British English or US English?

Dear seniors:

I list my questions about this topic below, please kindly advise:

For a CI, is it necessary to pay attention to whether the language in question (either source language or target language) is British English or US English?
Does one interpreter need to keep his/her interpretation consistent in one type, British or US English? Does it matter if an interpreter speaks a type of English which is a mixture of both?
Which is more important and popular in the market? Esp. in major international organizations, such as the UN, EU and others.

Thanks for your attention and time in advance.:-)

eu conf-interpreting accent english

asked 12 Feb '13, 19:41

Paris Si de ...
137●46●48●55

edited 13 Feb '13, 19:20

Paris, you may want to take a look at this question (http://interpreting.info/questions/2005/which-accent-for-english-as) where some aspects are already answered.

(13 Feb '13, 06:29) Delete ♦

Dear Nacho:

Thanks for your link, which is quite enlightening. Thanks again. :-)

(13 Feb '13, 07:57) Paris Si de ...

One Answer:

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Paris, here goes my take:

1) yes, it's an important part of the info one needs to do the best possible job;

if source, not only do you have identical words meaning different things (eg to table a resolution) but you most certainly do have different cultural undertones that the interpreter should be able to identify and take into account, to be able to interpret properly
if target, you do not want to use words, turns of phrase or idioms that may be misunderstood or misinterpreted by your audience, because they're from the "wrong" culture :-).. of course, audiences not being necessarily monolithic, you could find yourself "in a pretty pickle" ;-) unless going for the less-than-colourful bland common denominator...

2) I'd say consistency is always a good thing, including in language varieties :-) - that's accepting, for argument's sake, that one does have a choice ... and do not be influenced by Globish, it ain't a language! ;-)

3) ..importance and/or popularity are both subjective and depend on one's market, say in the EU British/Irish EN should be the norm, but of course a great many of those speaking and listening to EN are neither...

4) I'm afraid I don't understand, one speaks the EN one does, what exactly do you mean?

permanent link

answered 13 Feb '13, 14:55

msr
4.7k●6●9●23

Hi,MSR:

Thanks for your insight and kind instructions. They are helpful as always.

1)I understand now that in order to do a proper job, interpreters need to be equipped with language, cultural and world knowledge as much as possible, so we might diagonise, interpret and be understood properly.

2)Yes, I'd learn and find my way to consistency and varieties.

3)I got it. Many thanks.

4)Sorry that I did not express clearly. Anyway, your answer to first question already removes my doubt. So I will delete this question then.:-)

(13 Feb '13, 19:19) Paris Si de ...

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conf-interpreting ×503
english ×68
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accent ×11

question asked: 12 Feb '13, 19:41

question was seen: 3,627 times

last updated: 13 Feb '13, 19:21

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