Why is Simultaneous Interpreting Difficult?

Interpreting is a generally challenging and demanding kind of job because one would be using a lot of mind work while interpreting a certain message from one language to another to a person or group of people. Whatever the interpreter said should be clear, understandable and in its precise form. But what makes simultaneous interpreting difficult than the other modes of interpreting?

            Imagine a speaker continuously explaining something and as an interpreter, you are expected to catch everything that the speaker is saying while interpreting the exact same message into another language so that the other listeners will be able to understand the message. It is tough by just reading that description right? Well, that is simultaneous interpreting for you. In this mode of interpretation, the interpreter would be sitting inside a booth while wearing a pair of headphones and speaking into a microphone. Because of how the interpreter should be precise with his interpretations, the booth they are in is sound proofed.

It is simultaneous because while a speaker is continually speaking, the interpreter is also continuously interpreting. In a sense, it is a concurrent instance wherein the interpreter would immediately solidify an interpretation, as the speaker is speaking, in the required language by the listeners or target audience. Usually, the interpretation is only with a word of delay. However, it does not mean that the interpreter would also constantly speak and interpret as the speaker does. In some cases, the interpreter does not interpret anything, especially if the speaker has not completed his sentence yet. In order to be an effective interpreter and to convey a clear message, the interpreter should first be able to grasp everything that the speaker said with perfect sense before jumping into an interpretation.

This idea alone of how simultaneous interpreting services works already gives an impact on how it is a demanding field because it requires full mental work from the interpreter. Because of how strenuous it can be, the quality of the interpretation may decline over the course of hours during any proceeding. So simultaneous interpreters are also allowed to work in pairs in which they would switch every 20-30 minutes depending on the tediousness of the interpreter.

Moreover, this mode of interpretation is also the one commonly used by sign language interpreters in which the interpreter, the speaker and the target audience are all in close proximity because it can be that the deaf person is the one conveying the message.

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