A Report On The Liaison Interpreting Experience In Guangdong Museum

Up to date,there has been no specific definition of liaison interpreting.It can be defined from perspectives like settings,topics and mode of delivery.With respect to settings,liaison interpreting can be viewed as community interpreting,court interpreting,medical interpreting,guide interpreting,etc(Zhan Cheng,2010:2).The practice studied in this report is a liaison interpreting happening in a tourist site,namely guide interpreting.The most salient feature of liaison interpreting falls on spontaneity.For everything said is improvised,communication in liaison interpreting is far beyond prediction.The practice studied in this thesis was conducted in Guangdong museum.During the practice,the interpreter encountered several challenges.They are knowledge challenges,cultural challenges,language challenges and the speech quality of the guide.Skopos theory,a functionalist approach to study translation and interpretation,gives top priority to the purpose of translation,viewing the process of translation as dynamic not static.Translation activities should be purpose oriented and different strategies should be taken to reach the aim.The flexibility inside the theory accords to the typical challenge of liaison interpreting,spontaneous discourse.In this regard,this theory can provide solutions to the challenges appeared during liaison interpreting.With its guidance,the interpreter brought up amplification,omission,transliteration and free translation strategies to overcome the above mentioned difficulties so as to achieve the purpose of the practice.The interpreter encountered barriers and made many mistakes in this practice,but she reached the purpose of the practice.For an interpreter,he should be well-prepared before the task,be flexible in the task,adopting suitable strategies to overcome difficulties,be reflective after the task and learn related theories to support further study.