庆祝中越建交68周年酒会外事口译实践报告

Abstract

The past 40 years have witnessed the rapid development of China’s economy since it has initiated the reform and opening up policy. Great success and achievements have been made across the board as evidenced by the frequent foreign exchanges and its overall national strength. Thanks to the advantages in their labor, land and raw materials, countries in Southeast Asia have also seen a substantial increase in their economy. The geographical proximity, common culture and history and interdependent revolutionary struggle lay a solid foundation for mutual trust and also constitute an eternal theme between China and Vietnam. Adhering to the leadership of Communist Party, embarking on the socialist road and initiating reform and opening up policy also present the commonalities. 2017 marks the 68th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. Accordingly, Vietnam embassy to China hosted a celebration party for the 68th anniversary of diplomatic relations establishment between China and Vietnam, which was sponsored by the China Pacific Construction Group (CPCG).

This report is based on the Chinese to English consecutive interpreting of a celebration party for the 68th anniversary of diplomatic relations establishment between China and Vietnam. This task was fulfilled under both the formal and relatively informal interpreting setting. Envoys, delegates and people across a broad-spectrum from both China and Vietnam served as audience in the first phase. Senior officials in CPCG and all the diplomats in Vietnam embassy served as audience in the second phase. The pressure in the official diplomatic situations in phase one and colloquial expressions as well as some terminologies in phase two present the biggest challenges for the field interpreting. Discussion on the processing of official diplomatic discourse, repetitions, interpreters’ pressure were focused in this report.

Key Words:China;Vietnam; consecutive interpreting; foreign affairs situation; management strategies

摘要

中国在过去40年改革开放政策的推动下经济蓬勃发展，对外交流日益频繁，综合国力的迅速增强，各项事业取得全面进步。与此同时，东南亚国家凭借其劳动力、土地、原材料等优势，经济上也取得巨大腾飞。越南是中国的友好邻邦，相邻的地理位置和相通的文化历史以及唇齿相依的革命斗争是中国和越南建立互信的良好基础，也是中越两国关系发展的不变要素。同时，坚持共产党领导、走社会主义道路和实行改革开放也是两国的共同点。2017年是中越建交68周年，在此背景下，越南社会主义共和国驻中华人民共和国大使馆特举办“庆祝中越建交68周年”活动。本次活动由笔者所在公司——太平洋建设集团全权资助。

此报告为笔者的口译实践报告，是基于笔者为“庆祝中越建交68周年活动所做的一次汉英交替传译。该活动为加强两国交往、促进两国友谊、增进两国了解奠定坚实基础。此次口译实践分为正式场合和非正式场合下的交替传译。同时此次活动的对象前期为各国使节、代表、中国和越南各界社会人士；后期为太平洋建设高管和越南使馆各外交官。活动形式前期官方、正式，后期轻松、随意。前期的正式外交场合与后期的口语化会谈以及一些外事术语是此次口译实践的难点。此报告重点探讨与分析了对原语中正式外交场合话语、重复现象、译员压力的处理策略，并与此次实践相结合，因而具有一定的参考价值。

关键词：中国；越南；交替传译；外事场合；处理策略

Contents

Abstract.......................................................................................................................... I 摘要 .............................................................................................................................. II 1. Description of the Interpreting Task (1)

1.1 Background of the Task (1)

1.2 Features of the Task (2)

2. Description of the Interpreting Process (4)

2.1 Pre-interpreting Preparation (4)

2.2 Interpreting Process (4)

2.3 Post-interpreting Quality Control (5)

3. Case Analysis (7)

3.1 Theoretical Basis (7)

3.2 Difficulties in the Interpreting (9)

3.3 Interpretation Strategies and Methods (14)

4. Summary (20)

4.1 Problems to be Solved (20)

4.2 Implications (20)

References (23)

Acknowledgements (25)

Appendix I The Source Text and the Target Text（1） (26)

Appendix II The Source Text and the Target Text（2） (30)

Appendix III The Source Text and the Target Text（3） (36)

