General interpreting book recommendations Thread poster: Maria Karra
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Maria Karra 
United States
Local time: 05:50
Member (2000)
Greek to English
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Hi all,
I've been looking for a good interpretation book for a while now, but instead of choosing one randomly I'd appreciate some recommendations from experts. I've looked on amazon but I get all kinds of irrelevant results (interpretation of dreams, interpetation of the Bible, etc.); others are too specific, e.g. courtroom interpreting. And when I finally find a relevant book I don't know whether it's good or not.
I'm not planning to become an interpreter (it's too late for that ... See more Hi all,
I've been looking for a good interpretation book for a while now, but instead of choosing one randomly I'd appreciate some recommendations from experts. I've looked on amazon but I get all kinds of irrelevant results (interpretation of dreams, interpetation of the Bible, etc.); others are too specific, e.g. courtroom interpreting. And when I finally find a relevant book I don't know whether it's good or not.
I'm not planning to become an interpreter (it's too late for that anyway), but I've always wanted to know how you all work, what interpreting is all about, how you get trained, how you work on your memory skills, what difficulties you encounter, how you prepare for an interpreting assignment, what happens when the speaker uses a word you don't know, etc.
I am not looking for a manual or textbook with lots of exercises because I'm not planning to do them. I'd like to learn about the techniques, not necessarily practice them. (Some exercises would be OK, I just don't want half of the book to be practice drills.) In other words, I'm looking of an overview that includes the fundamentals of consecutive, simultaneous, and other kinds of interpreting, including theory and some examples of real-world situations.
Do you know of any such books? Maybe one that you used in your first year of interpretation studies?
Maria ▲ Collapse
| | | | | a book by Andrew Gillies and other resources | Feb 21, 2008 |
Personally I would reccommend reading
"Conference Interpreting - A New Students' Companion" by Andrew Gillies ,Tertium, Cracow, 2004.
A very practical, reader-friendly book which shows how to develop consecutive and simultaneous interpreting techniques step by step.
It was actually published in Poland, but I think it is possible to get it through the Internet.
Andrew Gillies has also compiled a detailed list of interesting books on in... See more Personally I would reccommend reading
"Conference Interpreting - A New Students' Companion" by Andrew Gillies ,Tertium, Cracow, 2004.
A very practical, reader-friendly book which shows how to develop consecutive and simultaneous interpreting techniques step by step.
It was actually published in Poland, but I think it is possible to get it through the Internet.
Andrew Gillies has also compiled a detailed list of interesting books on interpreting on his website.
Check out:
http://interpreters.free.fr/reading/general.htm
Good luck!
Magdalena ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Danica Seleskovitch | Feb 21, 2008 |
Maria Karra wrote:
In other words, I'm looking of an overview that includes the fundamentals of consecutive, simultaneous, and other kinds of interpreting, including theory and some examples of real-world situations.
Do you know of any such books? Maybe one that you used in your first year of interpretation studies?
Maria
The book "Interpreting for International Conferences" by Danica Seleskovitch gives a really good overview of what interpreting is all about. Excellent book for insight and understanding of the type of techniques and skills that interpreters need to develop.
[Edited at 2008-02-21 18:20]
| | | | Beatriz Galiano (X)
Argentina
Local time: 06:50
English to Spanish
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I agree with Alana, Seleskovich's materials were all excellent.
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| Seleskovich is the top | Feb 21, 2008 |
I agree with the others, I think that Seleskovich is the top in interpreting books.
I can also recommend "Conference Interpreting Explained" by Roderick Jones.
| | | | | If you are interested in court interpreting, | Feb 22, 2008 |
then "Foundamentals of Court Interpretation" by Gonzalez, Vásquez, and Mikkelson is the book you need.
It explains what court interpreting is all about, with historical overview and examples from real life, tells you a bit about consecutive, simultaneous and sight translation mode, and discusses professional issues.
| | | | Anne Lee
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:50
Member (2003)
Dutch to English
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| Interpretation techniques and exercises by James Nolan | Feb 22, 2008 |
A teacher in interpreting told me about 'Interpretation Techniques and Exercises' by James Nolan which I find very useful. For example, it contains a list of over 20 pages with words that are frequently used in speeches, citing several synonyms, to help you reflect on the precise meaning of these words and to find the correct translation for them, for example:
- to rally, to pull together, to close ranks, to get behind
- important, vital, crucial, critical, momentous, epochal... See more A teacher in interpreting told me about 'Interpretation Techniques and Exercises' by James Nolan which I find very useful. For example, it contains a list of over 20 pages with words that are frequently used in speeches, citing several synonyms, to help you reflect on the precise meaning of these words and to find the correct translation for them, for example:
- to rally, to pull together, to close ranks, to get behind
- important, vital, crucial, critical, momentous, epochal, earth-shaking transcendence
- tough, hard-headed, unsentimental, realistic
Trying to find a different translation for each of these and practicing this list helps to broaden your vocabulary and to have the precise word ready. Also to keep your interpreting interesting if there is a lot of repetition in the speech.
I was able to order this book from Amazon in the UK, although I had not seen it before I knew which exact title to look for. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Maria Karra
United States
Local time: 05:50
Member (2000)
Greek to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you all very much for the suggestions. I hadn't found these books in my search so I'm glad I asked here.
I just ordered "Interpreting for International Conferences" by Seleskovitch. I couldn't find the book by Gillies online but I'll keep trying.
Maria
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