English major, graduation thesis. I am studying translation and interpretation. Are there any good topics related to interpretation? It is urgent. Thank you.

The operation of interpretation begins with the input of language information. Besides visual translation, in most cases, interpreters receive the speaker's language information through hearing. Therefore, the interpreter's listening and understanding of incoming information are the first level of interpretation. This is especially true when translators in China translate English into Chinese, because our mastery of English is far less than our mastery of our mother tongue. Listening has always been our weak link. It is not difficult to imagine that if the interpreter can't hear or understand the English spoken by the speaker, it will be impossible to translate into Chinese; If you don't fully understand or hear wrong, you can't accurately and completely convey the speaker's original intention, and even misunderstand, leading to communication failure or more serious consequences. Therefore, interpreters must have a keen sense of hearing, a good sense of language and the ability to distinguish different sounds, intonation, vocabulary and syntax.

A competent translator can understand not only the standard English spoken by British and American people, but also various English varieties spoken by English-speaking countries, such as Irish English, Scottish English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and South African English. They must also be able to understand the English spoken by people who use English as a second or official language, such as Indian English, Singaporean English, Filipino English, English spoken by West African countries, and English spoken by people from non-English speaking countries who use English as a foreign language. Compared with standard English, the English spoken by people in these countries may be inaccurate in pronunciation, improper in words and even grammatical errors. For translators in China, it is very important to know English from different countries and regions, especially since China is opening to the outside world in all directions. We should not only deal with English-speaking countries, but also develop exchanges and cooperation with people all over the world. English is one of the most widely used languages in the world, but there are not many countries whose mother tongue is English. Most countries use English as a second language, official language or foreign language. English spoken by people from different countries has its own characteristics, which are different from standard English in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, translators should consciously train and cultivate their ability to adapt to various English varieties in pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary and syntax, and strive to improve their English listening comprehension, which is an important link to improve the quality of interpretation.

When Chinese is translated into English, the situation is different. Apart from strong local accents, dialects, idioms, slang or technical terms, it is generally not a problem for translators in China to understand Chinese. The important link is understanding, and the key is code-switching and English expression.

understand

Comprehension is a process in which an interpreter analyzes, interprets and synthesizes the received linguistic information, and then makes a correct judgment and understanding. The information conveyed by the speaker consists of many factors, including linguistic factors and non-linguistic factors. Interpreters' understanding of received information includes the following aspects.

(1) language understanding. Language is the main carrier of information. Interpretation is a kind of language communication activity, and the transmission of information mainly depends on the interpreter's understanding of the source language, including the speaker's understanding of language factors such as pronunciation, intonation, grammar, vocabulary, meaning and discourse. Therefore, an interpreter must have solid language knowledge and rich vocabulary. He should not only be proficient in common words, idioms, proverbs and common sayings in two communication languages, but also be good at capturing "implication" and "implication" and understanding the true meaning of words from the speaker's tone, intonation, argot and context. Thus, the understanding at the language level lies in the translator's proficiency in the two languages involved in communication. An interpreter should be proficient in two languages, especially the foreign language level should be close to the mother tongue level.

In addition, language understanding is closely related to cultural background knowledge. Because the two languages used by both sides have their own social consciousness and cultural connotation, it is difficult to understand and master a language without understanding its social and cultural background, and of course it is impossible to translate it. Therefore, an interpreter should have a good bilingual culture and be familiar with the source culture and national culture. Only in this way can we find out the concept and words of "equivalence" from the comparison between the two cultures and carry out semantic transformation. The more thoroughly an interpreter understands the two cultures, the more deeply he can understand the speaker's original intention.

(2) Knowledge understanding. Interpretation involves a wide range of contents. In today's world, various international exchange activities are very frequent. In addition to regular political and diplomatic exchanges, economic and trade exchanges, cultural and sports exchanges, various professional academic conferences and exchange activities are becoming more and more frequent. The content of the conversation between the two sides may involve many aspects. If the interpreter has enough professional knowledge in related fields, he can analyze and understand the dialogue from a professional perspective. On the other hand, if the interpreter lacks professional knowledge about the topic of the conversation, even if the foreign language level is high, it is impossible to fully understand the conversation. Therefore, knowledge and understanding are closely related. The richer the knowledge of the interpreter, the deeper the understanding of the dialogue and the smoother the interpretation.

