subject: Consecutive Interpreter - What They Have To Do [print this page] Consecutive interpreting should be taught in a systematic manner in all interpreting training programs - this has been a topic of discussion for a long time. One argument which is against this idea is that the popularity of consecutive interpreting is going down day by day. However, in most parts of the world this type of job for an interpreter is still quite in demand mainly due to its advantages like less costly, more flexible, and requires less equipment.
One of the primary problems related to consecutive interpreting is the fact that it is made up of a number of operations which have to be done at the same time. These require a high rate of processing capacity (PC) of the interpreter. This problem is something which most people in this profession, residing in US cities like Portland (Oregon) and Cedar Hills (Oregon) have to face. A consecutive interpreter has to perform a number of tasks at the same time like:
Listening: He has to listen to the speaker and also analyze what he is saying.
Production: He has to come up with a target language to reproduce the speech of the speaker.
Short-term memory: This is one of the most difficult parts of the entire process which any interpreter residing in US cities like Beaverton (Oregon) and Portland (Oregon) would agree to. He has to remember the information from the speaker until it can be altered in the target language.
On the other hand, during the reformulation process an interpreter has to go through another set of operations which include:
Note reading: An interpreter is needed to understand and if required decipher the notes which he has written.
Long-term memory: This is another difficult part of any consecutive interpreter's work. He has to retrieve all the information which is stored in the short-term memory and construct the content of the speech in the target language.
Production: Finally he has to reproduce the entire speech from the speaker in the target language.