1.Description of the Interpreting Task

1.1 Background of the task

China has impressed the world with an enviable development trajectory over the past 60 years since the founding of new China, particularly over the past 40 years since the initiation of reform and opening-up. Among others, China has gained strong momentum economically and in terms of overall national strength, and social programs progressed across the board. Overall, never before in history has China been so vibrant and creative. On the other hand, the economy of Vietnam is also booming at an unprecedented speed with rapid development of its relationship with China. 2017 marks the 68th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. It gives the author great honor to have the opportunity to provide a consecutive interpretation service for the celebration party. With geopolitical proximity between China and Vietnam, the exchanges of all fields are increasing dramatically since the diplomatic relationship was established between the two countries. The economic trade, social and cultural activities as well as people to people exchanges between the two countries have generated a huge demand for both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation services.

To solve the challenging difficulties and problems resulted from the foreign affairs consecutive interpretation, the interpreter together with other project members interpreted several foreign affairs activities, including the 2017 Celebration Party for the 68th Anniversary of China-Albania Diplomatic Relations, Seminar on Investment Opportunities in India and some other formal and official foreign affairs activities. Among others, 2017 Celebration Party for the 68th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Establishment between China and Vietnam was selected as the source text of this interpretation practice report.

Since the interpretation material is an authoritative work which significantly values accuracy and outcome, there are numbers of foreign affairs terms and professional knowledge on the spot, which bring in many barriers to the interpretation practice. Moreover, the Vietnam ambassador delivered the speech in Chinese with a strong Vietnamese accent, which made it even more difficult to interpret the SL into TL. In fact, all the barriers and difficulties found in this interpretation practice are common but typical

in the interpreting of foreign affairs contexts, so it’s necessary and meaningful to summarize and solve the problems.

Based on the interpretation text, this report aims to summarize the obstacles and difficulties appearing before, during and after the interpretation process, and analyze the interpreting skills adopted in the interpretation practice in terms of Daniel Gile’s Effort Models Theory (Gile 1992). With vivid examples and a sound theoretical foundation, the report would provide useful references for future interpretation of this kind. The report consists of four parts, namely the description of the interpretation task, the description of the interpretation process, the case study and the summary of the interpretation practice.

1.2 Features of the task

Foreign affairs have been a hot issue for thousands of years since people consciously started to exchange ideas, culture, social customs and goods with other countries. In the development of Southeast Asia, numerous exchanges have taken place, especially with their foreign counterparts in foreign affairs activities. Thus, interpreters play a vital role during the process, which requires an in-depth version and background knowledge of all the social protocol and political terms. The material of this interpretation practice report mainly focused on the Celebration Party for the 68th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Relations Establishment between China and Vietnam, especially for the statement delivered by His Excellency the Vietnam Ambassador to China. Among all the consecutive interpretation of this kind, the interpreting material chosen in this report and its analysis are regarded as typical and classic in this field.

A speech to welcome all the distinguished guests and ambassadors from other countries delivered by Vietnam Ambassador to China and its corresponding interpretation scripts have been selected as the source text. The interpreter has every reason to prepare for the unfamiliar field in advance and should be adapt to this language style as soon as possible. The interpreter is in charge of the consecutive interpretation of this celebration party. The source text chosen in this interpretation practice contains several parts of the speech.

The selected source text could be divided into two parts, namely the opening statement delivered by the ambassador and the following small meeting talks. The analysis of this interpretation practice provides valuable references for the foreign affairs

C-E consecutive interpretation. Objectivity, consistency and loyalty (Franz 2004:147) are three main principles to follow in the interpretation process. The source text is also of typical linguistic features. Just like other texts of their kind, it consists of some terms and jargons. Besides, the speaker uses some examples to make the key points more logical and clearer.

2. Description of the Interpreting Process

2.1 Pre-interpreting preparation

Since the interpretation took place in real condition, which differs from those interpreting teaching material, it is all the more important and necessary to analysis the problems before the interpreting process.

As is required by the China Pacific Construction Group (CPCG), which is the sponsor of this celebration party, the whole interpretation process should be completed as perfectly as possible. This has made the interpreter face tremendous pressure to prepare for the task. Hence, the interpreter worked out a timetable for the interpretation assignment. It could be divided into three parts, namely the pre-interpretation stage, the on-going interpreting process and the post-interpretation quality control.

