خلف كواليس الترجمة الفورية / حوار مع الدكتور محمد عامر

Added: 2026-05-08

[00:00:02]Welcome to my live stream.

[00:00:06]>> Oh, thanks a lot, dear. It's such a pleasure to uh having you on board. Such a pleasure. Thanks a lot for everything for inviting me for having me on board.

[00:00:17]>> Such a great pleasure.

[00:00:19]>> Dr. Muhammad Ahmed, let me ask you please.

[00:00:23]Could you tell us a little about yourself and experience as an interpreter?

[00:00:32]>> Okay, wonderful. This is a nice question to start with. Thanks a lot for everything and hello to all of you audience. Uh so this is your brother Muhammad Amir. You better call me Amir because I prefer this name so much. So uh I'm professor of English linguistics and uh translation studies, interpreting studies as well. I work for the Egyptian Russian University as a literaturer for like uh 5 years now and I'm also um second to the uh credit uh our program at Ka University teaching translation and interpreting studies. So I have an experience of more than more than 15 13 14 15 years. I'm not counting but actually it looks like Yeah. Yeah. We're getting old because of this. Wow.

[00:01:23]>> Thank thanks that I know I look young but actually this is my experience and I'm also a professional interpreter uh since 2013. So it's like 13 years now a professional interpreter at international conferences nationally, regionally and internationally. Um a lot of things to say but actually this is this is just me.

[00:01:44]Mashallah, you're a highly experienced and lecturer. Mashallah.

[00:01:52]>> Thanks a lot. My pleasure.

[00:01:54]>> Is in in interpreting translation.

[00:02:00]>> Translation and interpreting studies.

[00:02:02]Exactly.

[00:02:02]>> Yeah. Yeah. Welcome.

[00:02:06]>> Thanks a lot.

[00:02:07]>> What are the different modes of interpreters? Yeah, we have multiple uh types and modes of interpret >> but actually Yeah, exactly. Uh we have we have multiple uh types and modes but actually we have three main modes and types of interpreting uh starting with site interpreting moving to consecutive interpreting and finally with simultaneous interpreting. So uh it's not a condition to start with site interpretation but actually if you moved quickly from site to consecutive and ending with simultaneous interpreting I think you finalized the uh triatite or the triangle of of of conference interpreting so consecutive and simultaneous of course and there's a wide difference between the three of them.

[00:02:57]>> Which one is harder for you? uh which is this is a nice question. However, um every single mode has its own difficulty, you know, and um in consecutive interpreting, you mainly depend on uh your memory, your short-term memory, your notes. This is somehow difficult. In simultaneous interpreting, you depend on your stamina, your ability to go on. In sight interpretation, you depend mainly on your awareness and your acquaintance with the subject matter. So every single uh type and mode has its own uh difficulty. I don't prefer the word difficulty by the way. I prefer to to call it challenge. It's challenging every single time. So we have we have multiple challenges.

[00:03:43]>> But yeah, but I prefer if we wanted to call a certain type of interpreting that's the most challenging. I think for me for me it's consecutive more than simultaneous. A lot of people think that simultaneous is even more challenging that than than consecutive. But consecutive if you have a weak short-term memory, if you're not able to uh return your vocab quickly, if you don't able if you're not able to um to remember a lot of words quickly, actually you are in um in a big trouble.

[00:04:14]However, in simultaneous interpreting, I believe it's way easier to be in the booth because actually it protects you.

[00:04:21]Uh another difficulty related to consecutive interpreting is mainly related with being in front of audience directly. This is one difficulty that a lot of people don't think about. So in in simultaneous interpreting you are in the booth. You are somehow somehow protected because you're not uh confronting people but actually in consecutive interpreting you're directly you are in the loop. You are in front of people. People are sitting before you and they are all looking at you. So I think this this is the most challenging thing about consecutive and for me for me at least it's the most challenging type of interping of course consecutive >> consecutive huh >> yeah yeah yeah for me for me at least consecutive >> yeah yeah I I agree with you because alarm inter interpreters say the same >> yeah exactly it's all about your ability to uh public publicly speak whether you're speaking Arabic or English doesn't matter but public speaking skills we're not good at this so actually you need to train yourself on not only linguistic skills but also public but also public speaking skills your ability to deal with pressure tension uh high pressure um a lot of situations especially with uh somehow tense audience audience would uh make fun of um uh your interpretation they can even intervene in your interpretation and we have a lot Yeah.

[00:05:49]Yeah. Exactly. Do you do >> taking note is is a challenge.

[00:05:53]>> Yeah. It's it's it's always challenging if you're taking notes uh incorrectly.

[00:05:58]But actually we have multiple uh approaches to master uh not taking skills and if you did so you'll master consecutive interpreting. But mainly your ability to remember to recall uh alternatives more than one word one alternative doesn't um is not enough at all. So you need to have like three or five or at least three or two four alternative per every single word. This is the most challenging thing. It's in Iran of course.

[00:06:30]>> Thank you doctor. But please one minute.

[00:06:32]Uh let me read uh the comments. Okay.

[00:06:37]>> Yeah sure.

[00:06:39]>> One minute. Uh hello everyone. Welcome, welcome back to my live stream. Uh hello Dr. Aam.

[00:06:53]I am so happy to see you here with us.

[00:06:57]>> Happy news you to to be with you and with Dr. Amir. Very >> thank you Dr. Muhammad. Yes.

[00:07:06]>> Wonderful presentation.

[00:07:15]If you have any question, you can ask in Arabic, in English. We don't mind.

[00:07:24]Okay. Bab, let me ask you a a question, a doctor.

[00:07:29]>> Yeah, sure.

[00:07:30]>> What ex what exactly do you do as an interpreter?

[00:07:37]>> A long story. So if you like to be an interpreter uh can actually use >> tell us tell us what goes behind that scenes.

[00:07:48]>> Yeah exactly. Uh number one you need to have uh especially is especially in interpreting profession you need to have at least B2 level and both uh speaking and listening skills. This is number one condition which I always call for.

[00:08:04]Number two, you're always you're always aware of >> doctor. I'm sorry.

