Simultaneous and Consecutive Translation: Features of Teaching the Discipline

The article presents the peculiarities of teaching simultaneous and consecutive translation in higher education, in particular within the implementation of the educational and professional program “Language and Literature (Polish). Translation”. The complementary nature of the methods of teaching this subject in higher education at the master’s level is emphasized. There are five stages of preparation of a future translator for professional activity: conceptualization, lexicalization, formation of syntactic structures, phonological coding and correct articulation. For each of these levels of didactics of simultaneous and consecutive translation are characterized by separate types of exercises and techniques.

 Didactic preparation for professional translation activities requires different approaches than in the case of in-depth study of a foreign language, as it involves other communicative factors. After the common requirements for understanding a foreign text in translation, the search for appropriate lexical units, stylistic elements and general cultural national markers that would accurately reproduce the external and internal intentions of the speaker.

Combining the process of activating prior knowledge and skills with predictive utterances is an important step in preparing for successful interpretation. In this case, translation skills exercises should take into account two important aspects. The chosen language material should be open-minded, not excessively attached to the original text of the speaker. In addition, practical sessions should help identify potential problems in the translation process and develop the ability to skillfully overcome these situations during sequential or simultaneous translation.

A separate area of knowledge acquisition for modern translators is the Internet. This also applies to the didactic process. It seems that the traditional assimilation of facts and concepts has lost its value, because with a few simple operations on the Internet you can find answers to almost all questions. In fact, in the case of simultaneous or consecutive translation, these technological tools play only an appropriate role in the preparatory stage. The use of memory continues to play an indispensable mission in the work of the interpreter.

The student is encouraged to pay attention to the context of winged expressions, allusions and associations of a social and historical nature, the origin of pseudonyms, the importance of key dates and places. All these aspects will help to overcome the psychological barrier of international communication and form the professional qualities of a conference interpreter.