At the highest rung of the translation and interpretation ladder lies simultaneous interpretation - the kind practiced at a host of international organizations like the United Nations and European Union, as well as at most major global conferences. Simultaneous interpretation happens in real time, with interpreters stationed in booths and equipped with headsets and microphones to interpret speeches as they are being read. The skills required for this profession vary a great deal from those associated with other realms of interpretation and are - as I have learned - oftentimes surprising.
Simultaneous interpretation has nothing to do with linguistics, claims one of my professors, and everything to do with martial arts. While this statement came as a surprise to most students, we quickly came to realize just what he meant.
Typically, speakers read or speak at break-neck speeds, oftentimes with heavy accents, frequently without form or structure, and almost without any care to the interpreters request to keep up. Interpreters must extract from the information piped into their headphones the essential meaning of what is being said. While this does not imply that they can ignore actual terms, dates, facts, and figures. Here, the idea of "martial arts" means looking at language like looking at punches and kicks, being able to deflect blows with deft () turns of phrase and well-rehearsed aphorisms. Simultaneous interpretation is like martial arts in so much as it requires the interpreter to be quick, aware, and practiced in a very particular set of skills and techniques. Conversations with working simultaneous interpreters have reinforced the notion that skill and technique far outweigh brute knowledge in this profession.
martial arts -
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IS CORPORATE CULTURE THE WAY FORWARD FOR GRADUATES
Those of us with liberal arts degrees remember them well, the professors who know all there is to know about Shakespeare, or Dante, or medieval theology. We remember them with affection. But they let us down, according to a top American executive at IBM. They stuffed us with useless information, and failed to teach us about shareholder value, or customer satisfaction.
All that is going to change, according to a book called What Business Wants from Higher Education by Dr. Diana Oblinger. Did you know, for example, that in dozens of liberal arts university courses in the United States there is not a single professor with real, hands-on experience of client handling?
It is high time, says Oblinger, that academic communities started to concentrate on teaching the skills, attitudes and personal attributes that business requires. Students should be taught "to understand the unwritten rules of the corporate culture".
Employers, says Oblinger, want employees "who can adapt to the organisation, understand the job requirements, and produce work that has a clear return as quickly as possible. Adding value, especially in the short term, relies on knowledge, speed of learning, ability to work in teams, and adjusting to the culture of the organisation." How are universities to put things right? Oblinger provides some questions. "Do faculty understand how decisions are made in business and industry? Could students analyse customer situation, develop financing and market a new product? How often do faculty or administrators engage in discussions of what business needs from higher education?"
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But what if academics refuse to allow business to dictate the curriculum? Then, opines Oblinger grimly, they face a bleak future.
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INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
The unique experiences that have become part of a culture's collective wisdom constitute its history. Wars, inheritance rules, religious practices, economic consequences, legislative acts are all historical developments that contribute to cultural differences.
As one of literally thousands of possible examples of the effects of historical forces on the development and maintenance of a culture, let us briefly consider a set of events that occurred in Europe during the late fourteenth century. The experience of bubonic plague, commonly known as the Black Death, was widely shared throughout most of Europe as well as in portions of Africa and Asia. It affected subsequent beliefs and behaviors for many generations.
In 1347, a trading ship traveling to Europe from the Black Sea carried a cargo - a horrible disease known as the Black Death. It was spread rapidly by infected fleas carried by rats, and within two years it had traveled from the southern tip of Italy across the entire European continent, killing between one third and one half of the European population. There were recurring outbreaks ( ) about every decade until the early eighteenth century.
Unlike famine, the Black Death attacked every level and social class. When the initial wave of the epidemic was over, the survivors began a reckless spending spree ( ), fueled in large measure by the newly acquired wealth left by the dead. The diminished availability of workers meant that labor was in demand. Workers throughout Europe organized to struggle for economic and political parity, and revolts against religious and political institutions were commonplace over the next several centuries.
Although the Black Death was not the only historical force behind European cultural change, and indeed is insufficient by itself as an explanation for the changes in modern Europe, it was certainly a crucial experience that was recounted across the generations and influenced the development of European cultures.
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