Since the interpretation material is a professional text of official statement, the interpretation practice must be completed accurately as possible as one can.“To interpret, one must first understand” (Seleskovitch 1991:201). In order to fulfil the task well, the interpreter conducted much preparations in advance, including selecting materials, consulting related reference books, discussing with the partner and making an interpretation schedule.

Before starting to interpret the speech, the interpreter spent several days to select the background information of this activity, including the basic situation about Vietnam, the relationship between China and Vietnam and the official titles and positions of the potential present guests. Besides, the interpreter also selected and listed a large number of foreign affairs and diplomatic protocol terms. Through this process, the interpreter had an overall concept of this language style. Moreover, the interpreter highlighted possible key terms and abbreviations so as to make the later interpretation process more efficient.

To better understand the upcoming speech, the interpreter turned to some reference books of this field. The interpreter also consulted some dictionaries of foreign affairs and diplomatic protocol terms, including Foreign Affairs Practice published by Ji Nan University Press (Li 2014), the online database CNKI and other reference books.

Two interpreters were in charge of the whole party activities. Hence, it was necessary to discuss with the partner in advance. After scanning the related books, the interpreter negotiated with the partner and reached a consensus about the terms and the expressions

in the practice. Later, the interpreter and his partner made a simple terminology list together. The high profile, high-standard formal official party requires accuracy and fluency in the interpretation.

The pre-interpretation stage covers selecting materials, consulting related reference books and discussing with the partner. Moreover, the interpreter highlighted the terms and the possible difficulties that may appear during the process of interpretation.

2.2 Interpreting process

The second stage is the on-going interpreting process, which is the most important part. In this period, the interpreter exchanged his views with the partner on difficulties in the interpretation initially. Later, the interpreter conducted the consecutive interpreting process according to the sponsor’s requirements as well as the accumulated interpretation skills. Upon the opening of the celebration party, the ambassador delivered an official and formal opening ceremonial speech initially and then some other distinguished guests also delivered welcoming speeches. During this part, the interpreter followed the pace of the ambassador and interpreted SL into TL meticulously and conscientiously. Possibly in order to show respect, the ambassador delivered the statement in Chinese. Though with Vietnamese accent, the interpreter still managed to interpret the whole process. Apart from trying to analyze the syntax and combing through the logical relations for each paragraph, the interpreter also had to utilize different strategies to make the delivery as smooth and accurate as possible.

For this part, with all the distinguished guests and top officials presented there, the interpreter faced huge pressure. How to complete the task perfectly and deal with the pressure appropriately were major problems for the interpreter ahead of this task. Fortunately, the interpreter handled the whole interpretation well relatively. Besides, for the sake of future relearning and analysis, the interpreter also recorded the whole interpretation as well as the original sound. This laid a foundation for post-interpreting quality control.

2.3 Post-interpreting quality control

The last stage is the post-interpretation period. After the interpretation, the interpreter listened to the suggestions and advice from the audience and mainly from the sponsor-

CPCG, where the interpreter had long been working in. These precious suggestions will become a priceless experience accumulated in the author’s future career development. Thanks to the previous recording file, the interpreter listened to the recorded tape over and over again and analyzed the pros and cons. Some excellent expressions and fluent deliveries were written down in notebook. Several days later, the interpreter practiced the text again and saw the improvement. Actually, this is not the first time for the interpreter to accumulate the lessons drawn from the daily interpretation practice. This step is so important for one to conduct further study and future learning. Besides, the interpreter spent much time reviewing the interpretation text, finding the challenging difficulties and putting file in order so as to improve his expressions and accumulate experience for the next time.

3. Case Analysis

3.1 Theoretical basis

“As a cultural mediator, one will need to be a specialist in negotiating understandings between cultures” (Katan 2004:35). The interpretation of the source text would provide references for future interpretation of this kind. Therefore, it is necessary to present the interpretation process, interpretation barriers and interpretation skills for future references. Furthermore, the interpreter takes Daniel Gile’s theory of Effort Models as the theoretical basis, trying to solve the interpretation difficulties from a different angel. The introduction of the theory gives a new look to the interpretation practice, which would impress other interpreters or scholars and provide some fresh ideas for their researches.

