How do you manage interference and forgetting in interpreting?

The journey of interpreters involves continuous training for skill enhancement and overall proficiency. A pivotal step for heightened memory retention was a technique used during my university days. Instructors presented incremental challenges, starting with sentences and progressing to entire articles. We recalled and articulated content in the source language, and as we advanced, the exercise included translation. The essence lies in cultivating the ability to grasp ideas over individual words, honing focus on the message conveyed by answering the fundamental questions of Who, What, Where and When. This training refines memory skills and fosters a holistic understanding, crucial for effective interpretation.

It seems that sensory memory is mostly relevant for consecutive (short or full) interpretation, during which the speaker’s gestures might actually mean a lot. Here, the interpreter’s job is to concentrate as much as physically possible while the client is speaking. I might draw some signs in my notes just to remember some non-verbal components of the speech. However, in most cases, with proper attention, these elements come naturally in your interpretation. To train for this, I would recommend doing shadowing at the earliest stage. Practice with speeches of different styles and levels of expression. Video record yourself practicing consecutive interpretation, and then it’s absolutely essential to properly analyze what you see.

Sensory memory is naturally triggered when interpreting. The interpreter is always attentive to the speaker's gestures and facial expressions, which are more often than not accompanied by a change in the voice intonation. The only improvement possible in sensory memory is for the interpreter to focus on the task at hand: Interpreting.

Short term memory (STM) is triggered in both simultaneous (SI) and consecutive (CI) interpreting. The difference is that in SI, the interpreter will memorize a name or a number (ex: 8.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide is equivalent to 587,548 smartphones charged), note it, translate it, and get done with it in a matter of seconds. However, in CI, the interpreter will use note-taking as an aid (external memory) for items such as specific data, names of organizations, dates, number etc.to revisit them at the time of rendering and free up attention space for the overall message (the story) that's being conveyed. Unlike sensory memory, STM can be enhanced by developing active and critical listening strategies.

As this subtitle says, short-term memory holds a limited amount of information for a short period of time and is crucial for interpretation because it allows you to store and process the meaning, structure, and context of the message. Last week to do interpretation I took notes to interpret from English to Spanish and vice versa to an audience. However, I realized that it is more difficult to do a consecutive interpretation if there are flaws in the original language. That is why it is important to know how to take notes and paraphrase. On the other hand, the Working memory, the Episodic memory and the Semantic memory will help to reduce those errors. Using long-term memory to activate prior knowledge and associations is vital.

In consecutive interpretation, short-term memory is primarily used for two things: to retain precise information and to remember the entire segment if it’s a short consecutive interpretation (e.g., in a factory setting). Practicing the accurate rendering of information such as lists, names, and figures is essential; there are plenty of exercises for this, or one can use online materials, either alone or with a study buddy. To help with retaining phrases in memory during short consecutive interpretation, one also needs to practice extensively and, of course, be very confident in note-taking.

Long-term memory is crucial for success in both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation. To keep your long-term memory sharp (e.g., everything an interpreter needs to remember about a subject when working with a client on a regular basis), I would recommend the following: Do not be lazy with glossaries; they help you remember important information about the subject. Subscribe to your client’s publications, follow updates on the subject, and make it part of your routine. And, of course, practice interpreting on the subject often.

Long term memory is basically passive knowledge. Interpreters acquire it through constant reading, listening to, and watching materials dealing with a variety of subject matter topics. It gets strengthened before and during interpreting assignments when interpreters pick up new terms and discover subject-matter specific expressions. For instance, when preparing for a conference about nuclear waste, an interpreter would learn and use a whole gamut of terms related to the topic. This information will remain on the backburner of the interpreter's brain, and it gets refreshed and updated every time such topic is discussed via interpretation. It goes without saying that this applies to all other topics.

To boost your working memory for simultaneous assignments, I would recommend the following: Have a good night’s sleep before the event; physical condition is important. Make sure to prepare well; this will decrease cognitive load and liberate mental resources for your working memory. During the simultaneous interpretation, visualize what you’re hearing. Use associations and mnemonic rules.

I am convinced that recording your experience is a great way to boost episodic memory. And by recording I mean recording it on paper (CV, social media accounts, as well as private reflecting on your experience), as well as recoding your interpretation on audio/video. And of course, staying in touch with your clients and colleagues will help.