A successful translator should be versatile and have rich basic knowledge. Of course, this does not require an interpreter to know everything, but to be a generalist and an expert. However, an interpreter must master the minimum international knowledge, have basic knowledge in politics, economy, commerce, law, humanities, science and technology, understand the basic situation of the country of origin in politics, economy, history, geography and society, and be familiar with China's national conditions, especially China's domestic and foreign policies, and its position, viewpoint and attitude on major international issues. When conditions permit, translators should make preparations in advance and try to be familiar with the topics to be discussed by both sides and the possible knowledge scope.

Interpreters' knowledge acquisition mainly depends on their unremitting efforts. Conscious translators are good at seizing every practical opportunity, accumulating and expanding knowledge, enriching vocabulary and improving the level of interpretation.

(3) Logical understanding. Interpreters can not only understand the speaker's meaning through the language information sent by the speaker and the understanding of the conversation topic, but also deepen their understanding through the analysis and logical reasoning of the conversation content. In communication, the two sides participate in the conversation with different identities and positions. When talking, both sides have their own ideas, ways and purposes, and the content of the conversation has internal logic and connection. Interpreters should know the identity, status and occupation of the speaker, understand the intention of his conversation as soon as possible, grasp the internal relationship of his conversation, and accurately understand the true meaning of the speaker through the analysis and logical reasoning of his conversation, so as not to interrupt their thinking and understanding because they don't completely hear the speaker's conversation occasionally. Interpreters can follow the speaker's thinking and understand his original intention through logical reasoning. Even if the speaker makes a slip of the tongue or reverses the dialogue, the interpreter can correctly infer his meaning and translate it correctly.

remember

In the process of processing the received language information, the translator needs to temporarily store the obtained information in memory to prevent the information from being lost, omitted or mistranslated in the process of transformation and expression. Therefore, translators should have a strong memory, especially when translating alternately. Because in alternate translation, the speaker often has to speak for 2 ~ 3 minutes or even 4 ~ 5 minutes before stopping. Interpreters should not arbitrarily increase or decrease the content of the speaker's conversation, let alone fabricate it against his original intention, and must faithfully, completely and timely express the speaker's original intention.

Therefore, the interpreter must remember the meaning of the dialogue to the greatest extent at the moment of understanding, and then choose the right words and sentences to express it. It can be seen that memory and understanding are closely linked, almost simultaneously, and complement each other. What is understood is the easiest to remember, and memory will affect understanding and expression. In fact, in the process of interpretation, the interpreter listens, remembers and understands.

There are two forms of memory: mental memory and notes. In simultaneous interpretation, speech and translation are almost simultaneous, so there is no time to take notes; Taking notes will distract attention and affect the listening and translation of the next sentence. Generally speaking, interpreters always take notes by heart. Alternate translation is different. An interpreter must wait until the speaker has finished a paragraph before translating. Translators need notes to help them remember, but don't rely too much on them, or they will easily put the cart before the horse and affect the effect of translation. No matter simultaneous interpretation or consecutive interpretation, interpreters are required to have outstanding memory. Therefore, translators should strengthen their memory through practice. Note-taking is a special interpretation skill, which will be discussed in chapter 3.

express

Expression is a process in which the translator expresses the speaker's original intention in the target language on the basis of fully understanding the source language. The ultimate goal of listening, understanding and memorizing is expression. In the process of expression, the translator should conduct code-switching, recoding, generalization, select appropriate words and phrases, and finally translate them in time and accurately. When expressing, the interpreter should be clear in pronunciation, accurate in intonation, appropriate in words, fluent and natural. These are the basic requirements of expression and an important sign of the quality of interpretation. Successful expression can not only convey the speaker's information completely, accurately and smoothly, but also maintain the speaker's style and characteristics. Excellent interpretation can make the dialogue between the two sides "harmonious" without any language barriers. In some international conferences, we often see this phenomenon: when the participants listen to an impassioned speech by a representative, they will find that the interpreters in the interpretation room can't help waving their arms and interpreting with the same passion. The expressive effect and perfect ideal of an interpreter depend on his language skills and speech skills. An interpreter should not only have a pure mother tongue and be proficient in a foreign language, but also have certain speech skills, such as clear articulation, loud voice, beautiful timbre and proper rhythm, and also have certain skills in choosing words and making sentences to attract and impress the audience.

