An Analysis Of Qualified Interpreters’ Qualities

Since the reform and opening-up policy was implemented three decades ago, the vigorous cooperation has been strengthened in such areas as politics, economy, culture, education, science and technology, resulting in the steady rise of China’s international position. Especially after joining the WTO in 2001, China has carried out comprehensive exchanges and cooperation with other countries. The growing economic and cultural exchanges have given birth to a huge interpreting market. Interpreters began to emerge, as the bridge of cultural communication, playing a critical role in developing mutual understanding between countries.As economic globalization promotes the interaction among people with different backgrounds, the requirement of interpreters’qualities has been heightened more than ever.Meanwhile, due to the flourish of interpreting practice, a group of high-standard, professional interpreters are in great demand in China. This situation has drawn attentions of scholars in this field. However, most of the latest studies concerning interpreter’s qualities touch upon language skills and cultural knowledge and few scholars discussed the importance of interpersonal skills and speaking skills, as they are also the two essential qualities that interpreters should possess.Under these circumstances, this thesis aims to function as a report of the liaison interpreting that the author participated in the summer of 2013 and furthermore, to give an analysis of qualified interpreters’ qualities.This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one delivers an overview of the liaison interpreting including a thorough introduction of the interpreting practice and pre-preparations that the author did before the interpreting practice took place. Chapter two elaborates the problems that the author encountered with concrete examples given. Causal analysis of the problems will also be given in this part. Chapter three discusses the strategies that the author employed to cope with the problems, namely, enhancing proficiency in listening, mastering related vocabulary, developing a quick response and accumulating extra-linguistic knowledge. Chapter four gives an analysis of what qualities qualified interpreters should possess from the perspective of his experiences and their importance will be further elaborated in this part.Hopefully this thesis can do its bit for the development of interpreting industry in China and would-be interpreters can have a better understanding of interpreting process and be more effectively trained in order to ensure success in interpretation.