[00:08:09]>> Yeah, you need you need to be at least B2 B2 level uh upper intermediate in both uh speaking speaking skills and listening skills. So actually actually this is very important because uh it would be a waste of time if you are uh way less than uh B2. It's actually >> listening skill listening skill is very important. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[00:08:35]Especially Especially in interpreting.

[00:08:37]Especially in interpreting.

[00:08:39]>> Yeah. Exactly.

[00:08:40]>> So, this is skill number one. Number one. Step number two, you need to be all aware of all the events around you. Uh doesn't matter where you live. We live in the Middle East. So, you need to be aware of what happens in the Middle East because actually you'll be assigned to interpret out a lot and assorted um interpreting events. So actually today we have politics, tomorrow we have economics, uh two days later you have um uh medicine, pharmaceutical industries, you have a lot of things. So you need to have a lot of information and to be aware of everything around you. This is step number two. Step number three, you need to read in order to acquire a lot of vocab. Yeah. And when I say a lot, this means that you can't stop reading.

[00:09:28]A lot of >> reading is a source of knowledge.

[00:09:30]>> Exactly. Not only knowledge but also to acquire vocab and I'm not only talking about ordinary vocab you need to have three to four alternative every single word because actually in circumstances like consecutive and simultaneous interpreting you will forget and I insist on it. I reiterate you will forget because you are put under pressure. You'll forget even if Yeah, exactly. Even if you know the meaning of the word, even if you uh know exactly what that word means, but you will forget. So what happens in here? You need to have one alternative, another alternative, a third alternative in order to uh to make up uh for them. This is step number three. Number four, which is very important, you need to be all aware of the interpreting events like conferences. what happens in conferences and you you need to be all aware of all your colleagues that's why I always call on um all other interpreters all colleague interpreters to be in one pool like what happens in u in LinkedIn on LinkedIn um WhatsApp groups you need to be member of every single one of them because actually we have we have a u such a it's not wide pool of interpreting so actually we need to know each So today I just knew Dr. and tomorrow I'll know you. So actually we'll bring business to each other. So actually this is what we call business.

[00:11:02]>> You're right.

[00:11:03]>> Business. Business always brings business. So actually today you know Dr. Muhammad, tomorrow you're with Dr. Two days later you have another colleague to work with. So actually you need to have a lot of soft skills.

[00:11:17]>> You're right.

[00:11:20]>> Let me get through. Yeah.

[00:11:23]>> Some some comments here, please. I'm so sorry.

[00:11:26]>> Sure.

[00:11:49]>> We are interpreters.

[00:11:51]We can actually question in English. Okay. Dr. Mah will answer you.

[00:12:06]>> Okay. Wonderful. So actually if the question in Arabic uh the answer will be in Arabic as well, isn't it?

[00:12:13]>> Okay.

[00:12:14]>> Okay. Wonderful. Whatever you want. I just want to answer those questions because they actually he look eager to >> he never asked any question but he says he says >> he's asking for interpretation.

[00:12:30]>> Yeah.

[00:12:36]>> Thanks a lot. You know you know in business you have to pay for such service.

[00:12:44]I'm I'm interpreting this >> one minute.

[00:12:48]>> Okay.

[00:12:49]>> Can I uh make a question now, Mr. Hay or?

[00:12:54]>> Yeah.

[00:12:54]>> Do I have to wait?

[00:12:58]>> Do you have any question doctor?

[00:13:00]>> Yes. Yes, please. Well, first of all, I have a comment. I'd like to thank Dr. Amir for this brilliant presentation.

[00:13:09]Uh which was very informative.

[00:13:12]Uh well of course we we know that uh uh a professional interpreter who has a teaching background uh provide with more valuable information. So >> could you speak up Dr. >> Yes through you I'd like to thank Dr. for this very informative presentation as a practition practicing interpreter as well as a uh university uh translation and interpreting studies teacher.

[00:13:47]>> Thanks a lot. I'm flattered.

[00:13:50]>> I actually it's welld deserved. Uh I followed with great interest your remarks about the importance of synonyms uh for From your experience, Dr. Amir, >> yeah.

[00:14:03]>> In teaching uh translation and uh interpreting studies, what advice would you give to your students to enrich and activate their synonym as assets in order to make use of them in practicing interpreting?

[00:14:21]>> When we start, thanks a lot for the for the very brilliant question. When we start working on this, I give certain assignments to my students.

[00:14:32]Yeah, sure. Sure. Sorry.

[00:14:35]>> Yeah. Okay. Should I interpret the question?

[00:14:40]>> Go ahead. I'm so sorry.

[00:14:41]>> Yeah. Thanks a lot. Never mind. Okay.

[00:14:43]So, when I give assignments to uh um to my students actually I ask them to extract every single word that they are not aware of or even they are hesitant about their meaning. But actually the assignment here is not about just extracting words but also to find 1 2 3 four alternative for every single word.

[00:15:05]So actually if we're discussing politics today uh now we have war in the Middle East now we have certain issues and problems but actually we need to have alternative for those words. So I can give and this the this is a very question that's that's why I wanted to answer this uh just give them uh a short video uh an intermediate level maybe a beginner level they can extract words but actually don't ask them to interpret the video uh in the first class or even the second class but ask them to make a list or a glossery of those words and not to interpret them from English into Arabic or from Arabic into English but always to bring synonyms and even antonyms. You know why? Because actually if you didn't remember the the synonym, you can know it uh out of the antonym itself. For example, I don't know the the word uh short for example, but I know that uh tall or high can be an antonym of it. So that's why we can guess the synonym. You can guess another word out of the antonym itself.

[00:16:09]So a glossery of antonyms of synonyms in the essence that's what uh start your session with session number one session number two and after that you can start uh putting your students in certain situations when they actually interpret this whether consecutively or simultaneously. I hope this answered the question.

[00:16:31]>> Thank you very much. Thank you. That were very informative. Thank you very much.

[00:16:34]>> Thanks a lot Dr. Rishan. Thanks a lot Dr. >> Yes. Right. Do you have any comment on what a doctor has said?

[00:16:45]>> Well, that that was a masterpiece from a teacher from a a university professor.

[00:16:52]Uh well, this is an excellent method especially the the method of making use of antonyms in order to to reach a synonym that you ignore. as uh I I learned this in 19 back in 1989 when I was doing my MA degree in uh at the University of Harrietwat in Edinburgh.

