South Africa 20 of them. On the other hand we must relocate parts of our production in these countries." ((*) a “billion” (bn) is called in most languages “milliard”, Md or mrd).

Some people have even created complete systems of abbreviations to note all academic titles, administrative functions, military grades, and so on. This system has a drawback, as it is, just like shorthand, too closely connected to a given language.

Formatting

The sentences are usually written vertically in a notebook, each one being separated from the others by a horizontal line. After reading each sentence, the interpreter slashes it (discreetly). This small gesture has an important psychological effect: It’s like when you erase data on a computer memory, you make space free for other data.

Bibliography

Andres, Dorte: Konsekutivdolmetschen und Notation. 2000, ISBN 3-631-39856-5
Gillies, Andrew: Note-taking for Consecutive Interpreting. 2005, ISBN 1-900650-82-7
Jones, Roderick: Conference Interpreting Explained. 1998, ISBN 1-900650-57-6
Matyssek, Heinz: Handbuch der Notizentechnik für Dolmetscher. Ein Weg zur sprachunabhängigen Notation. 1989, ISBN 3-87276-616-3
Rozan, Jean-François: La Prise de Notes en Interprétation Consécutive. 1956, ISBN 2-8257-0053-3
Seleskovitch, Danica: Langage, langues et mémoires.1975, ISBN 2-256-90752-X
Snell-Hornby, Mary/Hönig, Hans G./Kußmaul, Paul/Schmitt, Peter A.: Handbuch Translation. 1999, ISBN 3-86057-995-9

External links

Note-taking for Consecutive Interpreting (Interpreter Training Resources)