Simultaneous Interpreting - Tips for Beginners

If you're wondering why I don't sound like my usual self - I had the flu while recording this!
A collection of tips for beginners for simultaneous conference interpreting!
All the information is from the book "Conference Interpreting: Principles and Practice" (3rd Edition) by Valerie Taylor-Bouladon. In this video I am summarizing the chapter "Tips for Beginners."
Enjoy!

[@TroyLFullerton]

I'm glad that I'm not the only interpreter who has ever told my audience that the speaker just told a joke that does not translate, please laugh to make him/her happy." The reason why that works is because that, in itself, is funny.

[@CrystalChristianStore]

😂

[@AlviNavidlv]

The stress levels experienced by simultaneous interpreters during their work have been compared to that of air traffic controllers. (Y)

[@TroyLFullerton]

Beyond the language skills, techniques, and preparations for events, interpreters have to "get into the mind" (so to speak) of the person for whom they are interpreting-- and that's a hard skill to convey. I focus on how the individual is breathing and listen for the emotion coveyed by the tone and volume of the voice. If I can see the individual from the booth, I watch eye gaze. This helps me get into my "interpreters zone" and more accurately match the emotions and the intensity of the speaker.

[@ellam428]

Thanks for sharing, Troy!

[@ErenKarakoca]

thank you thank you so much. I am a completely new beginner and your video is such an inspiration&lesson for me!

[@user-qy6dd1st7n]

Thank you so much for your video! I’m a freshman at university, and I’m going to have an interpretive session next week (that’s my volunteer work). Actually, this video is lifesaving💔🙏

[@vincetotsu99]

Thank you so much for your video, I do interpreting for meetings and events sometimes, but have never done it on a professional basis. I would like to get better at it, so I this was very helpful. Thank you!

[@veronikadedvukaj9997]

Make more videos like this, please! You are doing it great!

[@frannol]

Great tips! Please do more videos. Regarding the joke question, I would inform the audience and ask them to please laugh.

[@GianYactayo]

Thanks alot for sharing this vid Daniela" I really hope on further guides on interpreting situation for next videos ! regards from Peru

[@saildu6965]

Great insight ! Would love another video on your personal experience

[@adelpipicz5915]

Thank you so much for your video, Daniela!! You pushed me even stronger towards my goals with your motivation, tips and professionality! And btw the jokes... I would have some basic jokes in my pocket just in case, but telling them I can't translate is not a good option I guess.

[@angiec3980]

Great video, thank you ! I just graduated in translation and I'll start a MA in conference interpreting in september. Super excited but really scared. So your video helps a lot !

[@ellam428]

Glad I was able to help! I love that you are getting your MA in conference interpreting, I'm sure you'll find it very rewarding and that you'll do great. Getting professional training in interpreting is so important!

[@moondust5967]

@@ellam428 Hi dear, My name is Sunny. I am also preparing to take admission in MA in conference interpreting, and my preference is Metropolitan University of London. Would you kindly give me some advice please knowing that I am graduating in business studies for the moment. I thank you really in advance. Also if you could tell which university would be a good choice !

[@YUNG-gc1tu]

my heart with u simultaneously

[@daniellesagang1037]

Thank you for all the tips and techniques.

[@okkarkyaw9833]

Thank you very much for your tips. Please share us more.

[@hopeless447]

Thank you Daniela . This was very helpful to me! Its a great find

[@ellam428]

So glad to hear that!

[@mosestoussaint6539]

Thank you for your advices 😊🙏

[@jackie-san1816]

Great tips! Thank you!!

[@shirasaali]

Thank you, great service please keep it up.

[@keffem123456]

It was priceless, thank you !!

[@bogmister5825]

hi, this video is so good. i'm a beginner in interpreting, precisely simultanous interpreting. this is a big lesson for me. please make many videos to guide me..

[@brigadeiro87]

Thank you very much for this wonderful video!

[@korejskavpraze1411]

Thank you o much for your video! I got a part time job and it is interpreting (Korean -> Eng, Eng - Kor) Your video helped me so much :)

[@ellam428]

Congratulations, I'm sure you'll do great!

[@nesarahmadsalik4581]

That's really useful and helpful!

[@jaime-tm7rj]

Thank you for the information.

[@Sw33tCarolina]

Your voice is so so calming.

[@ellam428]

that's a first! Thanks, haha!

[@ceciliafernandez6494]

Hi, here from Argentina. Thank you!!!!! Your video has been really helpful!!!!

[@ellam428]

I'm so glad!

[@philipmulville8218]

The advice given by EllaM in this video is really excellent. There is no pressure like the pressure you will experience when simultaneously interpreting without any notice and without any brief. Not fun!

[@MsLepuk]

Thank you so much for your tips!

[@ellam428]

You are so welcome!

[@ahmetemirakbulut]

Thank you so much. It was really helpful.

[@elidiomahocha9131]

Thank you for the video it's indeed helpful.

[@fatmaalihaithm7605]

Amazing tips!!! Thank you very much

[@ellam428]

Glad it was helpful!