[00:17:17]This was a golden rule given to us by our uh professor uh Basil Hatim uh an authority in the world of interpreting translation and text linguistics. So I'm glad to hear it today after all these years from a practicing interpreter and a university professor also. Thank you very much.

[00:17:41]>> Thanks a lot. I'm flattered.

[00:17:43]>> You're welcome. Your work.

[00:17:47]>> Yeah. How do you How do you deal with radiums that have no direct equivalent?

[00:18:01]>> Wow, that's embarrassing because every single time, you know, I'm Egyptian and in Egypt we have a lot of idioms. We have idioms every single day.

[00:18:11]And I'll answer this question using one example from my own business. I was interpreting um a training for uh for African journalists at the Egyptian television and um one speaker Yeah.

[00:18:27]>> There are a lot of idioms.

[00:18:31]>> Yeah. Yeah. An Egyptian accent. Yeah. A lot of them. And he kept many idioms.

[00:18:38]I was I was I was in the booth and he was just using a lot of Egyptian uh idioms, expressions. So uh you have two solutions. Number one, you are in the paradise, you are in the Nirvana if you actually know the meaning of every single idiom that's been used in the event. But actually this is not the case every single time. However, another solution would be explaining exactly what you got from that idiom or expression. One example is that it's not an Egyptian accent or is if you don't if you don't get it.

[00:19:13]>> Yeah, exact if you don't call it. I have one example but it's not Egyptian. So actually uh one example is that a speaker said so actually you can imagine yourself in a booth.

[00:19:28]>> It's very challenging.

[00:19:30]>> You can imagine this in a booth and you have to do this immediately. So what happens in here is that you try out of the text out of the context itself to get the you know maybe 70 to 80% of the meaning in order to deliver. So actually it's a long sentence in Arabic but it can be shortered in English. So you can say um he who knows dives deeps dives deep in the knowledge or he who knows dives deep. So actually this is just about how quick how quick you are with it and this is the skill that we didn't talk about quickwitting actually this is very important your ability to deal with such expressions and idioms pretty quickly but this doesn't make us forget that you need to know a lot of expressions and idioms especially in Arabic especially in Arabic and especially if you're dealing with an accent or a dialect that you don't know um a lot of those speakers and one example one example it's not an idiom it's not an expression but actually it was difficult because of the because of the accent because of the dialect I don't know if you have uh any audience from Bahin or not but uh one speaker from Bahin and I'm Egyptian um I was interpreting after him and he just said um if you have I said in Arabic the especially in Egyptian theal even you're a Saudi you're a Saudi citizen you are a Ga citizen you don't know it so you can imagine my me in such a such a situation in Egypt and I don't know what is ambaloo and what is the gillum so I asked the man in the break >> how do you handle >> yeah what what do you mean what do you mean by that so he said he how did you handle >> ambulance So lambaloo it's an ambulance ambulance turned into ambaloo. So actually this means that you need to be aware of even the dialect of a lot of nationalities around you. If you're in Africa you need a a lot of dialects. If you're dealing with Asian people, Latin people, European people.

[00:21:50]So actually this this is pretty difficult. And you're I'm I'm talking to a Saudi man right now, but actually and you're a Gulf citizen, but you don't know what ambaloo is. So you can imagine what happened to me.

[00:22:04]>> Ambaloo. Yeah. Ambaloo. It's um a word that comes from ambulance. It's an Arabized word. And I asked him, h how did you how did you manage to to say so?

[00:22:17]>> Mr. Yeah, exactly. They change in Arabic.

[00:22:32]>> It's not English. Uh the pron pronunciation is very different.

[00:22:38]>> Yeah, exactly. And the man speak Arabic.

[00:22:41]>> I I I heard Arus.

[00:22:48]So you can put yourself in my shoes and you try to understand what happens and you are in consecutive interpreting situation.

[00:22:57]>> I didn't hear hear it very well.

[00:22:59]>> Yeah, it's it's it's it's pretty difficult and this is not even an idiom or expressions. So you can imagine idioms, expressions, um a lot of uh local words and expressions. We have a lot of those in Egypt and you can imagine what happens in Gulf in Morocco in um in in Sudan. We have a lot of dialects and accents. So it's pretty difficult.

[00:23:24]>> May I sud Sudan I think Sudanese people and Egyptian people.

[00:23:34]>> Yeah. I think uh the their their dialect is very very simple. I can understand them.

[00:23:46]>> May I make comments?

[00:23:47]>> Sure.

[00:23:49]>> Do you have Do you have any comment?

[00:23:51]>> Yes, please. Well, well, well, it seems to you that Sudanese dialect and Egyptian dialect is easy or simple because you are exposed to Sudan people and Egyptian people, especially Egyptians with their strong media, you see films and uh uh TV episodes. Uh all over the Arab world, people tend to be able to understand Egyptian dialect because of this impact of their strong media. You see me? But uh if you bring someone from Moritania, for example, we had a >> Sudan. I'm so sorry. Sudanese people and Egyptian people uh live with us in Saudi Arabia.

[00:24:35]>> That's why that's why you get >> Yeah. We used to listen to them.

[00:24:41]>> Yes. But because you are exposed to them. But I'll give you one example. One one day I was in the booth uh working with a colleague from uh from uh >> yes from from I thought I think he was from Sagal. He he he takes from Arabic into uh French. Okay. And the speaker was the Egyptian. So the the speaker said uh actually I'm sorry he's from Nigeria. He was taken from Arabic into English. So the the Egyptian speaker said ba it it's very easy for me or you uh because we are exposed to Egyptian to understand the word ba >> but but for him it was uh a very difficult word he could not even guess the meaning you know so it's a matter of of exposure and this leads me to a proposal uh or an invitation that I'd like to address to Dr. You see, I believe one of the best solutions uh that can contribute not uh uh so resolve or but contribute to resolving the problem of uh dialects that an interpreter a teaching professor like Dr. Amir may uh uh uh devote some of his precious time writing a glossaryy of frequently used uh Egyptian uh dialect expressions. You see uh any uh words that are used in Arab Egyptian Arabic dialect could be uh brought under one uh glossery.

