A Report On Escort Interpreting At The Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area—from The Perspective Of The Interpretive Theory

With the continuous improvement of China’s national strength and the growing cultural output,numerous foreigners are attracted to China.Although the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down tourism,China’s tourism is gradually recovering thanks to the popularity of vaccines and effective control of the epidemic outbreak.Foreign residents in China also tend to choose domestic scenic spots as their travel destinations.However,not all the scenic spots in China offer English tour guide services,and the language proficiency of bilingual tour guides is not guaranteed.If foreign tourists want to have an in-depth understanding of the culture,an ideal method is to hire a Chinese tour guide and an interpreter as escorts.Therefore,the research on escort interpretation for tourism has practical significance.The author provided an escort interpretation service for a British tourist in Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area on Sept.5,2021.The main task of the practice was to conduct consecutive interpretations of the tourist descriptions of the Leshan Giant Buddha scenic area and Mahao Cliff Tomb Museum given by two Chinese tour guides.Under the guidance of the Interpretive Theory,the interpreter had a detailed understanding of the background of the scenic spot prior to the task.At the same time,in order to improve the speed of understanding and reformulation,the interpreter translated difficult words and sentences that are possible to arise in advance.The paper conducts a detailed analysis of the theoretical framework of the Interpretive Theory and the characteristics of escort interpreting.Considering the features of escort interpreting,the interpreter consciously follows the Triangular Model in practice.The report also provides a case study of the translation techniques adopted in the process,including shift,omission,addition,and paraphrase.Through the analysis of post-translation evaluations by the client and the interpreter,the author summarizes the major findings and limitations of this practice.One of the findings is that the Interpretive Theory is instructive and meaningful to this practice.Another finding is that deverbalization is hard to achieve,but escort interpreters can refer to the on-site captions to alleviate the pressure in comprehension.The limitations are as follows.First,the tour route had not been confirmed before the trip.Second,the interpreter did not confirm the client’s understanding of the portraits.Third,the interpreter was susceptible to distractions from the surroundings.Therefore,the author puts forward suggestions for future escort interpreters,such as employing the Interpretive Theory in escort interpreting,making complete preparations,and improving language competence to ensure better reformulation.