The mental dexterity and concentration required to do simultaneous interpretation can seem overwhelming to those who haven’t tried it before, and rightfully so. The stress levels experienced by simultaneous interpreters during their work have been compared to that of air traffic controllers; which is certainly no small feat either. As similar to translating as it is in theory, interpreting greatly varies from translating in that the pressure is on the timing of the act. The nature of translating is based on the act of writing itself; whereas interpreting is closer to acting on a stage with constant pressure on the timing and clarity of the message. Interpreting is truly a blend of sensory, motor and cognitive skills working in unison and with a shared direction.
During the interpretation process, no single area of the brain is doing all the work. The quickness of the neurological connections is really the most important aspect of the act and keeping calm throughout is a key attribute in a simultaneous interpreter. Although various areas of the brain are used, the striatum (located in the center-right part of the brain) has a conductor-like role in processing and reacting to information. The striatum itself contains the putamen and the caudate nucleus; both of which deal with learning and memory. The caudate nucleus coordinates activity if different brain regions and has a pivotal role in decision-making. The pressure of making the correct word choice in a short amount of time is an essential skill with interpreters so the neurological elasticity and quickness of the caudate nucleus carries a lot of weight. Working in connection with the striatum, the Broca area of the brain helps with language production and working memory, which is distinctly different from short-term memory in that it can manipulate and organize temporary information.
One of the more difficult curve balls that interpreters have to deal with is the use of humor between different languages. Puns, sarcasm and irony are all hang-ups for interpreters because they are frequently untranslatable. Just as certain verb conjugations can exist in one language and not the next, forms of humor can seem just as incomprehensible to someone of a different culture. Sarcasm, for example, has been notorious for being seen as inappropriate in a business setting by Japanese and Arabic cultures. Since the interpreter is obviously not writing the speech or any adding in any attempts to get a laugh, dealing with an unexpected sarcastic comment in the heat of the moment can halt or completely misconstrue the overall message. In the end, interpreters are translating messages and not just individual words. The complexity and novelty of the messages to be interpreted create an ever-changing workload for simultaneous interpreters and this is why their minds must be sharp, calm and flexible at every turn.
What are your thoughts on the complexity of simultaneous interpretation? Leave a comment below if you found this article engaging and want to hear more!
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You May Also Be Interested In The Below Posts:
Article: The History of Simultaneous Interpretation Equipment
Article: How to Identify a Professionally-Qualified Simultaneous Interpreter
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Thanks for the article! In addition to the striatum and its putamen and caudate nucleus and the Broca areas of the brain, we have to consider the areas for listening and speaking, and even sight/reading sometimes! A lot is going on at the same time! It would be great to see a diagram of the brain showing all these areas. I’ll see if I can find one, or create one. Can anyone think of another activity/profession in which as many areas of the brain are being used at the same time?
Dear Idalia,
Live interpretation really is a form of mental gymnastics!
I’d say a surgeon, a pilot in certain plains, brokers on Wall street… but our profession still takes the lead
Good and true explained.
Thank you!
As a Freelance Simultaneous Interpreter myself, I find your article very insightful.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Robin.
Thank you for reading!
Very interesting article on the physiologic process of simultaneous interpreting. When discussing simultaneous interpreting, one needs to add the skills required for an interpreter to do the job. While a simultaneous interpreter needs to have detail information about the subject being interpreted and should prepare in advance, s/he should also have voice practice, and natural excellent short and long term memory. As a professional simultaneous interpreter, I have noticed, sufficient sleep, freshness of the knowledge about the subject matter, and strong projection of the voice are the key elements of a successful performance in simultaneous interpreting.
You’re exactly right about sufficient sleep. It’s interesting how without proper amounts of sleep the brain really slows down its capabilities. And voice practice is an aspect of simultaneous interpretation that people often forget; interpreting certainly takes more than just comprehending the message.
You either have it or you don’t, this is what seperates the men from the boys.
Neuroscience deals with these issues. There is some research of the neural circuitry underlying language production and consistent cortical, subcortical and putaminal activations of the brain (shown in neuroimaging (MRI). It is worth reading for those interested how brain tacke simultaneous interpreting tasks.
I have done simultaneous interpreting, and I really enjoyed doing it. It’s been years ago though. I think I last did it in 2006. I cannot explain scientifically what exactly happened to my brain, but I can share the effects from doing it. They are both, positive and negative. The positive effects: I developed ability to process and remember large volumes of information (and terms) in a very short period of time (while preparing to interpret, learning about specific subjects). I developed the ability to apply all that knowledge immediately when it was needed, that is during the process of interpretation. I had always been a quick thinker, but simultaneous interpreting enhanced it even more. The negative effects: I noticed that my brain started to discard of information really soon after I had used it once if I did not keep using it repeatedly. It was not so before. It’s as if I had to free a memory space for new information and it was done automatically by my brain without asking permission to me. How it affected my personal life was that I started forgetting what I had arranged with other people if I had not put it down immediately (not the fact, but the details of those arrangements such as dates, times etc.). Before, I could trust my memory really well without a notebook. Due to the fact that I did simultaneous interpreting more often than I did consecutive interpreting, I found that consecutive interpreting was more challenging for me because even though you can take notes while you listen to a speaker during consecutive interpreting, it still was challenging to go by the memory and pull it all together after the speaker had stopped and I had a chance to interpret the speech. I have to say that these effect have been irreversible, so I have learned to live with them. I need to take notes and to record everything that is important and might be of use later. I do not prepare for events, but a really short time in advance so that I can remember everything when I need it because I still have my ability to memorize large amounts quickly, and I still find that I forget things soon also if I don’t use the information collected by my brain.
