Difference Between Professional Simultaneous Interpretation and Other Kinds of Interpretation

Features, which make professional simultaneous interpretation and the consecutive one different, are as follows:

1. Professional simultaneous interpretation is performed in an isolated booth with the help of special equipment.

2. Simultaneous interpreting starts before the speaker completes separate utterances, i.e. before the speaker completes to express his/her thoughts.

3. Simultaneous interpreter less relies on his memory but either listens (" What was said?"), or processes the information (" How this should be understood?"), or constructs and checks up his interpretation option ("How should I say this?").

There also exists an important technique, which ensures successful simultaneous interpretation and which is called "anticipation" (ймовірнісне прогнозування). This is ability or skills of an interpreter to predict further utterances of the speaker using the context of oral discourse. These skills allow the interpreter to save efforts and to focus either on listening, or on processing information, or on constructing the target messages. It is quite natural that successful anticipation is possible only if an interpreter is an expert in the subject field of interpretation or at least has a chance to read the background materials of the event (conference, seminar, workshop) to be interpreted, as well as to meet the speakers and get as much information as possible about their country of origin, nationality, accent, professional background, ideology, political views, etc.

Another tool of ensuring high level of simultaneous interpretation is the ability of an interpreter to render "automatically" standard expressions, set phrases and combinations of words, which belong to a particular subject field of human activity. Such lexical units are called "pat phrases" by Roderick Jones in his extremely useful book "Conference Interpreting Explained". Examples are: to accede to; to give the floor to; to open the floor for discussion; to take census; to pay attention to; to take part in; to underscore the importance of; on behalf of; with regard to; приєднатися до договору; вступити в організацію; надати слово; відкрити дискусію; проводити перепис населення; приділяти увагу; приймати участь; підкреслювати важливість чогось, etc).