theinterpretingcoach

Sophie Llewellyn Smith is a conference interpreter with 15 years' experience of interpreter training. On her site theinterpretingcoach.com, you will find eBooks and eCourses to help you consolidate or update your interpreting skills in areas such as note-taking, research skills, analytical skills, and retour interpreting (working into a B language). Each course breaks the skills down into manageable sections and uses a mixture of text, audio and video to examine underlying principles and work on practical exercises. In this way, you can use self-study at your own pace to target your weaknesses, improve your performance and become more marketable.

Speech prep in a jiffy – the process

8th March 20238th March 2023 by theinterpretingcoach

I ran a webinar recently about improving your retour (i.e. interpreting into a B language – a language other than your mother tongue), and I asked participants to send me any questions in advance, so I could tailor the content to their needs.

This is a useful exercise, as it often provides inspiration or discussion points for the webinar, but it can also be a double edged sword, because it’s not unusual to receive questions that you really don’t want to address, for whatever reason – they’re too controversial, they would take up too much time, they’re too specific, they don’t match your knowledge, expertise, or niche, and the list goes on.

On this occasion, one of the participants said this:

I’ve been on retour courses before, and the trainer nearly always suggests preparing speeches in your B language as a good exercise for improving your retour. Who has time for that?!

I confess this stung a little, as I do indeed often suggest speech preparation as a great exercise, and I was going to do so on this occasion as well! So I had to give extra thought to alternative exercises I could suggest; but my first instinct was to defend speech prep, and above all, to stress the fact that it doesn’t have to be time-consuming, and it can be fun and creative as well as beneficial! You can prepare a consecutive speech from start to finish in less than 20 minutes.

In this post, I’d like to explain why I think speech prep is such a great exercise for retourists, and give you some time-saving tips to make it less of a chore (if that’s how you think of it), whether you’re preparing a speech in your mother tongue or in your B language.

How speech prep can boost your retour

The bottom line for a good retour, as I see it, is this: if you can’t speak spontaneously on a given subject in your B language, using appropriate terminology and correct grammar, how can you hope to interpret someone else’s thoughts convincingly?

Doing a decent job of interpreting is a corollary of speaking well on a given subject; hence the importance of language enhancement work when you’re trying to develop your retour, as opposed to focusing exclusively on interpreting practice.

[On a side note: this principle, which appears self-evident to me, is generally unpopular with interpreting students, who tend to feel that anything other than practising interpreting from A>B is a waste of time.]

Speech preparation is therefore an excellent way of expanding the range of subjects on which you’re able to speak with authority.

I think it’s probably fair to say that the weaker your retour is, the more beneficial speech prep will be. If you already have a very strong retour or near-native competence in your B language, you can pick up important vocab in other ways.

Benefits of speech prep

Here’s a breakdown of some of the benefits of preparing speeches in your B language:

it improves your general and subject knowledge because of the research you have to do.
it’s an opportunity to practise and improve your public speaking skills (eye contact, pace, intonation).
it’s a great way to ‘activate’ vocabulary, i.e. make it part of your active vocabulary, rather than vocabulary you understand passively but never use.
if you prepare your speech in the form of interpreters’ notes, rather than bullet points, it’s a good way to improve your ability to decipher your own notes, i.e. it can help improve your consecutive skills.
similarly, if you’re working on consecutive, it’s a great way to introduce or consolidate symbols.
it’s a good way to prepare for an assignment on a specific topic.
learning to prepare well-structured speeches is a good way of improving your analytical skills and recognising structure in other people’s speeches.

By the way, all of these points are true of preparing speech in your A language as well, although in this case there will be less emphasis on vocabulary acquisition or consolidation.

So far, I’ve covered benefits that are related to your language or interpreting skills, but there are others:

speech prep can be important if you’re a member of a practice group, or you work with a practice partner. You can give speeches to each other!
if you’re an interpreter trainer, there’s a good chance you will give speeches to your students at some point, either because you can’t find suitable source material, or because you want to be in control of the type of challenge or level of difficulty of the speech.
Preparing speeches is an excellent way of ‘giving back’ to the interpreting community, by contributing to practice groups or repositories such as Speechpool.

A method for rapid speech prep

Topic selection

There are many ways to prepare speeches. I can’t possibly cover all of them, nor produce a framework that suits everyone.

Here’s an important caveat, for starters: I’m giving your advice for preparing the type of speech that you would have to interpret at an EU accreditation or retour test, or at a final exam in interpreting school. You would need to follow a different method if you were preparing practice material for certain types of public service interpreting, say.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at a simple method for preparing practice speeches.

Often, the hardest thing is finding a good topic! Once something catches your interest (on a news programme or podcast, for instance), you’re off and running.

if you’re preparing a speech for as a ‘swap’ for a practice partner, or for an interpreting practice group, why not choose a topic that will help you improve your subject knowledge (e.g. if you’re weak on finance, pick a financial topic)?
if you’re preparing a speech in your B language, think about areas where your vocabulary is lacking.
Another option would be to prepare a speech in your B language to prepare for an assignment where you already know the topic.

If you regularly prepare speeches, it’s a good idea to keep a note of topics that inspire you. You could have a document on your computer (or use a Notes app) to keep track of links to interesting blog posts or newspaper articles. (Back in the day, interpreter trainers sometimes kept a file with newspaper clippings to turn to when they needed inspiration.)

Once you’ve found a topic or looked for one by browsing the news headlines, you can get to work designing your speech. I’ll give you a 4-step process for doing this,

Step 1: Researching your speech

The amount of research you do will depend on the purpose of your speech, and your existing background knowledge.

You may not need to do much (or indeed, any!) research if:

the speech is for interpreting students who are beginners. If they are just starting to pick up consecutive without notes, in particular, you may be able to give a speech based on your existing knowledge of a topic, or your opinions, since you won’t want to include many names, dates, or figures.
the speech is rather philosophical or based on your opinions or reactions to a film or book. You already have all the knowledge you need to outline this speech!