[00:26:30]uh Hisham can prepare the same for Sudanese dialect and we can exchange these glosseries uh which will alleviate the burden of the interpreter who sometimes have to deal with people who use uh these dialect dialectal uh expressions. I hope Dr. would agree with me and I reiterate this import the importance of such such glossery. If we compiled a file or or a PDF document of uh those strange and weird words from one accent to another please.

[00:27:08]>> Sure. Sure.

[00:27:10]>> I'm I'm so sorry.

[00:27:11]>> Never mind.

[00:27:25]Dr. Muhammad If you have any question in Arabic, in English, we don't mind, but please grab your question. Drop your question in the chat or you can request up. Okay, I don't mind. I'm so sorry.

[00:28:08]>> Right. I was just saying I reiterate the idea given by Dr. And concerning compiling a PDF file or a word file or a word document, uh we can compile a huge list of expressions that can uh be distinctive in Egyptian, Sudanese, uh Moroccan, uh Gulf, Shami, uh Leventine or even Iraqi accent and dialect.

[00:28:31]Actually, this would be a very nice idea and a very successful project because actually we are all neighbors and we can understand each other. But actually certain words, certain expressions can be somehow embarrassing. So let's combine this together.

[00:28:46]>> So this Islam is isn't difficult.

[00:28:49]>> Ah it's not that difficult but it's not that difficult. Not at all.

[00:28:53]>> It's it's very simple.

[00:28:55]>> It's like depends on the region.

[00:29:01]>> It depends on the region. For example, for me uh Arabic spoken in Hijaz region is not that difficult. But if I go to Riyad and I meet a bedwin from N then I will suffer. I know I will not understand almost anything from what he says.

[00:29:18]>> Did you struggle with them?

[00:29:20]>> Yes. Bedwins from the night region. Oh, >> maybe when you maybe when you came from Sudan.

[00:29:28]>> No, first even now if I go to Riyad now and beat and talk to them. No, I will not understand what they say. But let me give you a very funny example uh of the difference of uh dialects.

[00:29:45]>> This story was narrated to me and I will say say it in Arabic. I heard it in Arabic.

[00:29:59]No.

[00:30:08]No.

[00:30:15]foreign.

[00:30:23]Okay.

[00:30:54]Let me give you an exam. Sure.

[00:31:05]How do you interpret?

[00:31:10]>> How do I understand it first?

[00:31:14]>> Okay.

[00:31:23]Yes.

[00:31:24]>> Can you inter can you interpret?

[00:31:27]Can you interpret bread?

[00:31:32]You have to use contacts. So you have to pull strings.

[00:31:37]>> How do you how do you interpret it?

[00:31:40]>> You have to pull strings. If the meaning is you had to use contacts, then in English you would say I had to pull strings.

[00:32:16]I lost hope. This is very easy.

[00:32:19]I lost hope.

[00:32:21]Yeah.

[00:32:24]Did you get it, >> Dr. Muhammad?

[00:32:33]>> Try to uh to get the meaning out of context. You need to have uh maybe um >> long a longer a longer sentence.

[00:32:41]>> Did you did you got it what I'm what I said? If if if if it what if it was bought in um in a longer sentence or in a a longer context I can have some percentage to guesses like 70 to 80%.

[00:32:58]>> You can guess.

[00:32:59]>> Yeah, I can guess but not every single time. That would >> be You're right. You're right. Doctor, >> let me ask you a doctor. Um how do you balance listening and speaking at the same time? Actually this is one skill that we call active listening. It's a it's it's a third skill that we need to have. We have listening skills, we have speaking skills, but actually we have active listening skills. So actually if you're listening yeah never mind. Uh so actually if you're listening to a certain uh video or or text in Arabic and you're going to give or to deliver the interpreting in English so you need that skill active listening. So actually you're listening, you're processing and after that you're translating and finally with the delivery. This actually necessitates and requires you to think in the target language not in the source language. And this is a very important skill. So if I give you a sentence and that sentence was spoken in Arabic, please avoid thinking Arabic. always think in the in the target language in English in French in Portuguese in Spanish doesn't matter but never think Arabic you know why because actually the first language the source language is always heavier on the mind so if I give you a sentence in Arabic always think about interpretation in English or any other language that's how you will start thinking about interpretation early and this is what we call what we call in in in interpretation this is what we called decalage. It's a French word or in English it's called lapse time. The time that we take in order to process what is being said and what I'm going to say. So it only takes 2 seconds, 3 seconds at most, but please don't think in the source language.

[00:34:54]>> Let me summarize what have you said.

[00:34:57]Please.

[00:34:58]>> Sure.

[00:34:59]>> Okay.

[00:35:00]>> Huh?

[00:35:03]Yeah, you have to think in English and in Arabic when when while you're writing if if the sentence if the source language in Arabic uh avoid avoid thinking Arabic always think English and vice versa if the source is English don't think English think Arabic because actually this saves time in processing in translation and in delivery so if this if if if the meeting started like giving a sentence like so actually what happened here if you kept thinking about actually this doesn't work well so actually you need to say in the name of Allah the most gracious and merciful peace be upon you and welcome to today's meeting what happens here I didn't think of a single word in Arabic I always think in the target language in English this takes certain time to uh to master.

[00:36:04]But if you would like to master this skill, I advise uh all of our audience and all trainees on interpreting to uh to train themselves on shadow, shadowing, on paring, on uh certain exercises and also uh if you know tongue twisters in Egypt, we have a lot of tongue twisters. you know, uh, sentences like, uh, so actually a lot of letters that look similar, they sound similar. But >> what do you say? What do you say?

[00:36:46]This makes you think quicker.

[00:36:50]Think much quicker and even pronounce it quicker. It's difficult.

[00:36:57]>> Yeah, because because I'm Egyptian, I can do it.

[00:37:02]>> Can >> Yes.

[00:37:07]>> What about you?

[00:37:11]about me in in >> Do you have any comment on this?

[00:37:17]>> Well, well, I just wanted to uh >> uh please please please don't get don't don't go anywhere.

[00:37:27]Please around Yes, you can drop your question in the chat. You can request up. Okay, I don't mind.

[00:38:04]Am I right?

[00:38:12]No, no, no problem.

[00:38:14]>> Thank you for giving me the floor again.

[00:38:17]I'd like just to uh to ask Dr. to shed light to shed light on one training technique that is that looks to be underestimated by many trainers and maybe also many teachers that is shadowing.

