Product Description

This book provides a structured syllabus and an overview of interpretation accompanied by exercises in the main aspects of the art. It is meant as a practical guide for interpreters and as a complement to interpreter training programmes, particularly for students preparing for conference interpreting in international governmental and business settings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #505953 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
James Nolan is Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service and Deputy Director of the Interpretation, Meetings and Publishing Division of the United Nations. He previously served as a UN Senior Interpreter and as Head of Linguistic and Conference Services of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Mr. Nolan is a graduate of the School of Translation and Interpretation of the University of Geneva and of New York Law School. He has taught interpretation at Marymount Manhattan College and New York University.

Customer Reviews

Great service
I have received a copy of the book Interpreting Techniques by James Nolan on the date promised and in a very efficient way-
Thanks Amazon for making long distances seem so much shorter.
Ana de Choch Asseo
Buenos Aires
Argentina

Could have been better
I find the reviews above rather one-sided, so have decided to post this brief review.

There are some very useful chapters in this book, for example the introduction and the chapter on restructuring syntax. But to suggest that the book is an outright success smacks of bias.

There are some serious flaws with this book, not least of all, that 3/4 of it is useless if you don't have EN FR and ES together in your combination, as examples used to demonstrate interpreting techniques are given in these languages together with translations into EN. This rules out a huge proportion of an already small potential readership.

The author also makes some ill-advised forays into the world of EN language teaching in the Chapter "Figures of Speech", something he is apparently not qualified to do. Most of these exercises were banished from the language classroom 20 years ago and the 10 pages of Spanish, French and English idioms, without explanation or translation, cannot possibly help a student learn to interpret.

There is more. But it is not my intention to be overly negative, only fair. Parts of the book are useful, and parts of it deserve to be read and I recommend to my students. However, it is far from being a outright success.

Excellent exercises for beginners and pros alike
This is a wonderful book for beginning or student interpreters (especially those whose working languages are French and/or Spanish), with a concise introduction to the profession followed by 18 chapters of exercises focused on specific areas, such as word order and collations, dealing with numbers and quotes, and note-taking.

Moreover, I think that experienced interpreters would also benefit from many of the exercises in this book, especially those aimed at honing diction and register skills. The chapter on figures of speech alone would make this book a worthwhile purchase.