More on this

Following the previous post, the major issues for specialized OPI with variable subjects and themes are both matters of interaction pattern detection/anticipation, and strategies at the preparation stage on grabbing quickly the big picture on subjects for which one may not be familiar, these strategies being implicitly guided by the forecast on possible patterns of interaction to take place during the session. The setting is an assignment in a context framed by foreseeable patterns of interaction, covering a specialized subject, with scarce if no clues on the exact requisite of one side of the people who will communicate. This happens to me most often in interview type of interactions where the interpreter is given the theme of the discussion - think about an industry name - without any list of questions or further hints on what will be asked. The literature would stress that in order to maximize the delivery of the interpreter, she needs to be provided ahead of time with enough materials and guidance. Unfortunately, the expectation in real life is for the interpreter to be ready to deliver without a clear map, and with heavy fog on the windshield. Computer aided cruising device is missing. Teaching clients what is best for them - and for the interpreter - is probably a dream never to be achieved with the macdonaldization of everything. As for patterns, for those interactions taking place within redundant frameworks, the interpreter needs to be aware of these through experience, and frame these in the mind to properly guide anticipation of what kind of questions may pop up, and follow the track of anticipation to devise the best strategy to learn ahead of time the big picture of the subject that may be new, and the possible specific sub-themes to appear in the discussion. In a conversation between an interviewer and a expert on a specific domain, chances are high that the focus of the conversation will reflect something related with current tends and events. As a matter of fact and in the context I am familiar with, skimming through news articles to know the current buzz within that theme is a requisite although the margin of anticipation error is still vast and cannot be narrowed without a list of questions. The capacity to frame the big picture of specific subjects - conversations seldom go beyond one hour - is therefore a daily concern for those interpreters involved in such type of OPI delivery. Working on the capacity to anticipate is therefore a major subject to probe into.