You will want to do more research if:

the speech is designed as a simultaneous (for an EU accreditation test, this would be 10-12 minutes long, instead of 5-6 minutes for a consecutive). That amount of material usually requires an outside source of information!
you’re preparing a speech in a B language, and you want to make sure you’re using appropriate vocabulary.
you’re preparing a speech on a technical subject or one that is unfamiliar to you.

In my next blog post, I’ll give you three shortcuts for researching a topic quickly and efficiently.

An exam-style speech typically contains a range of challenges, e.g. contrasting opinions (to check the interpreter is conveying them accurately), some facts and figures, a personal comment or opinion, and perhaps a reference to current affairs, to check the interpreter’s background knowledge.

So when you’re doing your research, you might want to look for:

a few facts and figures about your topic – you’ll only need a few for a consecutive, more for a simultaneous
a ‘hook’ from the newspapers, i.e. some event in the news that make this topic relevant and interesting
how different people or organisations feel about this topic
your own opinion!

You can find relevant information in all sorts of places: the news, an article you’ve read in a magazine, a podcast episode, a blog post, a conversation with a friend or colleague. Or you could build a speech based on your reflections about a film you’ve just seen, for example, or a book you’ve read.

When you’ve done the research, jot down your ideas, arguments, figures, dates, etc. on a piece of paper. At this stage, it doesn’t matter if the material isn’t organised.

Step 2: Structuring your speech

Speakers organise their material in all sorts of ways. I’ll stick to three simple speeches structures:

linear. Typically, this would be a chronology, or a story that starts at point A and finishes at point B.
pros and cons. You can either list all the pros, then all the cons; or you could give one ‘pro’, then a matching ‘con’, and so on. This ‘opposites’ structure is particularly suited to consecutive without notes, because it’s very easy to remember.
an logical argument that leads the audience from a premise or hypothesis to a conclusion, using logical connectors like ‘and, ‘but’, ‘so’.

Realistically, most speeches contain a mixture of several structures: perhaps a more narrative introduction (linear), then the argument.

Think about your research: does your material lend itself to a pros and cons structure? Or is it a story (linear structure)? Do you want to make an argument that will persuade the audience or win them over to your opinion, in which case you’ll need to be very clear about cause and effect or other logical connections between your ideas, and have a strong conclusion?

Step 3: Create a detailed outline of your speech

People do this in different ways. Some people like to produce a spider diagram or mind map; others visualise their speerch as a tree with a trunk and branches; and still others write a bullet point outline. This is the most common way of organising material, I think, although something like a mind map can give a speaker more freedom when giving a simultaneous speech.

Now’s the time to organise your facts, figures, explanations, details, etc. into a legible outline. Make sure your bullet points are connected clearly with links.

Once you’ve organised your material, you can write a conclusion. This often follows on logically from the body of your speech.

Personally, I often add the introduction at the end of this process, because by that stage, I know where I’m going and what I want to say, and it’s easier to find a good ‘entry point’ into the speech. The introduction is a good place to say something personal to ease the audience into the speech quite gently, and to engage them and make your speech more relatable. Or you can use the introduction to mention an event in the news which makes your speech topic relevant.

Step 4: Rehearse your speech

How much you rehearse your speech will depend on its purpose.

If you’re an interpreter trainer giving a speech for an interpreting exam, you’ll obviously want to go through it several times to make sure the timing is right.

Be careful not to overrehearse: this removes all the spontaneity from a speech and makes it very dense, and often rather too fast.

And on that subject: I do know some colleagues who write out their entire speech in longhand, or type it out, rather than having a bullet point outline. While I understand that this makes them more confident, particularly when they’re giving an exam speech, personally I much prefer to speak (semi-)spontaneously from an outline. This produces something more conversational and closer to normal speech, rather than read-out material; it’s usually much more engaging, and means the speaker makes more eye contact with the audience.

Speech prep in a B language

If you’ve read this far, you’ll have realised that almost everything I’ve said applies to preparing speeches in your mother tongue or in a B language.

So what’s different or special about preparing speeches in your B language?

The process is exactly the same, but the emphasis is different.

If you’re preparing a speech in your B language, your primary aim is likely to be vocabulary acquisition or consolidation.

To this end, when you’re researching the topic (reading a couple of articles, or listening to a podcast), make sure you note down a few key words, phrases, or idioms that strike you as useful in other contexts.

Incorporate them into your speech. The more you say them out loud and hear yourself saying them, the more likely they are to become part of your active vocabulary.

I find when I’m preparing a speech in my B language that

I research it more (i.e. I read several articles, or listen to more material, rather than just working with the ideas that are already in my head).
I write down whole chunks, or sometimes whole sentences, to reuse in my speech.
I rehearse it more.

The risk, in your B language, is that you will end up reading out a speech that you’ve basically rehashed from a newspaper article, rather than ‘digesting’ the material and reformulating it.

Voilà!

Have I made it sound long and complicated? Probably! 🤣

In fact, it’s probably taken you longer to read this blog post than it would be outline a consecutive speech.

I’ll leave my examples and shortcuts to a second blog post, so that my word count doesn’t explode!

Being concise in sim is a good thing. But how?

22nd March 20231st March 2023 by theinterpretingcoach

I’m sure you’ve been told at some point in your career as an interpreter (or when you were a student) that you should be more concise.

Working into English, being more concise than the original is often desirable because wordy, flowery, or convoluted structures sound very strange when converted into English more or less verbatim. For example, abstract French or verbose Italian both sound very unnatural if you don’t rework the original and turn it into something more English-sounding.

