improve language level for interpreting Thread poster: r3amo
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r3amo
United States
Local time: 19:28
English to Romanian
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Hello. I graduated a foreign language university: English and French. My mother tongue is Romanian. My English and French level is still not exellent. I want very much to become an interpreter. I am going to do my Master next year and till then I want to improve as much as possible my languages level. I don't know what I can do in this way. I am thinking about some courses or internships, but I don't know what can help me more, specially because I want to find something in Bruxelles. Any suggest... See more Hello. I graduated a foreign language university: English and French. My mother tongue is Romanian. My English and French level is still not exellent. I want very much to become an interpreter. I am going to do my Master next year and till then I want to improve as much as possible my languages level. I don't know what I can do in this way. I am thinking about some courses or internships, but I don't know what can help me more, specially because I want to find something in Bruxelles. Any suggestions or any information will help a lot.
Thank you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | interpreting | Jun 29, 2011 |
Hi,
To interpret, you need to be pretty fluent in two languages . That is unlikely to happen for you unless you go to live somewhere where either French or English is the dominant language, and where nobody speaks your mother tongue. Give yourself a good year or two, maybe more. I do not recommend any bilingual area, though, like some places in Canada, because you'll end up truly mastering neither French nor English.
On the other hand, unidirectional interpretation, ... See more Hi,
To interpret, you need to be pretty fluent in two languages . That is unlikely to happen for you unless you go to live somewhere where either French or English is the dominant language, and where nobody speaks your mother tongue. Give yourself a good year or two, maybe more. I do not recommend any bilingual area, though, like some places in Canada, because you'll end up truly mastering neither French nor English.
On the other hand, unidirectional interpretation, into your mother tongue, is a bit less problematic, but you still have to be able to understand pretty much everything in the source language.
My advice: read, read, read: literature, advertising, news, novels, poetry, whatever you can get your hands on. And listen: movies, songs, readings, Youtubes, audiobooks, etc. etc. Pick one language, English OR French, whichever one you're already strongest in, and stick with that. ▲ Collapse
| | | | kmtext
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:28
English
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| Good advice from Werner | Jun 30, 2011 |
Another thing that might help in terms of familiarity with English/French is to use the SDH subtitles on movies. They're invaluable when it comes to slang and regional accents.
| | | | Williamson 
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:28
Flemish to English
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r3amo wrote:
Hello. I graduated a foreign language university: English and French. My mother tongue is Romanian. My English and French level is still not exellent. I want very much to become an interpreter. I am going to do my Master next year and till then I want to improve as much as possible my languages level. I don't know what I can do in this way. I am thinking about some courses or internships, but I don't know what can help me more, specially because I want to find something in Bruxelles. Any suggestions or any information will help a lot.
Thank you.
If your mother-tongue is Romanian, you should broaden the knowledge of Romanian by reading everything you can.
Basically, you'll interpret from English and French into Romanian.
The advice the top schools give is to do comparative reading of quality newspapers and magazines like the Economist,the independant (=online) and le Monde every day.
You should also train your memory.
Admission tests often consists of reproducing a three minute speech without taking notes.
To find somethingin Brussels: where and what?
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| Improve your active knowledge | Jun 30, 2011 |
The key to interpreting is having a very, very broad active knowledge of the language. You don't have the time to get a dictionary, so you have to have a very large vocabulary and you must speak very fluently. Try to find some people who are willing to Skype with you in English/French in order to force yourself to speak these languages, if you're unable to go spend six months in the UK or France/Belgium. Polyglot might be a start, though it very often has people with very basic language skills. ... See more The key to interpreting is having a very, very broad active knowledge of the language. You don't have the time to get a dictionary, so you have to have a very large vocabulary and you must speak very fluently. Try to find some people who are willing to Skype with you in English/French in order to force yourself to speak these languages, if you're unable to go spend six months in the UK or France/Belgium. Polyglot might be a start, though it very often has people with very basic language skills. Search the Internet and you'll find something. Also read, and watch foreign language films. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 01:28
Spanish to English
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| Don't forget | Jun 30, 2011 |
... a lot will depend on knowing how to listen. That's not the same as learning a language by looking at it (i.e., reading). Reading will give you a good idea of how it probably SHOULD be spoken, but what you actually hear and how you deal with it is critical. Movies are a good idea, but the spontaneous language in the streets will teach you more and help you get comfortable with many ways, registers and modes of speaking. Perhaps you'll never get to be an active speaker (at any rate, not the sa... See more ... a lot will depend on knowing how to listen. That's not the same as learning a language by looking at it (i.e., reading). Reading will give you a good idea of how it probably SHOULD be spoken, but what you actually hear and how you deal with it is critical. Movies are a good idea, but the spontaneous language in the streets will teach you more and help you get comfortable with many ways, registers and modes of speaking. Perhaps you'll never get to be an active speaker (at any rate, not the same way as a native), but knowing what is going on in the mind of the native helps a lot.
Your knowledge of your own native language will be key -- particularly how you speak in it, paraphrase, extemporize and build up its expressive range. ▲ Collapse
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