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Note-taking for Consecutive Interpreting. Contents. Forwards Roles of notes What to note How to note How to read notes Noting equipment Conclusion. Forwards.
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Contents • Forwards • Roles of notes • What to note • How to note • How to read notes • Noting equipment • Conclusion
Forwards • Only the memory could not be enough to handle the large amount of information, especially in CI. (No. dates, names, longer or fast speech) • Depending totally on memory is quite dangerous. A slight twist of the meaning of a word could mean success or failure. • Most interpreters working today rely on a combination of memory, general knowledge and notes to reproduce speeches. Like it or not, you will have to take notes when interpreting consecutively and the way you note will have an enormous impact on the success of your interpretation.
A good system of note-taking ,when practiced and ingrained, will help interpreters to interpret better in consecutive mode by saving time and intellectual effort, and by offering consistent solutions to frequently occurring problems (Gillies,2005:5)
The Roles of Notes • Notes are an aid to enhance the work of understanding, analysis and re-expression, the three activities of consecutive interpreting. • The main use of notes is to relieve memory. The objective of note-taking is to supplement memory efficiently, not to take place of memory.
The Roles of Notes • Note is usually the recording of semi-finished product of the interpreter’s thought. It is the reflection of understanding after “digestion”. • Note is the visual representation for your analysis of the source speech. Clear notes, offer directions, and tell you when to pause, when to add emphasis and when not to.
What to note • Ideas • Links • Who is speaking • Verb tense and modal verbs • Proper names, numbers, dates • The last sentence of a speech
What to Note • DO NOT try to write down every word. Remember that the average lecturer speaks approximately 125-200 words per minute, and the average note-taker writes at a rate of about 30 words per minute. Therefore note-taking should be a kind of selective recording.
What to Note_Ideas • The most oft repeated thing you will hear as a student interpreter is “note the ideas and not the words!”. But what is an idea? And how can we recognize them so that we can reproduce them properly in interpretation? You might say that a whole speech boils down to one idea, but will that help us in our note-taking? Each word might seem like an idea, but they won’t all be as important as each other.
What to Note_Ideas • What is an idea?/ Well let's ask ourselves what is the basic unit for communicating an idea in language. • Answer: the sentence. • And what are the basic units of a sentence? • Answer: Subject, Verb, (Complement, often but not always, an Object)
What to Note _ Ideas • The note will be like this: subject verb object __________ subject verb object ___________
What to Note_Ideas_ Example • 科学以多种方式帮助着人类。科学发明为我们的生活带来了许许多多的改变。世界的文明因科学而产生飞跃式的进步。因为科技，我们的生活变得更加舒适。
What to Note_Ideas_Example s v o 科学 帮 人 s o v 发明 生活 变 s v 文明 进步 s v 生活 舒适
What to Note_Ideas_ Example sci 帮 人 ++ ways 发明 → life ++ 变 世文明 ↗ life √
What to Note_Ideas_Example We know that the progress and prosperity of future generations will depend on what we do now to educate the next generation. Today I’m announcing a renewed commitment to education in mathematics and science. Through this commitment, American students will move from middle to the top of the pack in science and math over the next decade.
What to Note_Ideas_ Example s v o progg &prospdepend on educa. s v o I announ.commit. s v US studentsmove middle to top
What to Note_Ideas_ Example 下一代 devlp → 教 I 宣： new math+ sci 计 US 学。中↗ 上
What to Note _ Ideas • What you want to commit to the notepad is the basic skeleton of the speech, the Subject Verb Object arrangement for each of ideas. • At beginner stage, we are not trying to get everything right, we just want the MAIN IDEAS. • The temptation will always arise to try and note everything down. RESIST IT! • The detail that you have not noted may come back to you when you look at the basic structure.
What to Note _ Links • Links signal the way the speaker wants the listener to relate what is about to be said to what has been said before (Baker, 1992:190). A speech is all about two things: the ideas and the links between them. • A speech without links is a meaningless list of ideas.
What to Note _ Links The economy is struggling. The Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged. The economy is struggling. However, the Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged. The economy is struggling. Consequently, the Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged.
What to Note _ Links • "Link words” is a misleading concept. We should talk about "links". Links create a relationship between 2 or more ideas in a speech and can be conveyed by words, expressions or implicitly.
What to Note_Who is speaking • It is crucial for the listener to know who is speaking, whose point of view is being represented.
What to Note _ Verb tense & modal verb • Tenses and modal verbs will always be crucial to the semantics of the speech and as such you should have a clear system for noting them.
What to Note _ Proper names, numbers, dates • They are not integral to the grammar of the sentence nor the causality of the idea and therefore very difficult to remember without notes. • They can’t be remembered from the context and noted later as ideas can. • It is suggested to note them first and then return to where you left off.
What to Note _ The last sentence • Often the last sentence, or few sentences, of a speech will contain an important message summing up the whole speech.
How to Note • Layout • Language • Symbols • Abbreviations
How to Note_ Layout subject verb object __________ subject verb object ___________
How to note _ Layout • 例子： • 尽管当今世界还存在着这样那样的矛盾和冲突，不确定、不稳定的因素有所增加，但和平与发展仍是当今时代的主题，世界要和平、国家要发展、人们要合作是不可阻挡的历史潮流。
尽管 当今世界 纵向分行缩进 还存在着 逻辑联系词 这样那样的矛盾 和冲突 不确定 并列 因素 有所增加 不稳定 但 和平 并列 仍是当今时代主题 发展 世界要和平 纵向分行缩进 是不可阻挡的 并列 国家要发展 历史潮流 人民要合作
How to Note_ Layout • Always leave a 2cm-3cm margin on the left; • Always write notes vertically; • Always note the SVB diagonally across the page; • Always write big and clear; • Always end each segment of notes with a line.
How to Note_ Language • Opinions differ on this question but all the techniques can be used regardless of what language you note in. • Note in the language you feel more comfortable with, and that often means noting predominantly in your mother tongue regardless of whether it is the source or target language.
How to Note_ Symbols • A symbol doesn’t have to be a picture. What is important is that it represents something. • So a symbol represents a concept, not a word. This is often what interpreters mean when they say “note the ideas [concepts], not the words”.
How to Note_ Why Symbols • Symbols • are quicker and easier to write than words • are easier to read on the page than words • represents concepts not words, they are not one-to-one translations so they help us avoid source language interference when we interpret.
How to Note_ How to Use Symbols Symbols must be • Clear and unambiguous • Quick and simple to draw. More than three stokes is probably too slow. • Prepared in advance, and instantly familiar to you. Don’t improvise mid speech. • Consistent. If E is energy today, make sure it stays energy always and find yourself another symbol for environmentand economy. Otherwise you will mix them up and make some terrible mistakes. • For a group of more or less synonymous words and expressions, NOT one symbol per word (organic).
How to Note_ Organic Symbols • “Organic” means that one symbol should be the starting point for many other symbols. A group or family of symbols will grow from a common root. • By having a smaller number of basic symbols, you will tax your memory less.