So being concise can be helpful for your audience and relay takers: it sounds more natural in English, it helps prevent linguistic interference, and it’s cognitively easier to cope with. Instead of masses of words that your listeners have to retain in their working memory, they are spoon fed something shorter, clearer, and more structured, which relieves the load on their cognitive processes.

Not only is a concise version easier for the audience and relay takers, it can help the interpreter do a better job.

Why? Because if you’re uttering fewer words, you have more time to listen, and therefore more time to analyse the message. In turn, this gives you more opportunity to take decisions about what and how to edit the material. Better analysis = more faithful rendition of the message, as well as a clearer output.

Another advantage of freeing up some of your processing capacity by speaking less is that you have a little more time to reformulate, so your output (linguistically) may benefit.

A final advantage is that if you’re more concise, you’re less likely to be sitting right on your speaker’s shoulder, following very closely – in décalage* terms – because you’re trying to say everything. You’re likely to find that your décalage varies a bit more if you’re deliberately being concise, giving you more breathing space in places, and helping to avoid the kamikaze technique of interpreting, where your EVS* is so short that you hit a brick wall if you misunderstand something in the original or encounter an unknown word (i.e. you may be left with no other option than to leave a sentence unfinished, which is less than ideal!).

I’ve already said a lot about being concise, but what does it mean? Is it simply a matter of using fewer words?

The Oxford Language Dictionary defines concise thusly:

“giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief but comprehensive”

This is interesting because it suggests that a) being concise isn’t just about editing out information (i.e. dropping it), but about conveying the same the information using fewer words, and b) clarity and concision go hand in hand (more on that in a separate blog post, perhaps).

Too many words

Amadeus Too GIFfrom Amadeus GIFs

Remember this scene from the film Amadeus? Mozart wrote too many notes (according to the Emperor); sometimes interpreters are tempted to use too many words in simultaneous.

How can you prune the dead wood?

Well, there are some fairly uncontroversial approaches to reducing your word count [please bear in mind that this is written from the perspective of a conference interpreter, not a court interpreter, for example]:

leave out hesitations (‘um’, ‘er’)
eliminate fillers (e.g. if the speaker says ‘you know’, ‘I mean’, ‘basically’, etc.)
cut out repetition or redundancy
choose your words wisely; for instance, avoid unnecessarily long versions of words (like utilise instead of use, or transportation instead of transport)
avoid redundant pairs (a terrible tragedy)
use the active voice where possible
don’t ‘hedge’ if the speaker isn’t doing so (e.g. with phrases like ‘it seems that’, ‘if you like’, ‘it may be the case that’. This is something that interpreters often do when they are afraid to commit, especially if the speaker has said something that sounds controversial or implausible. If you make your output more concise, you’ll have more time to listen and analyse – and be clearer about the speaker’s message! 🙂

One caveat: it’s important to distinguish between source language features that are typical of a particular language (e.g. long-winded syntax in Italian), as opposed to features that are deliberate on the speaker’s part, because he or she is aiming for a particular effect. If the verbosity is a question of style or tone, you will have to decide whether it’s important to retain those features and potentially sacrifice some other information, or vice versa.

Now, you may think I’ve reached the end of this blog post. After all, I’ve gone over a list of ways to reduce your word count.

However, in my opinion, it’s not that simple.

If you have a few spare minutes, I invite you to listen to these two clips, in which I interpret a French speech about hydrogen from the SCIC Speech Repository in simultaneous. [Please note I did zero preparation for this, so I can’t claim to have been firing on all cylinders when it came to technical vocabulary.]

If you have French in your combination, please have a go at interpreting the first 2 or 3 minutes yourself, before listening to my version.

Can you hear the difference between these two versions? Does one of them sound clearer and more concise to you? Does one of them sound more rushed, and less natural in English?

In one of these clips, I tried to stick as closely to the speaker as possible, and to say everything, more or less in the same way that she had.

The other version is closer to my natural style. I devoted more effort to analysis and editing.

You may of course disagree with my opinion, but for me, the more concise version sounds calmer, more in control, and clearer.

I typed out a transcript of these two versions, and discovered, somewhat to my surprise, that the ‘short’ version was only 62 words shorter than the ‘long’ version, which didn’t seem like a lot over a period of 2 1/2 minutes.

Perception is important

I’m going to use this example to argue that being concise isn’t just a matter of using fewer words.

It’s also a matter of the ‘digestibility’ of your output for the audience and relay takers, i.e. it’s about their perception of whether you are being concise. 😉

Here are some of the tricks I used in the audio clip to sound more concise:

Use ‘salami technique’, also known as ‘chunking’, to chop the source material into shorter pieces.
If the target language allows, use SVO word order (subject-verb-object).
Start the sentence with the subject, rather than with long adverbial phrases, so the audience immediately knows what you’re talking about.
Keep the subject close to the verb, thus avoiding conjugation errors, and reducing the load on everyone’s working memory (this includes yours!).
Make sure the links between ideas are clear, using logical connectors such as and, but, so, if.
Use active voice where possible.
Use intonation as a fantastic shortcut. Intonation is great for conveying meaning. For example, you can use your voice to show whether something is an important point, a digression, a question, a humorous interjection, etc. (show rather than telling!).

A similar caveat to the one I made earlier: if the speaker is using long and complicated sentences, passive voice, etc., you need to give some thought to why they are doing this. Is it just their normal way of speaking? Or are they doing this to try to sound intelligent or knowledgeable, or to sound more scientific and therefore more credible? Remember that as an interpreter, part of your job is to have the same effect on the audience as the speaker was aiming for. If the speaker is using long-winded platitudes for a reason, you’ll need to decide whether to do the same, or whether you can achieve the same effect in the target language while still remaining concise.

Conclusion

Being concise isn’t always desirable, I suppose. Alongside some of the reasons I’ve mentioned above (style, tone, the effect the speaker is aiming for), there’s also the fact that your target language may be one that values flowery and lengthy sentences as a sign of intelligence and erudition.

