Hints for Interpreting Students
Many of the hints previously mentioned apply to interpreting students as well as sign language students. The following are additional things you can practice.
Use audio and videotapes as source material for practice. The National Clearing House on Rehabilitation Materials in Oklahoma has a collection of inexpensive videos. You can contact them at http://www.nchrtm.okstate.edu/pages/INTERPET_3.htm. Libraries are also a good source for audio and video tapes in English. However, often those are read from a script or "canned" and they do not simulate the real pace, register, and grammar of spontaneous spoken English. You may find it more beneficial to make your own tapes. Talk about things you know. Describe a personal experience. Retell the lecture you recently heard at work or school. Summarize the news headlines. Tape a staff discussion at work. You can exchange these tapes with study partners to get more variety. When you are finished with them, donate them to the interpreting lab at your school.
Finding source materials in ASL can be more problematic. There are commercial producers of ASL tapes, including Sign Enhancers, Dawnsign Press, and Sign Media Incorporated. If they are not available at your college you might consider buying some together with study partners. Or, make your own tapes. Get permission to bring your camcorder to the Deaf softball game, the Silent Dinner, or the Sunday school. Ask people to tell you about their home, family, health, job, or school. Share these tapes with others.
Now that you have sufficient source material from a variety of situations, here are some ways to practice.
Shadow the tape. Copy what the speaker is doing. Make sure that you include not only the signs/words, but also the affect, tone, non-manual markers, and intonation. You might want to tape yourself doing this, and play it back to see how accurate and complete your rendition is.
Summarize and rephrase tapes. Listen to (watch) a section of the tape. Then, turn it off, and re-tell it in the same language. Your summary should contain all the main points. See how many of the details you can also remember. Can you rephrase it and give an equivalent message?
Simultaneous rephrasing. When you can comfortably do the above, you are ready to do the exercise without stopping the tape. Do NOT repeat the same words you see/hear, but rephrase them. Work on giving yourself a long enough time lag to hear an entire thought or phrase before producing your version. NOTE: In this exercise you are NOT interpreting. You are working with only one language. However, you are working on some of the mental processing skills necessary to interpret.
Practice translation of short stories and speeches. Listen to/watch a tape. Get the main points and relevant details. Absorb the speaker’s delivery style and register. Make notes to organize yourself.. Then, try to retell the story or speech in the target language. For English to ASL interpreting, read a news article and then retell it to a friend. Listen to a self-help tape and tell it. For ASL to English interpreting use videotapes for source materials.
Practice consecutive interpreting. Using your tapes, listen to/watch thirty to sixty seconds of tape. Turn off the machine at a natural pausing place. Then sign/voice the information in the target language. Continue on through the tape.
Practice simultaneous interpreting. Use you tapes again, but interpret while they are playing. Develop a processing time that allows you to see/hear the entire phrase or thought before giving the interpretation.
Role-play with study partners. Set up mock interpreting situations: a doctor’s office, a phone call, a job interview, or any conversation. Practice the skills of interpreting and the proper etiquette for getting clarification when necessary. Practice both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting. When possible, ask a deaf person to practice with you.
Videotape yourself. We all hate those cameras rolling! But how else can you monitor your own performance? With spoken language, you can hear the message coming out of your mouth. But, in a visual language, you cannot see yourself signing, so you cannot give yourself feedback. On videotape you can notice signs produced incorrectly, portions of the message omitted or skewed, and mannerisms which detract from intelligibility. If you are really brave, you can swap videotapes with partners for feedback, or ask a qualified interpreter to comment on your interpretation.
1. • = You did this, and it was great
2. Ö = You did this, but I would have done this
3. s = You did this, I don’t think it
is right, but I don’t know the answer, let’s talk.
Back-translate. Videotape yourself doing an Englishà ASL interpretation. Wait a week for the source material to fade from your mind a bit. Then, watch your interpretation (without sound) and voice what you see. Where is the original interpretation confusing? How can it be made clearer? Watch the videotape again with the volume turned up, and note what parts of the work are accurate and which are skewed or missing.
Check up on your voicing. Videotape the television screen (rather than yourself) as it is showing the source material. Render the target language from off screen. Your voice should come through on the audio track. Play back just the audio and assess if it sounds natural, grammatically correct and articulate. Where did you stumble? Then, playback both audio and visual and analyze the work for accuracy.
Practice "covert" interpreting. We often find ourselves in situations where one or more people are speaking and we are watching/listening. You can mentally practice interpreting without lifting a finger or opening your mouth. Visualize how you would interpret each thought. Make a note of concepts you did not know how to interpret. Later, pose the question to your partners or your instructor.
These are just a few of the techniques students
have used to improve and refine their signing and interpreting skills. By
planning your study time and following your plan, you will make great strides
toward achieving your goal of proficiency in the exciting language of ASL. Good
luck!
Bibliography
The College Success Book: Whole student approach to academic excellence. Groccia, James E. Glenbridge Publishing Ltd., Lakewood, CO 80232. 1992