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Consecutive interpreting: A short course

Article in The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research · July 2021
DOI: 10.12807/ti.113202.2021.r03

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Alireza Bonyadi
Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Branch, Iran
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 Book Review

Andrew Gillies (2019). Consecutive

The International Journal for
Translation & Interpreting
interpreting: A short course. New York:
Research
[Link]
Routledge, +259 pp. ISBN: 978-1-138-12324-
3 (PBK).

Reviewed by Alireza Bonyadi

Islamic Azad University, Urmia Branch, Iran
[Link]@[Link]

DOI: 10.12807/ti.113202.2021.r03

Consecutive interpreting is the most popular type of interpretation work, and its
highly cognitively complex nature usually poses challenges for student
interpreters (Arumí Ribas, 2012). However, compared with the theoretical
issues of translation and interpreting (with which the bulk of the published
literature is concerned), the practical aspects of consecutive interpreting have
not been paid due attention. As “a response to the almost total lack of published
material on consecutive [interpreting] as a whole” (Gillies, 2019, p. 13) and also
based on the author’s 20-year experience in reading, practising, and teaching
consecutive interpreting, the recently published Consecutive interpreting: A
short course has broken down consecutive interpreting pedagogically into its
basic components. It provides student interpreters and their trainers with “a
step-by-step guide towards the acquisition of a sound consecutive interpreting
technique” (ibid, p. 13), tackling key interpretation skills such as presentation,
analysis, note-taking and reformulation, as well as advanced market-related
skills. Written in an accessible and reader-friendly fashion, the book is intended
to be used as a complement to formal classroom education in consecutive
interpreting.
Consecutive interpreting: A short course has been divided into two main
parts. The basic skills of consecutive interpreting – namely listening and
analysis, note-taking, short-term memory operations and coordination of these
tasks – have been explored in part one, comprised of nine chapters. Part two
focuses on practical and real-life assignments, and consists of five chapters that
explore note-reading, remembering, and production skills. Each chapter
concentrates on a particular skill and offers techniques for its realization. The
chapters include various features such as a convenient blue summary box (In
this chapter we will look at: …), exercises, notes, further readings and summary.
There are also three appendixes, an extended glossary, a six-page bibliography,
and a complete index of subjects and scholars.
After initially defining consecutive interpreting, the first chapter,
Introduction, attempts to elaborate on the following questions: (1) When is
consecutive interpreting used? (2) Who can be a consecutive interpreter? (3)
Why should one learn consecutive? and (4) Should we learn consecutive before
simultaneous? Through addressing such questions, the author aims at
establishing the prerequisite attributes to study interpreting. The chapter

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proceeds with an argument on assessing the quality of a given segment of
interpreting in reference to the International Association of Conference
Interpreters (AIIC) classification.
Based on the premise that public speaking is one of the sub-skills of
consecutive interpreting, Chapter 2, Presentation, sets about tackling the skills
required to deliver an effective speech. The author offers some
recommendations on improving this skill: using proper posture, (standing
/sitting), techniques in speech delivery (eye-contact, voice-modulation tuning,
intonation, controlling nervousness) are all discussed and illustrated with
figures. From a career-oriented perspective, Gillies emphasises that observance
of the recommended techniques can help student interpreters maintain a
professional demeanour.
The third chapter, Consecutive without notes, is concerned with
information recall – an understandably daunting task for interpreting students.
Having clarified the three kinds of memory – namely echoic memory, short-
term memory and long-term memory – the chapter suggests a number of
information processing techniques that allow interpreters to recall far more than
they would otherwise be able to do. It is hoped that through use of the suggested
techniques, interpreters would be able to develop their memory into a powerful
tool that removes the need for note-taking. The chapter concludes by presenting
a speech for which different combined prompts have been used for recalling the
embedded information.
Acknowledging that “analysis is a huge part” (p. 52) of consecutive
interpreting, Chapter 4 covers techniques for analysing and grafting speech
content into its basic structures for schematising on a single page.
Corresponding analysis techniques such as structural breakdown, mind-
mapping, sections, mini-summaries, section diagrams and recognizing and
splitting ideas, are introduced and elaborated upon. Furthermore, each
technique is followed by some practical exercises to be done by students in their
interpreting classes. The deliberate act of analysing a speech through the
aforementioned techniques helps reinforce how interpreters remember a text,
and ultimately assists in pursuing the end goal of interpreting a speech from
memory competently and with good presentation.
Chapter 5, Preparation and practice, initially presents guidelines on
preparing topics for interpreting purposes by suggesting strategies that both
increase students’ general knowledge on topics and ensure prompt access to
terms and expressions in any given topic area. The chapter finishes by
discussing ways of structuring practice sessions, and covering various
examination guidelines for students to consider when delivering their
interpretation.
Chapter 6, Note-taking, exclusively discusses the fundamentals of an
efficient and effective note-taking system. As tips for saving time and note-pad
space, the chapter presents some abbreviation techniques used for getting down
the main ideas. Emphasizing the advantages of diagonal and vertical note-
taking, the chapter provides interpreting students with different ways of using
symbols for key words. Noting down textual links and distinguishing important
and less important information are the final note-taking topics addressed in this
chapter. Based on the principle that not everything the interpreter hears in the
process of consecutive interpreting should be noted down, the subsequent
chapter, Noting less, is devoted to presenting techniques for achieving this in
practice.
Considering the fact that “a one-to-one translation of a given word may not
exist” (p. 133) between two languages, and students commonly tend to depend
too closely on the source language text, Chapter 8 focuses on the issue of
reformulation (i.e. not translating word for word) in consecutive interpretation.
The chapter presents a hierarchy of reformulation techniques including the word
level, idea level, and section level. Furthermore, the twin techniques of