In English, though, I would argue that being concise and using salami technique won’t, as some interpreters fear, make them sound childish. The trick is to use simple syntax, but appropriate vocabulary – which may mean sophisticated, high register, or technical vocabulary.

I hope to have persuaded you in this blog post that being concise isn’t as simple as using fewer words.

Instead, it’s a lot to do with making shorter chunks, joining them up with clear links, inserting pauses in the right place, and shaping the chunks with intonation so the meaning is clear.

*décalage = Ear/Voice Span = the time lag between the original speaker’s words and the interpreters’ rendition.

Transcripts

For anyone who’s interested, here are the transcripts of my two attempts at the hydrogen speech.

Version 1 (366 words):

Ladies and Gentlemen, now that the end of the pandemic is almost here, we can go back to taking an interest in those subjects that were fascinating for us before the beginning of the pandemic, namely climate change and the environment, and that was the challenge that we needed to take up before the beginning of this crisis, and it is therefore essential that we return to taking an interest in this subject. There is some good news connected to our interest in the environment, and I know we’re all keen on hearing good news. For 2020, the share of renewables in energy production in Europe has now exceeded fossil fuels, and that is the case for the second year running, because it was already that way in 2019. Now solar power is cheaper than anywhere else in the world, and its production has increased by 20 % in Europe. And finally, the price of carbon has increased exponentially. So much for the good news, but I know that you’re not naïve, and I know that you are aware that we are a long way from having achieved any significant change or reached our environmental objectives. Today, I’m going to talk about an element which is a sign of hope for some, an element that will allow us to reach our objectives, and that is hydrogen. Now before going into any more interesting details, let me just recap on a bit of chemistry. Hydrogen is a basic chemical element, H, which is present in the universe and on Earth. On Earth, it is present principally in the form of water. Hydrogen is associated to the molecule O, oxygen, and together they form H2O, water. In order to produce hydrogen, you need to break the bond between hydrogen and oxygen. In order to do that, we use a process called electrolysis, where we use an electrical current in order to break the bond between the two molecules and obtain hydrogen. Now, you might ask me why we would want to produce hydrogen, and the answer is because it has a number of applications. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel, it can also be stored and transported.

Version 2 (302 words):

Ladies and Gentlemen, the end of the pandemic is in sight, soo we can go back to those topics that gripped us before coronavirus: climate change and the environment. Those were the real challenges that we were facing before the crisis, and it’s crucial that we return to taking an interest in these subjects. There is some good news when it comes to the environment, and I know that at the moment we’re all keen to hear good news. In 2020, the share of renewable energies in electricity production in Europe was greater than the share of fossil fuels, for the second year running. Solar power is cheaper in Europe than anywhere else in the world, and its production increased by 20% in Europe. And the price of carbon has increased exponentially. That’s the good news. But you’re not naïve, and I’m sure you’re very aware that we are a long way from reaching our environmental goals and making any significant changes. Today, I’m talking about an element which could help us to reach these objectives. It could be very promising. And that is hydrogen. Before I go into details, let me recap some chemistry. Hydrogen is a basic chemical element, represented by the letter H. It’s present in the universe and on Earth. On Earth, it generally takes the form of water. It is associated with the molecule O, oxygen, and that makes water, H2O. In order to produce hydrogen, you have to break the chemical bond between the two molecules. You do that through electrolysis, which is where you use an electrical current to separarate the two molecules, and obtain hydrogen. Now you might say: why produce hydrogen? Because it has a number of applications. You can use hydrogen as a fuel. You can store it, you can transport it.

Ukraine – a gap filling exercise

28th February 2023 by theinterpretingcoach

The exercise is based on an article in The Guardian (theguardian.com), with minor adaptations.

Your task is to find suitable words or expressions to fill in the gaps, taking into account syntax as well as register, and bringing to bear your background knowledge.

I have given some suggestions following the exercise.

