Taking Note techniques for CI
ADVICE ON NOTE-TAKING
Here is a list of measures suggested by professional interpreters:- Take notes quickly – above all, don’t wait for the “right” word because this is not the time to do this;
- Jot down words that are easy to understand in order to jog your memory when you have to render the speech;Avoid using loose pages or you’ll end up with disorganised sheets of paper; instead, use 15 x 20 cm notepads;Write only on one side of the page;
- Use a pencil;
- Jot down readable notes so that when you’re stressed about rendering the speech you won’t waste time searching for the ideas;
- During rendition, always maintain eye contact with the audience;
- Use a large letter size that can easily be read from afar;
- Avoid using ambiguous abbreviations – for example, “ind” should not mean “independently” in some cases and “industrial” in others;
- Use existing symbols and never invent a symbol during the speech that is not easily recognizable;
- Change the structure of the notes using your good judgement, always respecting the cohesion of the speech and the speaker’s intention.
WHAT YOU SHOULD JOT DOWN
Always take notes of:- The main ideas: secondary ideas will be remembered during the mental interpreting process and rendition;
- Opinions and points of view: they are always perceptible and the interpret might not be able to transpose them to his/her interpretation during rendition;
- Numbers: they are very important for the speech, are the same in every language and are easy and quick to note down (as opposed to dates that are more difficult to understand);
- Proper names: because you don’t have to translate them. For proper names difficult to understand, the interpreter should jot them down as they sound. Also take note of geographical names, names of companies and organisations, abbreviations and acronyms.
- Technical terms: they are less frequent and may sound uncanny to the interpreter;
- Mnemonics: memory aids to help the interpreter jog his/her memory during rendition;
- Connectors: they connect the memory and what the speaker has said. They are important because they show the sequencing of ideas and also opposing ideas;
- What happened and when (verb tenses): because they situate the speech in time;
- The sentences said by the speaker that serve as introduction and conclusion, as they help to understand the speech;
- Keywords: they are important not for their linguistic meaning, rather for what they mean in the interpreter’s mind (the meaning they acquire for the speaker).
HOW TO TAKE NOTES
It all depends on the purpose of the speech to be interpreted: an informative speech requires full note-taking, especially when it is about particularly unusual facts; however, if the event is unusual, one word may be enough. A descriptive speech also needs full note-taking, but based on detailed aspects that perfectly describe what is meant to be conveyed. An argumentative speech is based on much less information, especially connectors and some keywords.
Notes should preferably be taken in the language into which the interpretation will be made (target language), because it allows the interpreter to dissociate the two languages. The interpreter will, therefore, be less likely to use a literal translation in the heat of the speech.
If the interpreter doesn’t remember a word in the target language when taking notes – and to avoid being stuck on that word and getting lost in the speaker’s speech – he/she should note down the term in the source language and continue to take notes. This will save lots of time until the right word comes to his/her mind.
Some interpreters have developed a perfect system of symbols to help them later on. Abbreviations, on the other hand, can be very useful when we’re dealing with names of countries (DE for Germany, PTfor Portugal), units of measurement (km for kilometre or m for meter) or chemical elements (O for oxygen, Pu for plutonium), among others.
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