[00:38:43]>> Yes, please.

[00:38:44]>> Yeah. Okay.

[00:38:46]in in in certain trainings we have a a problem with understanding what shadowing is because we have two approaches to bra shadowing. Uh approach number one is to um boost your own listening skills. Uh so actually if we have a speaker in Arabic or in English or any any other language you can uh just repeat what is being said immediately like we have a speaker like the president or the vice president or the prime minister or whatever the speaker is you can just repeat what is being said directly after immediately after him but this actually boosts your listening skills but what about a certain training or a certain exercise that boosts your shortterm memory I have this plan that I call I prefer to call 3 5 7 8 or sorry 3 5 7 and 10. So what happens in here is that you keep listening to a certain video for only 3 seconds and then you pause if it's uh on YouTube or in on Tik Tok or whatever.

[00:39:50]You then pause after 3 seconds and you repeat the same dialect, the same accent, the even the same mistakes. Save everything. You don't translate, you just keep listening and repeating. So you master the three 3 seconds, you can move up to the 5 seconds. So listen to another video for five seconds then pose. Same accent, same dialect, same mistakes, same everything. And if you master the five, you can go for seven and after that you can go for 10. But actually this is if you want to boost your shortterm memory skills.

[00:40:28]Actually this benefits consecutive interpreters and simultaneous interpreters more than only paring. like um we compare it after uh President Sat in Egypt. So actually the man speaks Arabic very well. So I can just I just say after the man if he said I can say but no I don't want that. I only want the man to keep speaking for three 5 and even 10 seconds and after pausing I repeat what's being said. So we have two approaches. The second approach benefits consecutive and simultaneous interpreters even more than the first one.

[00:41:13]Uh Dr. Ahmed Ahmed.

[00:41:16]>> Sure.

[00:41:18]>> How do you keep up with uh fast talker when they speak very very very fast?

[00:41:27]>> This is the only case we are allowed to give what we call semi interpreting. So actually >> yeah this is this this is the the only occasion that we allow ourselves to give what we call uh synopsis or um shortened or um verbatim interpreting. So actually in ordinary in conventional interpreting you are allowed to deliver 75 to 80% of the content. But when you deal with a just um uh quickpaced speaker, you can give like uh from 60 up to 70% actually give uh what you just understood out of the speaker. I I have a lot of speakers who speak very very very fast and uh they can do this in Arabic and in English. So actually just uh give what you understood, give what you just uh nailed out of the cut context or the text itself and but don't drop meanings. The most important thing is that you need to differentiate between um you need to deliver complete meaning but incomplete content. You can drop certain words, you can drop even some phrases that are not important or they are redundant.

[00:42:48]However, in every single time whether the speaker is quick or slow, you need to deliver complete meaning, complete unitive meaning. So just get give a synopsis. But actually this doesn't happen every single time. And in consecutive interpreting it's easier.

[00:43:04]You can ask the speaker to slow down because actually you're in the room and he is in the room. You can ask him politely to do so. But in consecut in simultaneous interpreting, you can't just get out of your booth and ask him to slow down. this doesn't happen especially if that president if that person is a president or a high-profile uh figure you can do so so my advice is to give a synopsis or a short interpretation of the whole sentence or the whole speech actually this will help you this is way better than just losing the meaning >> okay you analyze his speech is it enough >> uh again is >> if you if you if you analyze his speech is it you know >> I think I think this is good this is good that this helps you to understand what's been said if you give analysis of the most important details I I just want you to give me uh the correct numbers uh details and uh certain information but you can uh shorten and give synopsis of the remaining text. So analyze give a linguistic an linguistic analysis of uh of the process uh the whole process of interpretation. You can just give analysis and then give the deliver the interpretation. This will help you of course but this takes years of experience to do so.

[00:44:29]>> I know you >> Yeah I know a lot of you folks on the message the main message.

[00:44:36]>> Yeah exactly.

[00:44:37]>> You have to convey the main message.

[00:44:40]>> Exactly. The main message. And by the way, a little point little point that I want to reiterate is that those people came from home and they bought their own headsets on their ears in order to understand, not to listen to every single word. So please rest assure that they understand your you know the difference between translation and the interpreting. It's all about the word interpreting. It's not only translation you are explaining. You are interpreting and So give analysis, give understanding, give meaning, not only word by word translation. You are not a translator any long anymore. You are an interpreter. You are asked to give analysis and to interpret.

[00:45:28]It's not only >> uh President Trump. Okay. as you know he he never understood that person. I think he is from India.

[00:45:44]>> Yeah.

[00:45:45]>> Yeah. I don't remember that video. Yeah.

[00:45:47]>> Even even he speaks English but uh Trump says I didn't understand.

[00:45:56]>> Yeah. Although he speaks >> although he speaks English.

[00:46:01]>> Exactly. Um in >> Yeah. Do do you have do you have any comment on this?

[00:46:08]>> In the Egyptian market uh you deal a lot with and I I believe that so this also applies to uh to Gulf market of interpreting. We deal uh with a lot of Indians and in Egypt we deal a with a lot of African people and they come they come from a franophhone and angophone and and even Arabophone countries but if you dealt with some people coming from Kenya and Kenya is an an angophone country they speak English very well but actually you don't understand so in consecutive interpreting they can you can ask them to repeat what they just said but if you keep don't you don't understand and you keep puzzling yourselves with this actually you can give only analysis or even a shortened version of the interpretation but this puts us in a very difficult situation and I reiterate the importance of exposing yourself exposing your ears to different accents and different dialects and in shadowing a brais by the way I don't want you I don't want you to keep listening to American abr accent alone So actually we watch a lot of American TV uh TV series and movies and we listen to British music and we listen to uh British uh songs but what about people from Africa, from Asia, from the Gulf, from Roou, from Europe, from Latin America, from different places?

[00:47:33]>> It's very challenging.

[00:47:34]>> Yeah, the whole market the whole market is full of people from those places and it in only rare cases you deal with people from America and from Britain. So you need to deal with with with this this a very difficult situation.

[00:47:50]>> Yeah. Uh Dr. Muhammad, how do you how do you get ready for uh a session?

[00:48:02]>> How do you how do you how do you what >> how do you how do you get ready for a session?