Due to the complex and formal linguistic features of the source text, the interpretation process is not that easy as expected. Although adequate preparation had been made before the task, the interpreter still met some difficulties and bottlenecks during the interpreting process. Fortunately, under the guidance of Daniel Gile’s theory of Effort Models, the interpreter had overcome most of the barriers and worked out some useful interpretation skills and strategies for such source text. In this report, Daniel Gile’s theory of Effort Models is chosen as the theoretical basis.

Daniel Gile proposed Effort Models to help interpreters better understand the “difficulties of interpreting and select appropriate strategies and tactics” (Gile 1992:89), which covers two points listed below:

1.“Interpreting requires some sort of mental ‘energy’ that is only available in limited supply”;

2. Interpreting “takes up almost all of this mental energy, and sometimes requires more than is available, at which times performance deteriorates” (Gile 1995:104).

It is necessary for the interpreter to find a balance among different capacities as each interpreting phase represents an effort. According to Gile, an interpreter faces mainly four efforts:

(1) Listening and Analysis Effort: It includes all “comprehension-oriented operations, from the analysis of the sound waves carrying the source-language speech

which reach the interpreter’s ears through the identification of words to the final decisions about the ‘meaning’ of the utterance” (Gile 1995:105). This effort is in relationship with understanding;

(2) Memory Effort: Acting “more as a storage mechanism where information is temporarily kept before further processing takes place”(Schjoldager 2008:89);

(3) Production Effort: In the consecutive interpreting process, this effort could be divided in two production phases. The interpreter listens to the SL speech and then takes notes belong to the first phase. The second phase is TL speech delivery (Gile 1995:107);

(4) Coordination Effort: The interpreter should carry out the interpretation in the most favorable conditions. This is why the Coordination Effort plays such an important role. “The art of smooth interpretation is based on the art of smooth coordination. Even if sometimes these Efforts overlap, coordination actually finds the balance between all the factors.” (Kriston 2012:201).

Accordingly, an interpretation (I) can be concluded with the following equation: Phase Ⅰ: CI = L+ N + M + C

(1) CI = L + N + M + C,

It can be seen that the first phase of the whole interpretation process consists of the following parts, namely L, N, M and C. For each part, one needs to disseminate his efforts in accordance with varied interpreting situations.

Thus, it can be said that the total requirements (TR) for the interpretation can be listed as below:

(2) TR = LR + NR + MR + CR,

where R stands for requirements. The whole interpretation task requires efforts from all parts. As a result, the interpreter should satisfy the following condition for a smooth interpretation process:

(3) TA > TR,

where TA represents the total available capacity. That means the interpreter himself should bear a capacity which will exceed the overall requirements. Only in this way could the whole interpreting process smooth and as much perfect as possible. Consequently,

(4) TA > LR + NR + MR + CR,

Upon this replacement, the overall capacity of an interpreter should include but not limited to the aspects of L, N, M and R. In some cases, one has to practice his ability to surpass the total requirements. Only by doing this will make the interpreter feel at ease and have full confidence in finishing the task.

Should conditions (2) and (3) not be fulfilled, the interpreter could experience mental saturation, which exerts a negative effect on the interpreting performance.

Phase Ⅱ: CI= Rem+ Read + P,

where Rem represents for remembering effort, Read stands for note-reading effort and P means production.

These six capabilities (L, N, M, C, Rem, Read and P) clearly reflect the qualities the interpreters need to equip with. Focusing more on one effort will definitely influence other efforts. Uneven distribution of these efforts will, to some extent, influence the performance of interpretation.

3.2 Difficulties in the interpreting

Although the interpreter has made full preparation, there are still some difficulties and bottlenecks in the process of interpretation. The problems can be divided into following kinds, namely the pace and heavily accented Chinese of the speaker; foreign affairs terms and jargons; the repetition of words and pet phrases; the distribution of attention and quick response and the short-term memory and the note-reading ability.