Exercise

President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly ___________ that a treaty of neutrality may be on offer; and he is right to do so. For two things have been made absolutely clear by this war: that Russia will fight to prevent Ukraine becoming a military ally of the West, and the West will not fight to defend Ukraine. In view of this, to keep open the possibility of an offer of Nato membership that Nato has no intention of ever _______________, and asking Ukrainians to ____________, is worse than ______________.
As to “demilitarisation” and “denazification”, the meaning and terms of these will have to be negotiated. Demilitarisation is obviously unacceptable if it means that Ukraine must unilaterally _______________ its armed forces; but the latest statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has suggested that Russia would accept a ban on missiles based in Ukraine. This could be _____________ on a similar guarantee to the US that ended the Cuba Missile Crisis.
There remains the demand for recognition of the Russian annexation of Crimea. Here, respect for international law (slightly ambiguous in the case of Crimea, which was only transferred from Russia to Ukraine by Soviet decree in 1954) must ______________ considerations of reality, the prevention of future conflict, and the interests of ordinary people in the region – which is essentially what we have been asking Russia to do in the case of Kosovo.
These proposals will be ____________ as “_____________ Russian aggression”; but if Putin’s original aim really was to ___________ the whole of Ukraine, then by such an agreement Moscow would ___________ maximal goals. Moreover, such an agreement would give Russia nothing that it had not in practice already achieved before launching the invasion. The West is morally right to oppose the monstrous and illegal war ____________ Russia and to have imposed exceptionally severe sanctions on Russia in response, but would be morally wrong to oppose a decision by Ukraine to ___________with a reasonable agreement that would end the invasion and _____________the people of Ukraine terrible suffering.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly hinted that a treaty of neutrality may be on offer; and he is right to do so. For two things have been made absolutely clear by this war: that Russia will fight to prevent Ukraine becoming a military ally of the West, and the West will not fight to defend Ukraine. In view of this, to keep open the possibility of an offer of Nato membership that Nato has no intention of ever honouring, and asking Ukrainians to die for this fiction, is worse than hypocritical. [You could say suggested instead of ‘hinted’. Stated or declared are grammatically correct, but the meaning is different. For ‘honouring’, since the meaning here is close to ‘keeping a promise’, you could say fulfilling, or making good on. You may have struggled to find a solution for ‘die for this fiction’, because you may not have had enough information to go on. Other options include asking Ukrainians to sacrifice themselves or to make the ultimate sacrifice or to fight to the end. ]
As to “demilitarisation” and “denazification”, the meaning and terms of these will have to be negotiated. Demilitarisation is obviously unacceptable if it means that Ukraine must unilaterally dissolve its armed forces; but the latest statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has suggested that Russia would accept a ban on missiles based in Ukraine. This could be modelled on a similar guarantee to the US that ended the Cuba Missile Crisis. [You could replace ‘dissolve’ with disband or do away with, and ‘modelled on’ with based on.]
There remains the demand for recognition of the Russian annexation of Crimea. Here, respect for international law (slightly ambiguous in the case of Crimea, which was only transferred from Russia to Ukraine by Soviet decree in 1954) must be tempered by considerations of reality, the prevention of future conflict, and the interests of ordinary people in the region – which is essentially what we have been asking Russia to do in the case of Kosovo. [‘tempered by’ means ‘softened by’, but you might be better off here with alternatives such as go hand in hand with, be reconciled with, leave room for.]
These proposals will be denounced as “rewarding Russian aggression”; but if Putin’s original aim really was to subjugate the whole of Ukraine, then by such an agreement Moscow would fall far short of its maximal goals. Moreover, such an agreement would give Russia nothing that it had not in practice already achieved before launching the invasion. The West is morally right to oppose the monstrous and illegal war prosecuted by Russia and to have imposed exceptionally severe sanctions on Russia in response, but would be morally wrong to oppose a decision by Ukraine to sue for peace with a reasonable agreement that would end the invasion and spare the people of Ukraine terrible suffering. [For ‘denounced’: criticised, reviled, decried; for ‘rewarding Russian aggression’: pandering to. For ‘subjugate’: conquer, vanquish, crush, tame, triumph over, bring to heel, rule over, keep under his thumb – but the word order is getting a little dodgy here. For ‘fall far short of its maximal goals’: fail to achieve, be thwarted in its maximal goals. For the war ‘prosecuted by’, you could say waged by; or you could say initiated, started, or launched. The sentence containing ‘sue for peace’ is a little tricky. You could replace ‘sue for peace’ with seek a diplomatic settlement or seek an agreement with Russia or something of that ilk, if not for the following phrase (‘with a reasonable agreement’). I suppose you could say something like a decision by Ukraine to move forward with a reasonable agreement, or a decision by Ukraine to put an end to the conflict with a reasonable agreement. As for ‘spare the people of Ukraine’, there are not many other options; save is one of them.]

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Interested in more material like this to help you boost your retour? Why not join my monthly membership site, Rock your Retour, with tailor-made written materials and weekly live group classes (online)?

Sophie Llewellyn Smith, writing as The Interpreting Coach, is a coach, interpreter trainer, conference interpreter, designer of online teaching materials, and creator of Speechpool. Follow the blog to pick up tips on how to improve your interpreting skills.

If you’re interested in personal coaching, why not book a free discovery call?

Announcing your resignation – improvisation exercise

28th February 2023 by theinterpretingcoach

This week, Nicolas Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, rather unexpectedly announced her resignation.

You may be called upon at some point to interpret a Minister or President’s resignation speech. This is the kind of task that is less daunting if you have some useful set phrases to draw on. Let’s see if we can build up a ‘toolkit’ for you to use if you’re ever in this situation again.

Exercise 1 – activating your vocabulary

Grab a pen and paper, set a timer for 5 minutes, and write down all the phrases you can think of that might be useful if you were writing a resignation speech.

When you’ve finished, you can compare your list with mine.

it has been a privilege
it has been the honour of my life
I have given my all
I have given it everything
when I look back
I am proud of what we have achieved
we have achieved a huge amount
we have faced tremendous challenges
my position is no longer tenable
I am stepping down
time will tell
history will judge
for the good of my party/the country
to know when it’s time to go
I wish to thank the Italian/British/Greek people
with privilege comes responsibility
a fresh set of shoulders
I did what I thought was right

Exercise 2 – terminology mining

Here is an edited version of Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation speech. Go through it with a highlighter (if you’ve downloaded and printed it), or just write down some of the phrases she uses that you could repurpose in somebody else’s speech. Think about what effect she is trying to achieve.

“Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming along. I’m sorry to break into your half-term break. The First Minister of Scotland is, in my admittedly biased opinion, the very best job in the world. It is a privilege beyond measure, one that has sustained and inspired me in good times and through the toughest hours of my toughest days. I am proud to stand here as the first female and longest serving incumbent of this office, and I’m very proud of what has been achieved in the years I’ve been in Bute House.

However, since my very first moments in the job, I have believed that part of serving well would be to know almost instinctively when the time is right to make way for someone else. And when that time came, to have the courage to do so, even if to many across the country and in my party it might feel too soon. In my head and in my heart I know that time is now. That it is right for me, for my party, and for the country. And so today I am announcing my intention to step down as First Minister and leader of my party. I have asked the national secretary of the SNP to begin the process of electing a new party leader and I will remain in office until my successor is elected. I know there will be some across the country who feel upset by this decision and by the fact I am taking it now.

Of course, for balance there will be others who will – how should I put this – cope with the news just fine. Such is the beauty of democracy. But to those who do feel shocked, disappointed, perhaps even a bit angry with me. Please know that while hard – and be in no doubt, this is really hard for me – my decision comes from a place of duty and of love. Tough love, perhaps, but love nevertheless, for my party and above all, for the country.