[00:48:09]>> Yeah. Okay. This is a very nice question. So actually um let us uh imagine some um a certain situation >> you have no idea about.

[00:48:21]>> Yeah. If if you are a recruiter and you assign me as an interpreter to interpret a certain event or a meeting and you didn't provide me with the necessary information. Uh I can I can even know from the topic of um uh of the event itself. So you didn't give me agenda.

[00:48:38]You didn't give me a list of speakers.

[00:48:39]You didn't give me anything. But at least >> Yeah. You'll give me the >> title.

[00:48:45]>> The title itself.

[00:48:47]>> Yeah.

[00:48:47]>> You have to ask them to give you the main point.

[00:48:52]>> Yeah. The main point. It's not only about the agenda, but also a list of speakers, a list of um their titles, their designations, their everything.

[00:49:01]But if you didn't provide me with such information, I can even guess the topic from the title itself. The the title says, for example, uh biodiversity in the uh Mediterranean Sea. So actually it's biodiversity and we're talking about biology. You didn't provide me with the agenda, but I already know the topic out of the title.

[00:49:23]So step number one, prepare a glossaryy and uh please uh uh have a lot of folders. I want you to create folders of glosseries of science, biology, uh maybe um different sciences and different specialties specializations and uh even before the event you can refer back to those glosseries and remind yourself and refresh your mind of the words used in in in such in such specializations.

[00:49:52]>> You have to read a lot about it.

[00:49:54]>> Yeah. Yeah. Even even the event is tomorrow. Even if the event is tomorrow, I'll keep the night I'll keep the night learning and trying to understand trying to remember every single word about that about that topic.

[00:50:09]>> Yeah. But you read before the meeting about two weeks, one week is it?

[00:50:19]>> Okay. Step number one. Step number one is to look uh for the agenda of the event. after you uh got the agenda, you'll you'll get like more than 50% of the rand because actually you have a list of speakers and you can guess and you can know their nationalities and you can train your ears uh on the accents and dialects they use. Number two, uh titles and topics of every single session in that event. This is pretty important. the location itself actually if that's if that event um will be held in Saudi Arabia or in the Emirates actually you can guess the nationalities even of the audience themselves you can you can guess so a lot of information you can also extract from the agenda uh like um how to pronounce names because actually this is very embarrassing especially when you deal with people from Russia uh from Africa from certain Asian countries you don't know you don't know even whether this person is a man or a woman because the name the name doesn't say so. So even how to pronounce the name is will be clarified through the agenda. So agenda is number one.

[00:51:26]After the agenda you can politely ask for a transcript and some people may be puzzled because actually will you give me a transcript? Yeah, not every single time, but you are allowed to ask for after they got the transcript, you can go for it. And if not, and this, by the way, this is the majority of the event, you will never get the the transcript.

[00:51:48]But if you got it, okay, you nailed it.

[00:51:50]If you didn't, actually, you can just look for the speakers. Uh you can look for their videos on YouTube, on Tik Tok, on uh different social media platforms, and you can just train your ears on their accents and dialects.

[00:52:04]>> Yeah. You're right. Dr. >> Do you have do you have >> Yes. Just a a small contribution in this regard.

[00:52:14]>> Sure. Yeah.

[00:52:15]>> Yes. Well, uh I'm sure you are aware of it Dr. Amir, but uh we can uh in these days use AI as a great tool. If you go to any of the AI search engines and you tell them that I have a meeting or a symposia or a conference on uh biodiversity in the Meditaran, uh what should I expect the topics will be or what should I expect that this speaker or that speaker would say? You will be amazed by the very rich volume of of information that you will get from Chad GBT or uh clothes or uh Gemini.

[00:53:03]This is a very useful and very quick reference. Uh in case you do not have the materials from the organizers, you can resort to this option. I I I've tried it and it proved to be uh uh wonderful.

[00:53:23]One minute, please.

[00:53:28]>> Can you give me Can you give me please a second?

[00:53:46]You can see you can you can see the comment.

[00:53:52]Can you see the comment doctor?

[00:53:55]>> Uh yeah. Uh but I can see it. You can uh Yeah. Yeah.

[00:53:59]>> If you have if you have guys if you have any question you can write in English in Arabic we don't mind.

[00:54:11]Ask them directly.

[00:54:14]>> Yeah. Right.

[00:54:16]>> Go ahead Dr. Muhammad to answer.

[00:54:20]Professor It looks like us to they will take our our positions, they will take our places. But actually, you just triggered a very important point. Actually, we can use AI for our benefit. you just um um suggested a certain tool like the Gemini or cloud or uh or chat GBT or whatever it doesn't matter but actually this will help you as an interpreter or as a translator to be a better version of you. So actually you don't have to be afraid of AI. It will never replace you if you are using AI the right way. But actually if you depend on AI to uh play your role as an interpreter or as a translator please I'll tell you it will replace you. It will take your job but using it as an aiding tool as an assisting tool this will help. I I believe will accept this.

[00:55:32]>> Do you have any question Dr. foreign You're right.

[00:56:30]Groceries.

[00:57:01]and Uh accent to It's not true. No.

[00:58:03]Dr. Sham, >> no.

[00:58:06]>> I think you can't you Yeah, I think you can't use it while you're in prison at the same time.

[00:58:17]>> Dr. Ayad, Mr. Ay, you are already uh in great stress. Uh you need to concentrate on on interpreting. uh uh you you need no distraction at all. If you are going to use a mobile or a a computer while you are interpreting then you are lost.

[00:58:38]>> You're right.

[00:58:40]This this preparation takes place before the meeting.

[00:59:15]Very challenging.

[00:59:21]Who are you translation if you allow the to speak in Arabic or English doesn't matter but for the benefit of the people as you like. As you like. You can you can explain it. Thanks a lot.

[01:00:34]Application applications.

[01:01:05]So actually. It's a very positive point.

[01:01:22]>> You're right. You're right.

[01:01:26]We >> I I always learn from you.

[01:01:32]>> Dr. I think you have a comment.

[01:01:34]>> Yes. foristan.

[01:02:10]You're right.

[01:02:39]You're right.

[01:02:43]Translation.

[01:02:52]You can't speak. You can't speak at the same time. Yeah.