First of all, the interpreter came across problems in pace and heavily accented style of Chinese. The interpreter encountered intensive formal information mainly for two parts, namely the intensive political terms and long sentences. For itself, it can be interpreted precisely after due consideration. Due to the fast speech delivered by the speaker, it’s not as easy as the interpreter had expected. For example: “越中关系中的可喜成果以及各自国家的稳定发展给我们带来对越中关系本着16字方针和4好精神更蓬勃、更务实的新发展阶段的期待与信心。”On usual occasion of common pace of the delivery, the interpreter has enough time to interpret precisely or even to adjust the framework in accordance with grammatical structure. While in real conditions, the interpreter had no time to take all the details in note. Besides, the interpreter forgot what the “16” and “4” meant at that moment though he had taken notes before. That means the

interpreter had to abandon some inconsequential information without impacting the comprehension of the audience. The interpreter ultimately interpreted as follows: “The great achievement reflected in the China-Vietnam relations as well as the stable development of our own country made us expectant and confident for (to) the more vibrant and pragmatic new development phase of China-Vietnam relations”. The interpreter has transmitted the information, and made the foreigners accessible on the whole although it can be clearly identified that“16字方针”and “4好精神”have been omitted.

Secondly, as it mentioned above, the source text belongs to a specific field with many political terms and names of organizations. During the interpretation practice, the interpreter found many political terms which can be easily confused in his delivery to the TL.

Example 1

Source Text: 尊敬的中国人民政治协商会议全国委员会副主席王家瑞同志，尊敬的中华人民共和国外交部部长助理陈晓东同志，尊敬的中国共产党中央对外联络部部长助理王亚军同志，尊敬的各位大使、驻华使团的同事们。

Target Text: His Excellency the Vice Chairman of National Committee CPPCC, Mr.

Wang Jiarui, His Excellency the Assistant of (to) the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PRC, Mr. Chen Xiaodong, His Excellency the Assistant to the Central Foreign Liaison Department of CPC Central Committee, Mr. Wang Yajun, Distinguished Ambassadors and Colleagues in the Diplomatic Corps.

One cannot prepare all the political terms even with full preparation. However, if the interpreter deliberately omitted these jargons, the interpretation delivery would be farfetched and strange. Especially for this diplomatic and official situation, the title of each leaders and their names is of great importance, which cannot be omitted. After all, this is the statement delivered by his excellency the ambassador. It should be noted that the title of every leaders “should be interpreted as precisely as possible” (Li 2006:49).

Example 2

Source Text:越南与中国在联合国、世界贸易组织、亚太经合组织、亚欧会议、中国－东盟、澜沧江－湄公河合作等国际和地区框架内保持密切配合。2017年是东盟成立50周年，而今年，东盟与中国将庆祝建立战略伙伴关系15周年。

Target Text: Vietnam has maintained close cooperation with China in some international and regional framework, for example the UN, WTO, APEC, Euro-Asia Meeting (ASEM), China-ASEAN, Lan Cang-Mekong (River) Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting. 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN. This year marks the 15th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between ASEAN and China.

In the source text, we could clearly see difficulties in the interpretation of names or abbreviations of some international and regional organization. The lack of adequate background information generated small mistakes. For example, the interpreter took it for granted and interpreted“亚欧会议”as Euro-Asia Meeting. Thanks to the post-interpreting and quality control, the interpreter checked it as ASEM. The official full name of“澜沧江-湄公河合作（领导人会议）”is Lan Cang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting with no “River” in between. The full name of these abbreviations should also be memorized (Yin 2005:124) though the audience could recognize the general meaning, this has proposed a warning to the vast interpreters that the learning of main international and general organization is also a must for accumulation.

Thirdly, it required more cognitive efforts for the interpreter to comb through the logic of the speakers in terms of the repetition of words and pet phrases. Therefore, colloquial expressions as well as repetitions of information would bring some difficulties.