[@beeeeee77]

Great video with the clear explanation. In the video you have mentioned that "interpreter jumps from sentence to sentence and he/she may not be hired any more" My question is: What you do if a presenter jumps from sentence to sentence and his/her presentation is not clear during the delivery? I had the case numerous times. Many thanks again.

[@sutasineekh]

this is very helpful, appreciate this

[@ellam428]

Glad to hear it!

[@maywww]

Very good tips. Thank you for sharing! However, you sounded a little nervous in the video clip, which is cute!

[@ellam428]

Mei W. I am glad you found the tips helpful, thank you for watching! I did have the flu while recording this video, so that explains the shaky voice, haha!

[@sarahlott4432]

You are great 👍

[@agalta777]

Please show us many clips and videos! Thank you very much.

[@thecatcherintherye9196]

Great tips. Thank you so much. Relating to the joke thing, I think the best way is to say "the speaker just made a joke which cannot be translated, please laugh right about now." haha. It's the sad truth. I think finding a joke that can be applied to all sorts of situations is quite challenging and would, most of the time, sound cringy.

[@ellam428]

Thank you for your comment and your input, I greatly appreciate it, and I do agree with you! Interpreting itself is already very challenging, and coming up with a suitable joke can be impossible a lot of times! And like you said, even if we did manage to come up with one, it might not work and make the delegates cringe, haha, not what we want!

[@thecatcherintherye9196]

Haha exactly! I'd be willing to see more videos from you! :) *turns on notifications*

[@congressnz]

"The stress levels experienced by simultaneous interpreters during their work have been compared to that of air traffic controllers." Amazing, huge respect to all the interpreters out there. Another thing to ensure a stress free experience is use high quality interpretation equipment. Comfort plays a huge part to reduce stress levels. Congress Rental New Zealand. www.congressrental.nz

[@amelmaliki2090]

Tnkx a lot 😊

[@vrabcheee]

Thank you very much for making me understand new ideas

[@natiagold8618]

I’m a beginner interpreter and I have a question to the experienced ones , after how many interpreting did you get the faith in yourself, that you can handle anything and that you are in tune? ❤

[@user-ex7wg9uh8f]

Oh I agree, it seems so hard to interpret simultaneously.

[@user-lg7zm8vn7l]

Thankyou

[@SuperDeema]

I decided long time ago that I want to build a career of this profession and your video is the first thing I started with; any special tips for me?

[@maximmashkunov178]

why don't you post these types of videos more regularly? very well spoken. thank you!

[@pranaydixit32]

Thank You so much for such a nice Video. Btw i m a German, English and Hindi language Interpreter. When i need to Interpret a Joke, so first i try to Interpret the joke in my target language. If i can do this then it's fine, otherwise i do the Same thing u do. I request them to laugh at that Joke........

[@wittysamara8034]

Thank you for this video! I will be doing simultaneous interpreting for the very first time today! I'm a little nervous!

[@ellam428]

Glad it was helpful and I hope it went well!

[@maricristinacastel]

Hello from Colombia. I love your video, I am trying to get a copy of the book. Thanks for sharing! Here where I am it's not a good thing to ask for clarifications. I am not that afraid to stop the thing and ask for clarifications, but sometimes that would be misunderstood. I want to ask, what do you do when you need to correct an idea, (let's say a misunderstanding because it was your mistake) specially where there is no time for making your own clarifications to the audience? How did you train yourself for numbers? In my opinion the preparation phase here is really hard, the client usually doesn't share the info before the event or the conference. The strategies that I use on jokes are that sometimes I explain the joke in context if I have the time. If I don't have the time, I try to add something a little funny to the original joke and sometimes I make the Colombian adaptation of that joke, so at least the audience will smirk a bit. I learned that after working for some years doing consecutive interpretation between Europeans, Canadians, US citizens, and indigenous people from the Caribean coast.

[@ellam428]

Thank you for your input, Cristina! In regards to your question, I think that would depend on your client and on the situation. But of course, as you said, often clients have zero understanding for our needs. You could try and clarify at the end of the spoken segment or the end of the speech even, noting that this is you, the interpreter, speaking. But I think it very much depends on the situation. If you want to practice numbers, a good exercise is to ask a family member or friend to write down numbers and read them to you. Thank you for watching!

I keep ..... focused ..... em........ in what you're doing ..... em .......

[@annepaulus8939]

Thank you Daniella, great video. I agree with you, best be sincere in a potentially embarrassing situation, i.e. the joke problem.. Also, you're right, there is no such thing as extracting ourselves from our who we are.. so yes, be professional and also who you are! I wonder what your mother tongue is.. german? Where are you from? You're obviously a born polyglot :)

[@I-4050]

Hey, @DanielaMichelle Thank you for taking your time and sharing your experience in this field. Just out curiosity, are you from in Las Vegas?

[@ellam428]

Hi, thank you for watching! I wish i was haha, I currently live on the East Coast!