[01:03:15]The doctor >> this I have called I have called this in an article interpreting in the dark.

[01:03:22]>> Yeah. Yeah. I read it. I read it.

[01:03:24]>> Yeah. Yes. In interpreting in the dark, it requires a special in the dark. You you wrote you wrote a you wrote article about it.

[01:03:34]>> Yes. Yes. So uh we can make use of things like for example if he mentions a name for if if for example he says uh president Putin >> both words I can find them in the English text because president in in in Russian is is almost the same. It's pronounced a little bit different but it's the same and Putin is a name. If he mention uh if he mentions for example a name of a city where the conference is being held. This helps me locate myself in the in the text but it doesn't resolve my problem completely but it helps me to keep uh pace with the speaker. Uh for example the speaker might use words.

[01:04:23]Can you hear me?

[01:04:27]Yes. the speaker can can use words uh in Russian that have uh almost the same pronunciation in English. You see, so I can make use of these words to know that I'm I'm following him or if he's going too fast or if I'm going too fast.

[01:04:50]So uh if if you like you can just uh uh make reference to the article. It's interpreting in the dark. Uh it's published in uh in uh in LinkedIn on LinkedIn actually uh on scribbit and research gate.

[01:05:16]>> Do we have any comment?

[01:05:18]>> Yeah. This um puts me in a very uh very nice situations. Actually, I don't prefer to to use relay interpreting because actually you depend on the interpretation of a certain interpreter that you don't you're not sure about his interpretation if he's interpreting right or not. But actually uh you depended on the on AI or artificial intelligence to do so. I totally agree with Dr. considering that problem like uh one solution is to locate words like uh city's names uh people's names and and other words that can be neutral from one language uh to another uh but uh I believe he also agree agrees with me that we interpreters we do not prefer to use reli uh relay interpreting because you will be the only one responsible for the mistaken interpretation because actually you don't know if that interpretation is mistaken or not or correct or not. So if you if if you're taking uh the the first booth is interpreting from Russian into French and then you're taking from French into Arabic for example, you don't know whether that French is right or not is correct or not because actually you don't know you know Russian. So I think there's a problem in Arabic.

[01:07:06]Who's going to be blamed? I'm going to be blamed because you know relay.

[01:08:03]Translation translation.

[01:08:32]I will relay.

[01:08:51]for ford.

[01:10:18]interpreting.

[01:10:27]forchech.

[01:11:16]How do you convey implied implied meaning when interpreting? For instance, when a speaker says something positive but actually means something negative.

[01:11:33]>> Actually, you mean word of delay? Yeah.

[01:11:35]Okay. So, actually this is one funny example.

[01:11:39]>> Got it.

[01:11:40]>> Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Uh so, and um >> I'm not getting >> Never mind. I wish you quick recovery.

[01:11:50]>> I'm so sorry.

[01:11:52]My poem is short.

[01:11:55]>> Never mind. I hope I wish you quick recovery. So concerning the interpretation of word play, it's not always about negative or positive, but actually understanding the word um in a certain way you actually uh I have one example. Uh yes, it's it's it looks it looks it looks positive but actually the meaning was very negative. uh in in 2014 or 2013 before uh the qualifying games qualifying for the World Cup in 2014 actually Egypt national team was beaten by Ghana 6 to1 so we received six goals actually this was a heavy heavy score so what happened that match was played in the first day of so actually in Egypt we have a song that has been a song in um It says it's being sung like this. So actually you can imagine a certain speaker who says because actually we were beaten by in the qualifying games. You can imagine how difficult this can be a word to play. It has a positive meaning. It has a positive shape like it's a song but it smokes.

[01:13:12]>> 31 minute Dr. Okay, you can leave.

[01:13:20]Okay, you can leave. Thank you.

[01:13:24]Thanks a lot for being here.

[01:13:26]>> Thank you very much.

[01:13:26]>> Thank you for hanging. Thank you hanging with us. The the the wealth of information that you have provided Dr. And I thank you very much for this wonderful evening.

[01:13:40]>> My pleasure.

[01:13:45]from certain example of word play like and it's it's a a positive.

[01:13:51]>> What's the difference between between them?

[01:13:54]>> Yeah. Uh it it was said you were mocking the Egyptian national team because we were beaten to one. So actually because we were beaten by Ghana. So uh one example is that you can interpret into um the feast is in Ghana. The feast is in Ghana. It means that Ghana is the country that celebrated the feast. It's not Egypt. However, the feast is in Egypt. It's not in Ghana. So this is one solution to but actually you are in a booth. You inside.

[01:14:30]>> Exactly. The same >> which means which means you screwed up.

[01:14:35]>> Yes. Exactly. Exactly. The same happens.

[01:14:38]You have a positive meaning, you have a negative meaning and um you can't you can >> you can you can say yeah they can say okay you're for instance only. Yeah. You're a good man. You're a good man. But I mean it isn't >> how how do you how do you interpret it?

[01:15:06]>> So it's all about the tone. The tone you use.

[01:15:09]>> Yeah.

[01:15:10]>> Yeah. Exactly.

[01:15:10]>> You can use the same words intonation.

[01:15:14]>> Exactly. Intonation makes different meaning. Uh so actually if a student came late to the class and I asked him what is the time now? So if I ask if I told him what is the time now?

[01:15:29]>> Yeah, >> this is way different from >> the first one I'm asking for the for for for the watch. I'm asking for the time.

[01:15:36]However, in the second one, no, I'm not asking for time. I'm just >> You're mashallah. Wow, you're highly experienced.

[01:15:44]>> Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. I'm just asking for >> your mashallah. Wow. Like you're an trainer.

[01:15:52]>> I learn from you.

[01:15:54]Thanks a lot. So you can use your own tone, your own in intonation. And by the way, uh one lesson, one lesson uh to um uh to boost your intonation, uh there was a British and English poet that's called um uh it's not Jose, it's Christopher Marlo. If you if you know him, Christopher Marlo in the 16th century uh wrote a wrote a poem, wrote a sonet that starts with a certain line.

[01:16:20]It says come live with me and be my love. So you can imagine a man who loves a woman and he says to her and he tells her come live with me and be my love. So actually you can learn how to master inonation by saying come live with me and be my love. So you're putting stress on certain words that matters.