Example 3

Source Text:大使：得到你们集团的大力的支持的，这对我们是非常重要的，呵呵，因为在这边得到你们祖国的朋友们的支持，完成了我们的工作呢。嗯，去年呢，你的额，儿子啊去越南参加APEC峰会的，当时因为呢，额，APEC峰会呢，是非常紧张的，我们多次安排，他呢，非常高兴，有机会会见我们的总理。其实呢，额，我们的总理，他非常关心中越的关系，他负责的经济啦，所以也非常希望今后你有空的话，亲自带团，嗯，访问越南。

Target Text:The Ambassador: It’s important for us to obtain the great support of your company. We could not fulfill our task without the support of our friends in China.

Last year, you son, Mr. Yan Hao was invited to attend the APEC summit. The time was limited and we rearranged the schedule for many times. He was so delighted to have the opportunity to meet our Premier. Actually, our premier was concerned about the relationship between China and Vietnam. He is in charge of Vietnamese economy.

It is my wish that you could lead a delegation to visit Vietnam.

For this part, the ambassador held a conference and negotiation meeting with the founder of CPCG. Thus, it is not as formal and official as the ambassador’s speech. The tone became more casual and mild. Obviously, “嗯”、“额”、“呢”or“啊”in this example are language fillers of the speaker. Just as what we can see in the target text, the interpreter has further explained and even paraphrased the core meaning.

Example 4

Source Text:严介和先生：美国的所有经济学大家都喜欢跟我交流。先搞公路，公路啊，车，人流动起来，先流动起来，然后是铁路、港口，然后机场，一步步来。公路非常重要，中国也是先搞公路的，你看现在搞铁路了，最早也是搞公路的，搞了这么多年了，公路非常重要。越南经济要想不走弯路，就大力发展公路。高速公路、一级公路、二级公路，就是这么干。你看这么马上经济，经济基础就上来了。“要想富，先修路”啊。

Target Text:Mr. Yan Jiehe: All the economists in the U.S would like to exchange ideas with me. My opinion is that you should build expressway first and then railway, harbor and then airport. The expressway is very important. Vietnam should build its expressways, first- and second-class highways if it wants to develop its economy. “If you want to be rich, build roads first.”

It can be seen in the source text that the founder of CPCG, Mr. Yan Jiehe used many repetition words and pet phrases. The interpreter faced difficulty in integrating the general information and then delivering the interpretation. How to distribute the efforts to each part and produce a smooth and relatively accurate delivery have become one of the interpreter’s priorities.

Fourthly, interpreters should always stand in the same position with the client especially when facing political issues. Though the private small talk meeting between Vietnam Ambassador and the founder of CPCG, Mr. Yan Jiehe belongs to a causal and non-diplomatic situation, the interpreter still need to be careful in the choose of expressions so as to prevent the emergence of “unnecessary confusions and misunderstandings” (Gile 2011:118).

Example 5

Source Text:严介和先生：这个，额，我是专程参加今天这个活动的，我下午结束了还要飞深圳。我是专程来的，来呢，就是说，我还是觉得中越这个合作的潜力不够，我也不希望79年成为中越的阴影，我对中共的，对，是表示歉意的，我知道，我是了解的，我是国际化的嘛。所以，我们先从小的开始，从大使馆开始。什么时候将来不要国家财政拿钱，我们全部自己来提供大使馆赞助。

Target Text:Mr. Yan Jiehe: I’ve come all the way to attend this celebration party. I will fly to Shenzhen when this is over. The purpose of my current visit is to strengthen our cooperation. I am an international talent and I want to express my personal apology to Vietnam for 1979 affairs. So, we could start from the cooperation of embassy. We can sponsor all the expenses for the Vietnam Embassy to China.

In this source text, the speaker said “我也不希望79年成为中越的阴影，我对中共的，对，是表示歉意的，我知道，我是了解的。”Although both Vietnam and China belong to Socialist country, the interpreter “avoided the use of sensitive terms” (Lin 2004) and interpreted as following: “I am an international talent and I want to express my personal apology to Vietnam for 1979 affairs.”

