Consecutive Interpreting

This chapter provides a general overview of consecutive interpreting (CI) from Chinese. CI as a profession originated in the early twentieth century with the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, where participants from both sides of World War I required interpreters. During this event, interpreters developed a note-taking system to facilitate their work, giving rise to one of the distinctive features of CI, known as prise de notes, or note-taking in English. This chapter is divided into three sections: the first part outlines the main characteristics of CI, with particular attention to the mental and cognitive processes of interpreters during their work. It then delves into the first distinctive element of CI, which is memory, and provides insights and exercises to train memory skills. The third and final part of the chapter offers an overview of the specific challenges of CI, highlighting the main working contexts where CI can be used. Through a detailed analysis of CI characteristics, an exploration of memory enhancement and of specific challenges in the Chinese-English language pair, this chapter thus aims to provide interpreters with a comprehensive tool to understand, address, and overcome the unique challenges associated with CI.