Let me set out as best as I can my reasons. First, though I know it will be tempting to see it as such, this decision is not a reaction to short-term pressures. Of course, there are difficult issues confronting the government just now. But when is that ever not the case? I have spent almost three decades in frontline politics. A decade and a half on the top or second top rung of government when it comes to navigating choppy waters, resolving seemingly intractable issues or soldiering on when walking away would be the simpler option. I have plenty of experience to draw on. So if this was just a question of my ability or my resilience to get through the latest period of pressure, I wouldn’t be standing here today. But it’s not. This decision comes from a deeper and longer term assessment. I know it may seem sudden, but I have been wrestling with it, albeit with oscillating levels of intensity, for some weeks.

Essentially, I’ve been trying to answer two questions. Is carrying on right for me and more importantly, is me carrying on right for the country, for my party, and for the independence cause I have devoted my life to. I understand why some will automatically answer ‘yes’ to that second question. But in truth, I have been having to work harder in recent times to convince myself that the answer to either of them, when examined deeply, is yes. And I’ve reached the difficult conclusion that it’s not.

Giving absolutely everything of yourself to this job is the only way to do it. The country deserves nothing less.

But in truth, that can only be done by anyone for so long. For me, it is now in danger of becoming too long. The First Minister is never off duty, particularly in this day and age. There is virtually no privacy. Even ordinary stuff that most people take for granted, like going for a coffee with friends or for a walk on your own becomes very difficult. And the nature and form of modern political discourse means that there is a much greater intensity – dare I say it? – brutality to life as a politician than in years gone by. All in all, and actually for a long time without being apparent, it takes its toll on you and on those around you. And if that is true in the best of times, it has been more so in recent years.

Now there are two further reflections that have weighed in my decision. These, I suppose, are more about our political culture and the nature and impact of the dominance and longevity that come from success in politics. And the first I hope my party will take heart from. One of the difficulties in coming to terms with this decision is that I am confident that I can and would lead the SNP to further electoral success. We remain by far the most trusted party in Scotland, and while for every person in Scotland who loves me, there is another who, let’s say, might not be quite so enthusiastic, we are firmly on course to win the next election while our opponents remain adrift. But the longer any leader is in office, the more opinions about them become fixed and very hard to change. And that matters.

Now, a couple of final points before I take a few questions. While I am stepping down from leadership, I am not leaving politics. There are many issues I care deeply about and hope to champion in future. One of these is the promise, the national mission so close to my heart, to improve the life chances of care experienced young people and ensure they grow up, nurtured and loved. My commitment to these young people will be lifelong. And obviously there is independence. Winning independence is the cause I have dedicated a lifetime to. It is a cause I believe in with every fibre of my being. And it is a cause I am convinced is being won. I intend to be there as it is won every step of the way.

Lastly, there will be time in the days to come for me and others to reflect on what has been achieved during my time as First Minister. I’m pretty certain there will be plenty of commentary on my mistakes as well. There is so much that I am proud of. But there is always so much more to be done. I look forward to watching with pride as my successor picks up the baton.

There will also be time in the days to come for me to say thank you to a very, very long list of people without whom I would not have lasted a single day in this job, let alone eight years. I won’t do so today. I might inadvertently forget someone, or perhaps more likely start to cry. But there are a couple of exceptions. Firstly, my husband and family. Few people understand the price families of politicians pay for the jobs we choose to do. Mine have been my rock throughout. And of course the SNP since I was 16 years old. You have been my extended family. Thank you for the honour of being your leader. And it seems to me that eight emphatic election victories in eight years isn’t a bad record together. Finally, and above all, the people of this beautiful, talented, diverse – at times disputatious – but always wonderful country, we faced the toughest of times together. I did everything I could to guide us through that time. Often from my very familiar podium in St Andrew’s house. In return I was sustained through that period by a wave of support from you that I will remember and value for the rest of my life. So to the people of Scotland, to all of the people of Scotland, whether you voted for me or not, please know that being your First Minister has been the privilege of my life. Nothing. Absolutely nothing I do in future will ever come anywhere close. Thank you. From the very bottom of my heart.”

What did you come up with? Here are mine:

It is a privilege beyond measure
I am proud to stand here as the first woman…
longest serving incumbent of this office
I’m very proud of what has been achieved
to know almost instinctively when the time is right to make way for someone else
In my head and in my heart I know that time is now
And so today I am announcing my intention to step down as First Minister and leader of my party.
I have asked the national secretary of the SNP to begin the process of electing a new party leader
and I will remain in office until my successor is elected.
I know there will be some across the country who feel upset by this decision
my decision comes from a place of duty and of love
Let me set out as best as I can my reasons.
this decision is not a reaction to short-term pressures
almost three decades in frontline politics.
I have been wrestling with this decision for some weeks
Is carrying on right for me and more importantly, is me carrying on right for the country, for my party
Giving absolutely everything of yourself to this job is the only way to do it.
The country deserves nothing less.
it takes its toll on you and on those around you
Now there are two further reflections that have weighed in my decision.
we are firmly on course to win the next election while our opponents remain adrift.
While I am stepping down from leadership, I am not leaving politics.
It is a cause I believe in with every fibre of my being
there will be time in the days to come for me and others to reflect on what has been achieved during my time as First Minister.
There is so much that I am proud of. But there is always so much more to be done.
I look forward to watching with pride as my successor picks up the baton.
Few people understand the price families of politicians pay for the jobs we choose to do. Mine have been my rock throughout.
Thank you for the honour of being your leader.
I did everything I could to guide us through that time.
So to the people of Scotland, to all of the people of Scotland, whether you voted for me or not, please know that being your First Minister has been the privilege of my life. Nothing. Absolutely nothing I do in future will ever come anywhere close. Thank you. From the very bottom of my heart.