Example 6

Source Text:严介和先生：我也是就想呢，把东南亚的10国，重点就想2个国家，一个马来西亚，一个越南。我就想和这两个国家深层次的合作。因为越南呢，你看，和我们一样，没有那些乱七八糟的信仰，这就发展潜力很大。像中国现在为什么这么牛，就是因为没有信仰，有信仰都很糟糕。你看印度，有信仰，他没得办法发展，什么阿拉伯地区，他没办法发展。兄弟，你可懂啊。那么越南，我们中国，我们的信仰就是科学，相信科学嘛。习主席搞的，这个发展起来，非常厉害。

Target Text:Mr. Yan Jiehe: I would like to mainly cooperate with two countries, one is Malaysia and the other is Vietnam. Similar to China, Vietnam has no belief, which generates potential for development. The reason why China develops so rapidly is that we bear no religious belief. Vietnam, just like (same to) China, believes science.

It’s important to push development though science.

Also, in this text, the speaker uses many pet phrases and repetition words. While the most difficult part in this source text is that some religious beliefs were talked about. The

interpreter had to coordinate the main information the speaker wanted to deliver first and then managed to avoid some unnecessary, “disputable and controversial information” (Yin 2005, 189).

Lastly, the most challenging part in this practice is the short-term memory and the ability to read the note-taking symbols, which tests the interpreter’s efforts distribution. Under the framework of Daniel Gile’s Effort Model, M and N namely the short-term memory and note-taking effort were applied in this process. To present his ideas in a logical and acceptable way, the speaker often employed some easier but longer examples and cases to embody the key points. This not only made the interval longer and created barriers in note-taking, but also made the interpretation process more complex. Sometimes it is hard to recognize what the note-taking symbols represent. In this case, the interpreter had to take notes while listening to the speech and memorized the whole examples and then interpreted in his own words just like telling a story.

3.3 Interpretation strategies and methods

Based on Daniel Gile’s theory of Effort Models, the interpreter has worked out solutions to most of the problems in the foreign affairs consecutive interpretation and the following small talks meeting interpretation. In the interpretation practice, the interpreter followed the theory and tried to provide corresponding expressions with fidelity and flexibility.

3.3.1 The processing of pace and accent

As for the pace of the speaker, the interpreter managed to accelerate the pace of note-taking and tried to memorize all the details. Perhaps in order to show respect to China and the vast Chinese audiences and the sponsor-CPCG, the ambassador delivered his celebration opening statement and the following small talks meeting in Chinese. Considering the accent, it is not possible to interpret all the details but the key contents. Besides, the interpreter adapted to the heavily accented Chinese later. While it is normal for one to be unaccustomed to unfamiliar voices and tones, it will be fine to gradually get used. In this case, Gile’s Comprehension Equation, where L stands for the Listening and Analysis effort, will be very helpful to the interpreter. The real challenging part is N in the first phase, namely the note-taking process. Hence, since the pace was too swift to

follow, the interpreter decided to abandon the sub-important information without impacting the meaning delivered by the speaker. It should be noted that the interpreter could give a hint to the speaker to slow down the pace of his delivery. The pace and accent belong to the vocal delivery expression. Therefore, it could not be written down as an example.

3.3.2 The processing of terminologies

In regard to the intensive terms and jargons, the interpreter takes Daniel Gile’s theory of Effort Models as the fundamental principle, trying to interpret them with his own understanding. This process can be categorized as L for Listening and Analysis. The interpreter had to analyze every proper noun that he hadn’t been involved in and paraphrased them in his own words.Terminologies could be one of the difficulties in the preparation stage and would cause psychological influence on interpreters. Thus, the interpreters should pay much attention to terminologies, since no one will be experts in all trades.

Example 7

Source Text:严介和先生：我们可以用20年前中国，都是我发明的BT，BT嘛。

我是中国BT的鼻祖，就是这样发展起来的。政府他想做的事情，他没钱，我拿钱给你做，我做好了，你以后分多少年还本付息，这就是BT嘛。就是我拿钱先做，做好了，你分多少年还本付息。我的利息都是很低的。我给越南投资，我现在表态，利息2.75，年利息2,75。有多少我给你投多少。

Target Text: Mr. Yan Jiehe: We can apply the BT model, which was invented by myself 20 years ago to these projects. The BT model means one undertake the project at the expense of himself, once done, the other should pay him the interests payment (in amortization). My (company’s) interests are low. I’d like to declare that the CPCG would invest in Vietnam with an annual interest of 2.75%.