[@user-dg5vu3tr5m]

Greetings in Christ Jesus from Colombia (SA) lovely lady. Thanks for your wise advice. Hugs and kisses. Jn 3:1-36

[@annarogacheva4140]

Hi Daniela, Thank you for a great summary! I loved this video. Out of curiosity: where are you originally from? I think I am catching some slight Slavic accent.

[@ellam428]

What you're catching is probably German, I'd just returned from a long trip to Europe so that should explain it, ha! And thank you for watching

[@reflexreaction3797]

well, in simultaneous interpreting you don't need to guess words, except of course if there's blank gaps in the text you're following visually... right? or will you have no written text at hand?

[@moondust5967]

Madam, thank you very much for this video. I am Following you by the transcript as the sound is very low. Is there any possibility to reload it with a proper sound recording!

[@ellam428]

Sorry about that, did you try using head phones?

[@user-jx1qt7yh9y]

I try translating people's loud thoughts into Hebrew with inner translation. It's hard, but I set it up as a challenge

[@Lauralaey5]

OMG, I've been interpreting/translating for over 30 years but, I've never done it simultaneously. I don't think that I can do it.

[@danielsakowicz1]

EllaM do you think that consecutive interpretation must be linked with simultaneous interpretation?? As for me I am bad at consecutive, due to the fact that you have to memorize a lot. What do you think?

[@ellam428]

Hi Andrew, I actually don't think the two are very similar as theyrequire different skill sets. I would work on my note taking system then. Find your own method that works for you so you don't have to memorize so much. It's also okay to brief the parties beforehand and mention that they should speak in overseeable segments!

[@user-cr6lf6nn7f]

How to train our interpretation skills

[@hebertotonielgamarra5111]

Thank you for your video. Could you tell me the name of the book and author you mentioned please?

[@ellam428]

I just added it to the description box! Thank you for watching :)

[@abdullahbillali3604]

Hi Daniela, I have a job interview tomorrow morning and part of the assessment is to interpret simultaneously for 10 minutes and I will only be briefed about the subject minutes before. Any quick tips?

[@theprincemed9645]

How did it go?

[@ellam428]

Sorry I just saw this, how did it go? I'm sure you did great since you were obviously doing research :)

[@72odair]

How can I practice the speed of my voice with the voice of the speaker? Thanks a million!

[@ellam428]

Try looking for speeches on KZbin that have a pace you are comfortable with - and slowly work your way up! Thanks for watching!

[@robertsteinberger5667]

My problem is that I tend to talk with a soft voice because otherwise my own voice distracts from listening. It is hard to find the right balance.....anyone has any advice about this?

[@katherineortiz3889]

I am practcing to be an interpreter but I am so bad at listening at the momento, what recommendations would you give me to improve my listening skills? any techniques?

[@ellam428]

Practice makes perfect. I know that sometimes you can get caught up in your own words and forget to listen. Practice with a friend, or look up speeches on youtube and record yourself. Simultaneous interpreting is a little like learning a musical instrument. The more you practice, the better you will get. Good luck to you!

[@katherineortiz3889]

@@ellam428 What techniques Should I use White practicing?

[@andreapaz9350]

Does anyone has some tips for greeting in public as an interpreter?

[@ellam428]

It probably depends on the event! I'm sure you'll get some instructions!

[@PaddingtonSoul]

What languages do you translate?

[@ellam428]

GermanAmerican English. Thanks for watching!

[@jackmetei7960]

I live in India and as u know there are multiple languages ..so in church I sometimes help interpreting the message which is given in English ....after I do it for about 30min it hurts my head and it is to go for about 1.5hrs usually...it's not an easy job at all I'm here for some help !

[@sourstrawberry6636]

Thats about the limit, you can practice your way to 45 minutes .. more than that is hard

[@ellam428]

Yes, and stay hydrated everyone!

[@zion9486]

Studying to be an interpreter,my life is hard to say the least 😢I am so stressed.

[@tellyourlifeinenglishinmom3717]

I am feeling complete despair at becoming an interpreter at the moment.

[@shahidnasir7851]

Are you speaking with low voice intentionally?

[@ellam428]

I had the worst cold while filming! Thank you for watching.

[@iamrubens]

Please share more tips and experiences in ASMR. It would be so calming and informative at the same time. I really love the tone of your voice.

[@mindtheprivacy]

Yeah, I've started forgetting my mother tongue.

[@mariav.s.9324]

Sound very low.

[@silisastyle9128]

Thanks for the info. but your voice is low can't hear you well.

[@the_Curious.Refaat]

Dear your voice is muffled

[@yaninlopez5702]

Volume is too low, I can hardly hear the video

[@ellam428]

Sorry and thanks for the feed back, have you tried headphones?

[@katalinaana]

You forget the right term for every word. The worst 😫

[@orestesvega2475]

So the people in your country speak differently now than 10 years ago? Waoo you need to study Linguistics and Language Change. After 10 years they will speak the same way as before.

[@mariav.s.9324]

Sound very low.

[@ellam428]

Thanks for the feedback!