Ilze, your comment is very interesting because something similar has happened to me, not with sufficient intensity but enough to have to set reminders and jot down names of people as a way to remember them. I hadn’t attributed this loss of memory skills to interpreting (which I’ve been doing for 25 years) but to ageing. Even so, I connect with what you say about the effect it has on memory, i.e., diminishing long-term but enhancing short-term memory. It could be that my memory has been less diminished because I also do written translations, but that is just speculation. So, thank you for your enlightening comment.
Ilze, I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who has experienced this effect with consecutive interpretation. Like Roger, above, I suspected it was age or something worse (my father has Alzheimer’s and dementia). Now, I’m relieved.
I’ve noticed an opposite effect in terms of “data retrieval”: Usually, the day following an event, I can’t give you any specific info about what was discussed – but, months later, when conversation turns to a subjet I’ve interpreted, the knowledge pops up spontaneously. I then have to try to figure out WHERE it came from!
Marek – Really interesting point! It seems like a lot of interpreters agree that these post-interpreting data retrieval problems are short-term. The brain must really be able to strain itself and then repair the damage similar to any other muscle on the body…I wonder if mathematicians have similar side-effects after mentally taxing tasks.
Hi
it was really a professional study on simultaneous interpreting that is valuable for all translation students and professors.
thanks a milioon
This article was an excellent piece.
Thank you for expressing it.
Mahmood and Annette – Thank you for reading; glad you enjoyed it!
Another challenge is translating idioms or proverbs specific to a culture without entering into a long explanation.
This is a very interesting article. As a freelance translator, I did a training about whispered translation (which is also simultaneous). It came rather naturally to me and I found it easier than consecutive interpretation. After having my baby and months of sleep deprivation though, I can only underline the fact, that getting enough sleep is a very important factor to do the deed.
Very interesting article and educational for those who are not interpreters. Do not forget the importance of clear sound. If an interpreter cannot hear properly, he/she cannot render a proper interpretation,although this has nothing to do with the brain.
Clarity in hearing each word is certainly essential for both the interpreter and the audience…I couldn’t agree more.
A well written useful article! Thank you for sharing.
Interesting and nutritious. About the long-term effects on short- and long-term memory, I can add that there might be another culprit, and it may be the new technological gadgets, which make using our own memory almost unnecessary. One has no longer to remember phone numbers, full names, or addresses. Everything nowadays is stored not in our memories, but in our gadgets’. We, when young, used to be always remembering names, phone numbers and so on. That was a constant gymnastics for the brain. That’s no longer the case.
Gabriel – You definitely have a point about how easy it is for us to put our short-term memory on the back burner these days. As old fashioned as they may seem, cross word puzzles and self-quizzes can still make a huge difference in maintaining the elasticity of human memory. My grandfather is a great example of that: 91 and still sharp as a tack.
This is a very interesting article although some terminology is unknown. All types of interpreting is difficult, of course. What is the main point for me in this discussion is that age and language itself. Fot example, it’s completely different situation interpreting from English to Russian and intepreting from English to Mongolian or vice versa because Mongolian does not belong to the same family as Russian or English. Age issue is also important one. Doing consecutive interpretation at young age was much easier because of the better memory, but now you don’t only forget what was said a few minutes ago but also confuse words.
Very good point Batjargal! I agree that age is definitely a factor here and language combinations can also complicate how fluidly an interpretation can be done. Switching between any two languages with different alphabets must slow things down; letting the speaker know beforehand might be the only option for making a situation like that easier. Thanks for the comments everyone! We love open dialogues about novel topics like this one.
I am fascinated by the long term vs short term memory loss aspect of this discussion. As a long time simultaneous sign language interpreter I have often felt like my job is training my brain to forget information. I too MUST rely on documentation to remember important information. Lists are vital, otherwise a mental list of 5 things, and I am guaranteed to remember 4 of them! It’s great work though, and I live the challenge of matching my consumers needs. One of my favorite parts of the complexity of our work is the idea of word register and the choices we make to convey both the connotation and the denotation.
What we do is a source of endless fascination to me!!! I’m s sign language interpreter.
I loved the article, especially because at last I could find a medical-scientific approach of simultaneous interpretation. I was on of them once, and I missed the training. When I stopped doing it, I found that it was not good for my mind, I began losing fast memory, I heard that this type of interpretation fights dementia (any type of them).
Great article, in my case it’s all there, all of the information I interpret, 100% of the time, but… My grocery list is another story, or everyday data, I don´t seem to be able to remeber irrelevant info. Well, I interpret full time, maybe that is the cause.
Always interesting to read any attempt at analysis and explanation of how the mysterious alchemy of our profession operates. It’s only unfortunate that the piece was not proofread before being offered to the world.
Very interesting. It would be nice to have the sources where this information was compiled from.
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