According to Gile’s Effort Capacity Model, P (Production) in the second phase requires the interpreter to use extra-linguistic knowledge to deliver the interpretation. Thanks to the previous background information collection and accumulation, the interpreter knows the basic situation of BT model and some other construction project terminologies such as the PPP model, EPC model and BOT model. After all, C

(coordination) was also needed in this process. The interpreter had to integrate all kinds of knowledge he accumulated and coordinate other efforts so as to make the delivery smoothly. The term of“还本付息”presents a common Chinese daily word while the interpreter got stuck during the process and interpreted as “the interests payment”. Upon eventual quality control, “amortization” should be added.

Example 8

Source Text:2017年11月，中共中央总书记、国家主席习近平在十九大之后出访的首站就是访问越南并出席APEC领导人会议。两国在经贸和其他领域的合作取得许多实质性进展，双方签署了《“一带一路”和“两廊一圈”对接合作备忘录》；根据中国的统计，2017年双边贸易额达1213亿美元，增长23.4%；

两国往返的游客近700万。

Target Text:On November 2017, the General Secretary of CPC, the president Xi Jinping visited Vietnam and attended the APEC (Leaders’) Summit since the conclusion of 19th National Congress of Communist Party of China. The two countries have made substantial progress in cooperation of economy, trade and other fields. We two countries have signed Synergy Cooperation MOU for Belt and Road Initiative and Two Corridors and One Circle Principle. According to China’s statistics, the trade volume between two sides reached $121.3 billion, up by 23.4%.

And 7 million tourists were attracted between the two countries.

In this case, some common terms and phrases were often used by the speaker. The interpreter had done several interpretation practices of its kind before. Thus, it is easy to interpret these terminologies. Though there were no difficulties in this discourse, several strategies and methods in Daniel Gile’s Effort Model were used, such as short-term memory (M), remembering (Rem), note reading (Read) and production (P). It was the application of these efforts that generate a relative smooth delivery. Example 1 and Example 2 belong to this case and could be resolved through such methods. If the interpreter came across the terms for the first time, it was likely for him to interpret according to their literal meaning. Hence, it is essential for the interpreter to conduct the pre-interpretation preparation.

3.3.3 The processing of repetitions

The speaker was always organizing his thoughts while holding a small talks meeting. There are many repetitions in the Chinese language. The interpreter should consider the differences between English and Chinese. Otherwise redundancy will be a problem for delivery.

Example 9

Source Text:大使：噢，那么这非常重要。因为呢，我们现在资金的来源呢，嗯，非常重要。我非常希望在春节以后，我会去拜访您。去你们集团的总部，拜访您。然后也许1月，春节后，然后我们一位副总理负责经济来访问啦。他非常的了解资金呢，所以到时候非常欢迎你，嗯，和他见面，谈谈你们的经验啦。我们那个，额，非常感谢你们的赞助。

Target Text:The Ambassador: Oh, that’s very important for the channel of the capital.

(The channel of the capital is important.) I’m looking forward to visit (visiting) you after the Chinese New Year in the HQ of CPCG. Also, one of our vice premier (s) who is in charge of the economy will visit you. We would like to invite you to share your economic experience. After all, we are so appreciated your sponsorship.

Obviously, the source text is redundant and contains repetitions, but the key information was covered in the target text, so the delivery is fine. Interpreters are often required to make summaries or conclusions based on the source information.

Substitutions and omissions are necessary methods for interpreting in common practices. The skill of processing capacity was being used during the interpretation process.M (short term memory) and L (listening and analysis) were critical during this process. Problems and difficulties the interpreter faced in Example 3 and Example 4 also fit in with this strategy. Though this kind of redundancy caused multiple difficulties for interpreting, the interpreter only had to analyze the main meaning under the precondition of accurate delivery.

Example 10

Source Text:大使：我们现在，额，正在考虑怎么样一个，把铁路……越南中国的，现在已经连接了。但是额，那个两边的铁路还不一样。我们，是比较老一点的铁路啦。所以今后大概建立一个200公里每小时，大概一个，额，动车，