Note Taking in Consecutive Interpreting
1. Introduction
1. 1 What is Interpreting?
Interpretation occurs during cross-cultural communication when two interlocutors do not share a language. By bridging the gap between languages, the interpreter helps speakers to discharge their duty to make themselves understood and helps listeners to satisfy their need to understand what is being said. The goal of interpretation is that a message makes the same impact on the target audience that a speaker/signer intends for an audience of her/his same language. Communication involves intention, context, form, gist, gesture, tone, relations of power, etc. The different situations where interpretation takes place make very different demands of the interpreter.
Interpretation requires superior language ability in at least two languages. It also requires the ability to accurately express information in the target language. Besides deep knowledge of both languages, it is crucial that an interpreter also understands the subject matter of the text or speech he is interpreting. Interpretation is not a matter of substituting words in one language for words in another. It is a matter of understanding the thought expressed in one language and then explaining it using the resources and cultural nuances of another language, so they can express the source text or speech so that it sounds natural in the target language. The interpreter relies mainly on the ability to get the gist of the message across to the target audience on the spot as an interpreter is expected to convey the essence of the message immediately in satisfactory paraphrase or a rough equivalent in order not to keep the audience waiting.









