Interpreting Speeches in the field of Politics and Economics

Interpreting Political Speeches

An interpreter must stay up to date with international news, especially in the field of politics. In fact, all speeches in international conferences convey a political message. The interpreter must be able to handle the political language that is commonly used in those situations. For instance, a political trend to focus on is the creation or dissolution of national entities.

In Chapter 13 of the book Interpretation Techniques and Exercises, James Nolan focuses on the differences in meaning between the words used to describe such entities: tribe, clan, nation, ethnic group, people, and minority. Likewise, there is a distinction between terms like secession or self-determination, used to describe the goals of such entities.
Even though all nuances of meaning should be rendered, the interpreter must remember to be concise.

Interpreting Economics 

Speeches about economics can be very technical. However, they also contain a certain amount of common language, especially related to the description of trends. There are plenty of different words that can convey the idea of positive or negative movement and trend. The interpreter must be aware of the degree of movement expressed by each term. Terms included in this category are, for instance, soar or skyrocket, thrive or flourish. Other important differences in meaning are found between words describing trends, like decrease, drop or collapse. Economics draws metaphors and figures of speech from many other fields. 

A suggested exercise for simultaneous interpreting practice by James Nolan is reading an article aloud while recording it on a device, then listening to it again while providing a simultaneous interpretation from English to Italian. Clearly, some English terms of economics shall be translated into a longer phrase in Italian or Spanish. An example of English to Spanish translation in the economic field is “buy-sell spread”, translated in Spanish as the phrase “margen entre el tipo de compra y el de venta”. However, there is an essential question that English to Spanish Interpreters should ask themselves when working in simultaneous interpreting: does the context contain explanations that allow the interpreter to use less words to convey the same message? Since simultaneous interpreting is a constant fight against time, using less words can be very useful. In the case mentioned above, if the type of spread is made clear by the context, the English to Spanish simultaneous interpreter may just use the word “margen” in Spanish instead of the whole phrase. 

Reference: Interpretation Techniques and Exercises by James Nolan

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