In Search of Translators’ Efficiency

Translation is closely interwoven with concepts of thinking, cognitive aspects.It is an interlinguistic communicaton which presupposes both language and culture encoding and decoding. Communicative intention is realized due to the actualization of major linguistic functions – denotative or referential, expressive, emotional, fatic and poetic.Semantic equivalence makes translation work, for contents are prior to the forms, meaning comes to the forefront. One cannot be an interpreter without a certain baggage or luggage of things in terms of philology and translation.
 It is easier said than done. What matters here is the preparatory work in process of specialists training.It  is common knowledge that translators are to develop a wide spectrum of skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, recalling, fluency, grasping intentions, comprehending situations.  Preparatory translation work resembles the hidden in the ocean part of an iceberg which implies the upper part – original and target texts. New forms in the training process are greatly expected nowadays to reach the high quality in the discussed matter.

The major strategies of an interpreter are bifunctional: to comprehend what has been said and to render it in another language. The  realization of the illocutionary goal demands much effort on the part of an interpreter.

Diverse vectors of his speech activities, vital problems of oral translation, etiquette, social niceties confront an

interpreter in his polifunctionality. Needs, intentions of a medium are interwoven to serve promotion and maintenance of harmony between people speaking different languages. The crucial task on the part of an interpreter is to meet the requirements of the listeners; to identify the message delivered first in a foreign language (original) and then in a target language.

To identify means to grasp the unity of the biological and the social, the individual  and the common, the worldwide and the ethnospecific. To bring the information to listeners an interpreter is to keep close his intentions and strategies. It goes without saying that interpreter’s attention is to be focused upon the original text, the situation involved, and social grounds into that. Readjustment of an interpreter swings from stages of text decoding translation to encoding.

As to the components of speech model they are various: speaker,  interpreter, listener, intention, situation and metacommunication - channel, code, tactics, strategies. To the forefront  of the interpreter’s career come qualifications and qualities which go together to promote a great purpose. The obvious things with an interpreter are knowledge of languages and social thesaurus. It’s common that an interpreter is supposed to have a good university education or its equivalent, and extensive knowledge of technical terms to deal with fantastic spectre of subjects ranging from atomic energy, legal issues, and demographic problems, the rights of man to the tonnage measurement or lighting of coast.

An interpreter is to obtain in a quick mental grasp what is being said to render it quickly into another language. Bashfulness or stage fright won't do either. He should do his work with discretion, great presence of mind and psychological understanding. His work is crowned with success in case when he lets discussion go, unobscure on his part.  This is his point of honour. To communicate well for an interpreter means to transmit the message in a way that will be received and understood properly by audience. 

This skill is widely sought after. One should always think of the ways what and how to say it. To make listeners receptive to an interpreter’s message he is to follow the expressions:

(1) Tell them what you’re going to tell’em.

(2) Tell’em.

(3) Tell’em what you have told’em.

There are some profitips which surely make an interpreter’s job go easier. An interpreter is advised to use

examples, figures, stories, humour in a good taste. The “flavour” of an interpreting style maybe spoiled by too many details.

One should make his audience comfortable with short words and sentences. Figures and proper names should be pronounced correctly and confidently.

Report and rapport should go together for not only information but also the way it is presented matter much in speech activity. It is crucial to follow the audience’s reaction to his speech and make readjustments go.