Organising your resources

You should now have a good list of expressions that you can group into categories. How about a table like this? I’ve filled in a few phrases, just to start you off. You can do the rest.

Introductory words	what we’ve achieved	reasons for resignation	it’s been a privilege	it’s time to go	what happens next	thanks
– I am very proud to stand here as the first woman…	– there is so much that I am proud of	– let me set out my reasons -there has been a lot of speculation… – I have wrestled with this decision…	– it has been the privilege of my life	– in my head and in my heart, I know the time to go is now	– as my successor picks up the baton -while I am stepping down from the leadership, I am not leaving politics	– thank you from the very bottom of my heart

You may of course have more or fewer columns, or slightly different ones.

Exercise 3

Now, at last, it’s your turn!

Use your table of expressions to write your Prime Minister/President’s resignation speech. You could keep it quite general, or if you like, brainstorm or research the main achievements of their time in office, to make it more realistic.

If you like, film or record yourself and post your recording in the RyR group!

Finally, here’s an article about how to resign from politics while keeping your dignity!

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Condolences: terminology mining & gap filling

28th February 2023 by theinterpretingcoach

The last few weeks have not been short of sad events, including the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the funeral of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Just in case you’re ever in a situation where you have to interpret a speech about a tragic event, I’ve put together a couple of posts for you about expressing condolences.

In today’s post, we’re going to do some terminology mining to find useful phrases.

Article 1- Queen Elizabeth II

This is an article I adapted from the Guardian. Have a read through it, and make note of useful phrases.

Condolences and condemnation: Indigenous people and people of colour react to the death of Queen Elizabeth II

The reaction to the death of the Queen among Indigenous people and people of colour, including those from Commonwealth nations, has been swift and, at times, unflinching.

For many the Queen was the personification of British colonisation and the damage it has wreaked in their countries – and they were not afraid to say so. Yet others expressed their condolences for the monarch who has long held “a special place” in their hearts.

As condolences poured in from across the globe for Elizabeth II, who died aged 96 early on Friday morning Australian time, so did anger and resentment at the unresolved trauma of colonisation that for them, the crown represented.

In Australia, Prof Sandy O’Sullivan, from Macquarie University, tweeting as this week’s host of IndigenousX, attempted to explain the reaction and put it into a historical and social context.

“For those saying we should be magnanimous about the passing of the queen, a reminder that the queen inserted herself into the lives of Indigenous people here multiple times. She wasn’t a bystander to the effects of colonisation and colonialism, she was an architect of it,” O’Sullivan wrote.

“What she did ‘do’ was be an active participant in stealing our land. Instead of handing back, making reparations from her enormous wealth, her agents (that she had explicit control of, see ‘The Dismissal’) continued to steal land and when they had it all, they stole our children.

Northern Territory Country Liberal party senator Jacinta Price said on Facebook the Queen was a “remarkable monarch who dedicated her life to serve not only the Commonwealth but the world”.

Price said she was “grateful” to be able to sign the condolence book to the royal family at the governor general’s residence.

Canada’s first Inuit governor general, Mary Simon, released a statement reminiscing about the Queen’s relationship with Inuit people.

“When I was growing up, my grandmother revered The Queen, as did so many in the Arctic. She would tell us stories about Her Majesty, about her role and her commitment,” Simon said,

“Her reign encompassed the mandates of 12 Canadian prime ministers and 13 governors general. On 22 occasions, she undertook official visits to Canada, where she professed her love for our county again and again. She was a steadfast presence during some of the most tumultuous times of our lives, and most recently gave comfort to so many during the pandemic.

“On behalf of all Canadians, I offer deepest condolences to the members of the Royal Family, who grieve the loss of a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.”

In New Zealand, foreign affairs minister, Māori woman Nanaia Mahuta said Queen Elizabeth exemplified strong democratic principles and the rule of law, while Māori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said questions on the role of the monarchy could wait while the world grieves.

“The huge vacuum left will cause debate, but in this time of grief and loss we can only support her whānau and mokopuna as they grieve and heal. She was a constant across three generations, an anchor in a rapidly changing globe,” Waititi told Radio NZ.Some suggestions

Article 2 – Shinzo Abe

Same exercise: see what useful phrases you can extract from this piece, adapted from an article in the Guardian.

State funeral for Shinzo Abe held in Tokyo amid controversy

A state funeral for Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has been held in Tokyo amid public anger over the cost of the ceremony and revelations over his party’s ties to a controversial religious group.

More than 4,000 guests, including the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, and the British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, stood in silence as a member of Japan’s self-defence forces entered the Nippon Budokan hall, where a 19-gun salute sounded in honour of the assassinated former leader.

Amid tight security, people opposed to the funeral demonstrated as thousands of mourners queued to lay flowers and offer prayers in a park near the venue.

After a video showcasing Abe’s achievements, set to footage of the former prime minister playing the piano, the current leader, Fumio Kishida, paid tribute to his friend and predecessor.

“Courage is doing what is right,” Kishida said in English, before adding in Japanese: “Abe-san, you were a person of courage. People around the world will look back fondly on your time in power. Abe-san, Prime Minister Abe … you did good work. Please rest in peace.”

Abe’s death sent shock waves through a country with very low rates of gun crime and prompted tributes from politicians around the world.

Here are some ideas:

a state funeral
Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister (nice concise phrasing here)
guests stood in silence
a 19-gun salute sounded in honour of the assassinated former leader
amid tight security, amid controversy (amid is a preposition you may not have used before)
mourners queued to lay flowers and offer prayers
Kishida paid tribute to his friend and predecessor
Please rest in peace
his death sent shockwaves through a country with very low rates of gun crime
his death prompted tributes from leaders around the world

Gap-filling exercise

See if you can use some of the expressions you’ve noted down to fill in the gaps in this article about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

World leaders ___________ after __________ of Queen Elizabeth II

Messages __________ at end of British monarch’s 70-year reign

Presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and leaders around the world have ___________ to the life and service of Queen Elizabeth II, many of them reflecting on a 70-year reign that _________ some of the most turbulent and decisive moments in modern British and world history.