Basic quality requirements of translators

In today's globalization, international communication is getting closer and closer, and interpretation is getting more and more attention. It has become an important, noble and desirable job, and it is also a profession with high entry threshold and difficult entry. Interpreters have arduous tasks, heavy responsibilities and hard work. Without good ideological quality and excellent professional ability, they are difficult to be competent.

(1) A qualified translator should have good political and ideological quality, lofty professional ethics, high policy level and strict organizational discipline. In foreign-related work, the work and performance of interpreters represent the image of the country, the spirit of the nation and the interests of the country or group. Interpreters should have a strong sense of responsibility and a high sense of responsibility for their own work. In foreign exchanges, we should be loyal to the motherland, correctly implement the principles and policies of the party and the state, strictly abide by state secrets, strictly abide by foreign affairs discipline and the code of conduct for foreign-related personnel, be loyal to our duties, be honest and upright, do not seek personal gain, do not act on our own, and do nothing that harms national dignity and personality.

(2) A qualified translator must have excellent language skills, including a solid foundation in mother tongue and foreign languages. He should not only have a solid basic knowledge of pronunciation, intonation, morphology, syntax and grammar, but also be proficient in language use and cross-cultural communication. He should have a keen hearing and a rich vocabulary. When translating, he should be articulate, natural in tone, appropriate in wording and accurate and fluent in expression. At the same time, translators should master a certain number of idioms, proverbs, abbreviations, euphemisms, humorous words, technical terms, poems and famous sayings, and use various translation methods and techniques flexibly. Only in this way can they be comfortable in all kinds of interpreting occasions, use it freely and calmly, overcome difficulties and achieve the effect of expressing their feelings.

(3) The professional quality of interpreters also includes knowledge reserve. In the process of interpretation, interpreters will encounter conversations on various topics, which are almost all-encompassing and omniscient. Therefore, a competent translator must have rich encyclopedic knowledge, be able to quickly adapt to different professional translation tasks, and have a deep grasp of relevant professional knowledge, such as international affairs, economy and trade, finance, telecommunications, chemical industry, biology, etc., in order to provide better and more stable services for some institutions. The more knowledgeable an interpreter is, the more he can fully understand the content and meaning of the conversation and accurately express the speaker's original intention.

(4) Interpreters must also have sharp thinking, quick response, outstanding memory, high judgment ability, strong comprehensive analysis ability, strong logical thinking ability and strong improvisation ability. Only in this way can he be in an invincible position in the interpretation of various occasions.

(5) Interpreters must also have good personal accomplishment. In foreign activities, we should be dignified and generous, polite, modest and elegant, warm and friendly, neither humble nor supercilious. In working practice, translators should pay attention to constantly improving their political, professional quality and personal accomplishment.

Spoken language is mainly accepted and analyzed in the process of interpretation, but it is not completely equivalent to spoken language used in our daily life. The oral style in life is very casual, with little emphasis on the modification of words. There are many two-part allegorical sayings, slang, proverbs, one-liners and so on. Language level (that is, a certain social level of speech can distinguish between elegance and vulgarity, using different occasions, similar style; Style can be roughly divided into frozen style, formal style, general style, informal style and causal style. ), this is relatively low, and it rarely involves formal style and solemn style, and there is no formal rhetoric method and formal "rhetoric" structure unique to some formal occasions. The subject matter is very limited, so the communication is very limited.

The oral language used in the interpretation work site naturally includes "oral life", but the typical interpretation work is all-encompassing, and it is difficult to be qualified for the interpretation work if you can only speak two sentences of spoken language and slang commonly used in life. The oral English in interpretation is usually of a high level, and most of them use formal or solemn styles. The communication scenes are often formal or semi-formal, and "rhetoric" is used, and the topics involved are often politics, economy, science and technology, cultural exchanges, academic discussions and so on. This kind of oral English is logical, has certain structural integrity, is informative, pays more attention to the use of words, and sometimes it may be "professional" in terms of words and structure. It is rich in information, concentrated in content and difficult to remember. In some cases, it must rely on some specific interpretation skills such as notes. In other words, "spoken English" is not a language difficulty in interpretation. It is impossible to effectively improve the level of interpretation just by talking to native English speakers or memorizing a lot of common slang.

