You might be traveling and carrying out more international business than ever before, and while it’s beneficial to knock down cultural barriers and unlock new revenue opportunities, you do have to overcome language differences to achieve this. Many opt for the logical choice to have an interpreter by their side, but are you clear if you need a consecutive or simultaneous interpreter?
These terms might be new to you, but it’s important to understand the difference so you can get the most out of your meetings or conferences. While they both get to the same outcome; letting you understand what’s being said, they do so in different ways.
What’s the key difference between consecutive and simultaneous interpretation?
With consecutive interpreting, the speaker and interpreter take turns. The speaker says a few words, stops, then the interpreter gives you the translation, before the speaker starts again. And so on.
With simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter translates for you constantly while the speaker is talking, essentially translating over the top of the speaker.
It’s as simple as that. Think of it as one after the other, or both at the same time, and you’ll now recognise instances where you’ve seen both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation in action.
For example, you may have seen delegates at the United Nations listening to a speaker through an ear piece, where an interpreter is giving them a simultaneous translation in their own language. And you’ve likely also seen those set-piece meetings of two foreign leaders, sitting next to each other with an aid either side, who’ll be giving them consecutive interpretation.
Which form of interpretation is best for you?
With that all clear, you must drill down a little more on typical applications for consecutive and simultaneous interpretation before deciding which is right for you. There are three key factors to take into consideration: occasion, practicality and cost.
You might assume simultaneous interpretation is the way to go every time – it’s surely quicker and effectively real time, and will make things smoother, right? Well, that may be so in some cases, but consider this:
Equipment.
How will you cope with two people speaking at the same time in the same room? Does the interpreter whisper in your ear? This is fine if you’re the only person needing to hear the translation. But if there’s a group of you, this wouldn’t work. Instead, your interpreter would need to be in a sound-proof booth where he can hear the foreign speaker, who’d need to speak into a radio microphone, and then translate for you and colleagues wirelessly through to your headphones or ear pieces.
Cost.
All that equipment is expensive, but there’s also the higher interpretation costs. Because simultaneous interpreting takes so much concentration, the translator should only do it for 20 or 30 minutes at a time before having to take a break. So, you’d need to hire two people because they’d need to rotate.
Practicality.
If you’ve got the money and the equipment to have simultaneous interpretation for you and your colleagues, then great. But it’s rarely practical. It’s fine if you’re staging a conference, with one speaker addressing the audience, or if you have a long, one-way presentation. But if you’re hosting a business meeting, imagine the chaos of simultaneous interpretation – you’ll be having a two-way conversation with your foreign business visitor or host, which then must become a four-way conversation because both would have simultaneous interpreters working at the same time!
Now it becomes clear that in the great majority of cases, you’ll want a simple, traditional consecutive interpreter.
Here’s a summary of where each technique would work best.
Consecutive interpreter:
– One-to-one meetings
– Interviews
– Small business meetings
– Press conference
Simultaneous interpreter:
– Conferences
– Presentations conveying a lot of information
