Court Interpreting Demonstration

JAVIER: Court interpreting is important because in court the record is kept in English in the United States and the interpreter is the only person there available to bridge the language gap between the language of record, which is English, and whatever source language is being interpreted from. I think what I find most rewarding from being a court interpreter was basically being able to participate in the justice system in the United Sates and basically being able to remove an impediment so that the judge, the jury and the participants in the courtroom can really get about their business. The different modes of interpretation are simultaneous, consecutive and sight translation. Consecutive interpretation is kind of a third party interpretation. You always have to have three people present, one who speaks only English, another that speaks the target language. We’ll say Spanish for demonstration purposes. And then of course an interpreter who speaks both. And that interpreter will convey the speech exactly as it was said in one language into the other language. Now we will see a demonstration of consecutive interpreting. VOICE 1: Sir, please state your name for the record. JAVIER: Senor, Por favor digas su numbre para efectos de acta. VOICE 2: Me Llamo Marco Rubio. JAVIER: My name is Marco Rubio. VOICE 1: Do you know the defendant, Esteban Rubio? JAVIER: Conoce a la crusado Esteban Rubio? VOICE 2: Claro, lo conozco, es mi hermano. JAVIER: Of course I know him. It’s my brother. JAVIER: Well, simultaneous interpretation is pretty much as the name says. The person is interpreting at almost the exact same time as the person that is speaking. The reason I say almost the exact same time is that usually there is a three of four word lag. So that the person can hear what is going on and repeating the same thing but into another language. Now we will see a demonstration of simultaneous interpreting by using shadowing, which will give you a pretty good example of what an interpreter does. VOICE 2: I have created this exercise to show you in English the way simultaneous interpretation works. What I am doing right now is called shadowing. That is repeating what another person says word for word in the same source language. That means in same language it’s spoken. Interpreters do this in court but into a target language, uttering the equivalent of the speech heard into the source language. JAVIER: Now, you have seen the way we do it in court. I am going to read the same text again why don’t you give a shot and see if you are able to do it as well. Start probably about five or six words after I start talking. I have created this exercise to show you in English the way simultaneous interpretation works. What I am doing right now is called shadowing. That is repeating what another person says word for word in the same source language. That means in same language in which it was spoken. Interpreters do this in court but into a target language, uttering the equivalent of the speech heard into the source language.

Channel: United States Courts

Views: 83,456

Rating: 4.8700695 out of 5

Keywords: Interpret, interpreting, court, courtroom, language, translation, Spanish, demo, trial, interpreter, demonstration, uscourts

Id: FJsQjVHe6AQ

Length: 3min 15sec (195 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 23 2010