The study of interpretation should focus on the analysis and research of the spoken language actually needed in interpretation, that is, the "working language" of interpretation. This kind of "working language" is the basis of translators, and it is mainly composed of discourse structures with high language level and specific subject categories, such as solemn style, formal style and ordinary style, such as meeting speeches, negotiations, technical discussions, product introductions, scenic spots introductions, business exchanges and legal disputes. Mastering these contents can help interpreters master the characteristics of the working language of interpretation, better understand, analyze and remember information, and complete the interpretation work at a high level. Professor Bao Gang pointed out in his book An Overview of Interpretation Theory that the working language of interpretation can be divided into four types of discourse structures: narrative genre, introduction genre, argumentation genre and association genre.

1. Narrative genre

Narrative genre is mainly the discourse structure used by allusions, stories and jokes in the source language. This genre needs the attention of interpretation learners in two aspects: the "time sequence" of narration and the "spatial clue" of narration. The so-called "time sequence" of narrative means that the structure of discourse is closely related to the time sequence of narrative. Narrative discourse encountered in interpretation generally follows a time clue, which is different from "jumping" narrative in written language or where you want to say several clues at the same time in daily life. This narrative clue is mainly manifested in the linear passage of time, and at the same time it is related to some description of space, scenery, people and so on. In the passage of time, the phenomenon of "stopping" observation is caused. This is a clue to the development of discourse, sometimes described and sometimes described. They are intertwined and have their own characteristics, showing the speaker's speech characteristics. In the initial stage, there is an introduction, which uses some formulaic structures generally accepted by both parties in verbal communication to give the audience a feeling that the story has begun, such as "I heard that there is such a thing …" and "There is a legend about … in China". In the "introduction" stage, the speaker will generally explain the time, place and main characters of the story, and can also lead to some suspense. "Introduction" is followed by a story development that combines description, suspense, bedding and other techniques, and then there is often a climax, and finally there must be an end, unless the source language discourse is interrupted. Translators can use this structure to "calibrate" the content of the source language, which is convenient for storing the text content. Generally speaking, there are few discourse phenomena that violate this narrative law.

Another feature of narrative genre is that the description inserted in the narrative process always follows certain spatial clues to form a specific picture, and this spatial clue must be acceptable to most people, so the description lines in the source language are similar. The description lines that most people follow together in speech description are basically from top to bottom, from outside to inside, from left to right, from front to back and so on. When the translator grasps these characteristics, he can make some predictions about the main line of description, and then he may use some distinct three-dimensional coordinate map to describe the image information of the source language clearly without the help of language memory.

Step 2 introduce genres

Introduction genre is often used to introduce scientific and technological achievements or products and commodities, people, tourist attractions, enterprises and organizations. The clues of this genre are mainly developed according to the cognitive law of human beings to general things: there is a certain "introduction" paragraph before the formal introduction, and sometimes the introducer will use some rhetorical devices in this paragraph to attract the attention of the listener; The introduction is generally from the outside to the inside, from the shallow to the deep, which basically conforms to the thinking of most people, and the introduction of the "main line" can sometimes follow a certain space or time clue; Most introductions have a sense of hierarchy, showing a certain logical order; There is usually a summary at the end of an article.

3. Debate genre

This genre is very common in interpretation, and it is one of the typical discourse structures of working language in interpretation. This discourse structure is very logical, with "argument+argument" as the basic hierarchical structure, and logical related words appear frequently. Generally speaking, this genre has clear structure, clear turning point and strict logic. However, the speaker may digress, especially when he is not completely ready to speak. At this time, the translator should pay special attention to when the speaker digress, where the discourse structure digress, and be prepared for the speaker to return to the theme of the discourse. The hierarchical structure of argumentative genre is shown in Figure 2.3.

Generally speaking, genre is difficult to demonstrate, close to written language, and the style is mostly formal, often with its own unique and formal "rhetoric" structure. In most cases, it is composed of long complex sentences, which are rich in information and concise, which brings considerable difficulty to interpretation. Most of this genre directly adopts the form of "reading and speaking", which is very professional. If the interpreter can't get the manuscript in advance, he will fall into a passive situation in interpretation, so the interpreter must be aware of it. Interpreting after getting the manuscript in advance is often called "visual translation", which is also one of the training of interpretation skills.