Translation & Interpreting Vol. 13 No. 2 (2021) 192

expansion (turning a single word into a phrase or sentence) and compression
(omitting redundancies) are elaborated upon as ways for making the
interpretation sound natural in the target language.
Chapter 9, Effort management in consecutive, discusses strategies for
easing cognitive load. Defining effort management as the art of completing all
the required tasks in consecutive interpretation, the chapter offers strategies for
use by students at different phases of the interpretation. The ultimate idea is that
by appropriately managing the amount of mental effort required to complete
each interpreting task, students will be better able to deliver a natural
interpretation.
Based on the presentation skills discussed in the second chapter, in chapter
10 the author explores techniques for coping with the realities of interpreting
practice. How to hold note-pads, ways of signalling pauses, and indicating
different tones of voice on the note-pad are all discussed and illustrated as the
kind of things used or encountered in real-life situations.
Chapter 11, Advanced analysis, focuses on two basic speech formats,
namely speeches of introduction and speeches of acceptance, that students
might encounter in their consecutive interpretations. It has been pointed out that
speakers often keep to certain conventions when delivering these kinds of
speeches. Knowledge of the respective conventions would give interpreting
students a “head start” (p. 182) in analysing such speeches and recognizing their
basic components, thereby facilitating their note-taking and, ultimately,
enhancing their interpretations.
Acknowledging that too much attention to topic and terminology usually
makes one forget about the context of an event, Chapter 12 explores the theme
of advance preparation and evokes the question of situation. Essentially this
means obtaining general information about the setting with reference to venue
(where), procedure (format) and name (speaker). It takes the view that, given
prior information on an interpreting event or situation, interpreters will be able
to better anticipate what speakers might say in advance. This, in turn, makes it
much easier for an interpreter “to understand, analyse and interpret the speech”
(p.207).
Chapter 13, Protocols and practicalities, details some practical things to
do before venturing out to perform any consecutive interpretation assignment.
This includes suggestions on interpreter dress codes and essential equipment.
Furthermore, the chapter presents some general guidelines on acquainting
oneself with any pre-established institutional protocols such as procedural rules,
the names of speakers and other significant attendees.
The possibility of adapting new technologies to interpretation is the subject
of the last chapter, titled Digitally assisted consecutive. The incorporation of
modern voice-recording devices in interpretation has added another branch to
the field: known as simultaneous consecutive or ‘SimConsec’, this mode
involves taking analogue or digital notes while listening to the speakers. The
chapter, albeit briefly, overviews the new technology including the use of digital
pens, tablets and real-time transcription techniques. After enumerating the
associated pros and cons, and noting interpreters’ present lack of confidence in
using the new technology, the chapter concludes that it would take a new
generation of interpreters to fully incorporate these new aids in consecutive
interpretation – that is to say, time will tell.
In summary, Consecutive interpreting: A short course is in general a
practical and accessible resource on consecutive interpreting for students,
teachers, practitioners, and researchers who wish to keep abreast of the latest
developments. One of the key characteristics of this user-friendly course book
is its step-by-step and detailed practical handling of the key skills in consecutive
interpreting; it can be used by students as a complementary stand-alone volume
to their formal studies. The inclusion of a variety of related illustrative exercises
aiming at helping student interpreters develop the different sub-skills of the

Translation & Interpreting Vol. 13 No. 2 (2021) 193

 consecutive mode is the other advantage that adds specific value to the book.
This is the sort of book that readers could really come to value, simply due to
the lack of published works on the topic.
Although a separate chapter has been allocated to digitally-assisted
consecutive, a salient drawback of the book is that the author has not provided
sufficient extended examples of how the most recent digital devices integrate
into the consecutive interpreting process. Accordingly, the volume might have
served the target readership even better if it had included specific topics on the
ways digital tools are used in consecutive interpreting. All in all though,
compared to the author’s initial work, Note-taking for consecutive interpreting
(Gillies, 2017), the present offering provides a more comprehensive and up-to-
date treatment that certainly adds to our knowledge of consecutive interpreting
techniques. Undoubtedly, Andrew Gillies’ Consecutive interpreting: A short
course is a book that fulfils a clear need, and constitutes an important
contribution to the field of interpreting.

References

Arumí Ribas, M. (2012). Problems and strategies in consecutive interpreting: A pilot

study at two different stages of interpreter training. Meta: journal des
traducteurs/Meta: Translators’ Journal, 57(3), 812-835.
Gillies, A. (2017). Note-taking for consecutive interpreting: A short course. New York:
Taylor & Francis.
Gillies, A. (2019). Consecutive interpreting: A short course. New York: Routledge.

Translation & Interpreting Vol. 13 No. 2 (2021) 194

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