As Thursday wore on and news of the Queen’s ill-health eventually gave way to news of her death, global figures spoke of what she had meant to them and their countries.

Among the most frequently __________ words were “duty”, “steadfast” and “constant”, but mention was also ________ of her sense of humour, and of her life and role as a mother and grandmother as well as a monarch.

Minutes after the Queen’s death was announced, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, posted a simple picture of the Queen on his Twitter account, unaccompanied by any words. In a subsequent message, he wrote: “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II __________ the British nation’s continuity and unity for over 70 years. I remember her as a friend of France, a kind-hearted queen who has left a ___________ impression on her country and her century.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin _________ his condolences to King Charles for the “irreparable loss” of his mother, saying the Queen had “rightfully enjoyed the love and respect of her subjects, as well as authority on the world stage”.

President Xi Jinping of China ___________ his “sincere sympathies to the British government and people” in a statement __________ through state media. “Her __________ is a great loss to the British people.”

Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins, described the late monarch as “a remarkable friend of Ireland” as he offered his ______________ to the royal family.

“Her Majesty __________ the British people with exceptional dignity,” he said. “Her personal commitment to her role and extraordinary sense of duty were the __________ of her period as Queen, which will hold a unique place in British history.”

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he was _________ to learn of Queen Elizabeth’s death and ________ his deepest condolences to the royal family and the people and government of the UK.

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said flags would ________ and arrangements would be made for a __________ service.

Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, expressed his “great and profound sadness”, adding: “We join our brothers and sisters in the Commonwealth in _________ her passing, and pray for the comfort of the members of her family, and the people of the United Kingdom, as they ________ the loss of their beloved Queen and matriarch.”

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, spoke of his “deep sadness” at the news, saying the UK and the Commonwealth had _________ an irreparable loss.

World leaders pay tribute after death of Queen Elizabeth II

Messages flood in at end of British monarch’s 70-year reign

Presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and leaders around the world have paid tribute to the life and service of Queen Elizabeth II, many of them reflecting on a 70-year reign that encompassed some of the most turbulent and decisive moments in modern British and world history.

As Thursday wore on and news of the Queen’s ill-health eventually gave way to news of her death, global figures spoke of what she had meant to them and their countries.

Among the most frequently invoked words were “duty”, “steadfast” and “constant”, but mention was also made of her sense of humour, and of her life and role as a mother and grandmother as well as a monarch.

Minutes after the Queen’s death was announced, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, posted a simple picture of the Queen on his Twitter account, unaccompanied by any words. In a subsequent message, he wrote: “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II embodied the British nation’s continuity and unity for over 70 years. I remember her as a friend of France, a kind-hearted queen who has left a lasting impression on her country and her century.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin extended his condolences to King Charles for the “irreparable loss” of his mother, saying the Queen had “rightfully enjoyed the love and respect of her subjects, as well as authority on the world stage”.

President Xi Jinping of China expressed his “sincere sympathies to the British government and people” in a statement released through state media. “Her passing is a great loss to the British people.”

Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins, described the late monarch as “a remarkable friend of Ireland” as he offered his condolences to the royal family.

“Her Majesty served the British people with exceptional dignity,” he said. “Her personal commitment to her role and extraordinary sense of duty were the hallmarks of her period as Queen, which will hold a unique place in British history.”

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he was saddened to learn of Queen Elizabeth’s death and sent his deepest condolences to the royal family and the people and government of the UK.

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said flags would fly at half-mast and arrangements would be made for a state memorial service.

Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, expressed his “great and profound sadness”, adding: “We join our brothers and sisters in the Commonwealth in mourning her passing, and pray for the comfort of the members of her family, and the people of the United Kingdom, as they grieve the loss of their beloved Queen and matriarch.”

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, spoke of his “deep sadness” at the news, saying the UK and the Commonwealth had suffered an irreparable loss.

Comments

World leaders pay tribute after death of Queen Elizabeth II: you could also say ‘after passing of’ (this is a headline, hence the lack of ‘the’ before the word ‘death’. In a normal sentence, you would need a ‘the’).
Messages flood in: you could say ‘pour in’
a 70-year reign that encompassed some of the most turbulent and decisive moments: you could also say ‘included’
global figures: ‘leaders’, ‘personalities’
Among the most frequently invoked words: ‘invoked’ is lovely, but you could try ‘cited’, ‘mentioned’, ‘listed’, or ‘used’
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II embodied the British nation’s continuity and unity for over 70 years: there are some lovely alternatives to this, including ‘typified’, ‘epitomised’, ‘exemplified’, stood for’, ‘typified’, or ‘personified’.
Her passing is a great loss to the British people: you could use ‘death’, or ‘loss’ – except that it’s been used elsewhere in the sentence
Her personal commitment to her role and extraordinary sense of duty were the hallmarks of her period as Queen: ‘features’, or perhaps ‘badges’
sent his deepest condolences: we’ve seen that several verbs work with ‘condolences’, including ‘offered’, ‘expressed’, and ‘extended’
had suffered an irreparable loss: ‘experienced’

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If you’re interested in personal coaching, why not book a free discovery call?

How speech prep can boost your retour

Benefits of speech prep

A method for rapid speech prep

Topic selection

Step 1: Researching your speech

Step 2: Structuring your speech

Step 3: Create a detailed outline of your speech

Step 4: Rehearse your speech

Speech prep in a B language

Too many words

Perception is important

Conclusion

Transcripts

Exercise

Exercise 1 – activating your vocabulary

Exercise 2 – terminology mining

Organising your resources

Exercise 3

Article 1- Queen Elizabeth II

Article 2 – Shinzo Abe

Gap-filling exercise

Comments

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