[01:16:41]>> Exactly. And instead of saying come live with me and be my love, you're not convincing your your beloved girl to live with you. You're just being dull.

[01:16:49]But if you love her so much and you want her to come to live with you, you could you may say come live with me and be my love. Inonation is convincing. Inonation makes people understand that you are mastering this profession. Inonation even if you are in a bad day, even if you are in a bad mood, even if you're not giving um total or complete interpretation, your intonation can make this uh up for you.

[01:17:19]Do you think do you think a doctor ination in Arabic and English is the same?

[01:17:26]>> No, no, no, no. In Arabic, in be very tricky. It can be very tricky.

[01:17:31]>> How do you deal with that?

[01:17:33]>> Um, in Arabic, it's not only about the intonation, but also also with the facial gestures and the body movements and even with the hand movements of the speaker. Um certain speakers when they deal with the audience like uh uh stand up or sit down uh like using the hand their their hand movement and facial gestures you can guess the meaning out of that in ination can't be clear they can say just so actually they say but actually they raised their hand >> without any any ination >> without any intonation you can guess what's being said or >> but I think yeah but I think the impi implied meaning is the same >> it's the same but >> but in but in Arabic it can be heavier because actually in Arabic um yeah actually we can use our hands our facial gestures even more than foreigners we are totally moving our butts more than them uh if you dealt with British speakers with American speaker they are dull but Arab speakers.

[01:18:41]Oh my god. Uh when I speak to you, when I speak to Dr. Hashem, you can watch me.

[01:18:46]I can watch you moving your heads, moving your hands, moving your bodies, even if you're sitting even if you didn't change your setting.

[01:18:55]>> Yeah, you're right.

[01:18:56]>> Yeah, actually Arab people are can do this.

[01:18:59]>> Let me ask you a question.

[01:19:01]>> Sure.

[01:19:02]>> What is the move?

[01:19:04]What is the move if the speaker says something offensive?

[01:19:10]Yeah. Okay. This is a very tricky question. It's not only about offensive, but it's always about uh using swear words, words that are somehow inappropriate, yet it happens a lot. And I do remember uh Donald Trump's second debate in the first elections uh with with Hillary Clinton and the man kept using a lot of words that are not inappropriate are not are not appropriate at all. However, uh if you're dealing with um with a community or society like us, it's a conservative society, it's a conservative uh community, you can just give uh f word in Arabic. You can just say the swword in Arabic. You can do so. However, you can give the closest the closest insult, but that does not harm the society. I can't just turn the f word into Arabic.

[01:20:06]I can't do those. I I know the Arabic I know the Arabic words and I know the Arabic equivalent but if I said it I don't I don't I don't conserve the the principles the protocols or uh the ethics of the society. So if um that insult is intentional you have to do it as is to have to say it as is. Uh one example, I have been interpreting for the OM, the International Organization for Migration, and they receive a lot of requests from refugees and asylum seekers uh who um travel from their own troubled countries. I am not mentioning any countries, but in certain countries, people are being tortured. They are being um insulted and so on. And one refugee said, "I was uh insulted. The the officer told me so and so and so."

[01:20:57]and he said that very bad word in Arabic I can I can't even pronounce I can I can but however in um in interpreting in such occasions that man is applying for traveling abroad in he is just showing how oppressed he is so I said the same word in English the same abusive the same bad word in English because it was intentional but if one word is just given in a certain occasion or certain situ situation without intention.

[01:21:30]I will never do it. I will never say the same word. And it's all about your society, how your society accepts that uh that word. And you know um for example, William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, a lot of people uh they don't know the man was bisexual, but the man wrote a certain sonet that says um shall I compare thee to a summer's uh to a summer's day? And that that that that that >> from like our culture.

[01:21:59]>> Yeah. Exactly. It's written from a manuh to another man. It's not given to a woman. It's not given to a lady. And we have two translations in Arabic. One is given by Professor Muhammad.

[01:22:11]And the man said um >> he's famous.

[01:22:15]>> Yeah. Exactly. The man said um so a man loves a man so doesn't matter.

[01:22:26]However, another interpretation that's somehow conservative it says um from a man to a woman. So did it change the meaning? It didn't change the meaning. It it changed only the gender.

[01:22:45]only the gender but did it change did it impact the mean did it affect the meaning I don't think so >> yeah how do you deal with a situation like that >> so actually if you have an immediate alternative just go for it but actually you need to explain this is the only occasion you have to explain the whole joke the whole joke need to be explained for those who don't understand for those who >> you can say please like I think one of the >> location of of course you know Admiral Imam the Egyptian actor actually he was uh in a like 10 years ago uh in in a festival in Kartage in in Morocco actually uh there was an interpreter from Arabic >> go ahead I'm so sorry Sure.

[01:23:43]>> Never mind. Never mind. So uh you of course you know Adan the Egyptian actor he was uh got he was hosted by cartage festival in Morocco and actually uh he was uh giving a lot of jokes in Arabic and we have an interpreter who was going to interpret this from Arabic into English and you can see the Arabic uh the Arabic speaking audience they are laughing their to their guts and when it's turned for the interpreter to interpret this he just said I im just giving a joke he He didn't translate the joke itself. He just say he's giving he's just saying a joke. And you can imagine the foreign audience just laughed and they clapped.

[01:24:26]>> You're right.

[01:24:27]>> Because actually uh whatever he what whatever he does he will never be so >> because of the culture.

[01:24:35]>> Yes. Exactly. We have a lot of differences from the two cultures.

[01:24:38]>> I'm so sorry doctor. Go ahead.

[01:24:45]So if we don't have any comments in here, we can just uh conclude with a short word.

[01:24:54]>> I don't.

[01:24:55]>> Okay.

[01:24:56]>> Yeah.

[01:24:57]>> I have a final question.

[01:24:59]>> Sure.

[01:25:00]>> Accent can be really challenging to understand.

[01:25:04]>> Yeah.

[01:25:04]>> If you can't make it out the speaker's accent, >> what should you do?

[01:25:12]Well, actually in that situation, if I'm a consecutive interpreter, I will ask for a second or a third repetition of what is being said. But in that case, I will just give um a synopsis of what what is being said. This is one of the few occasions that we are allowed to do so. I don't understand the accent. I don't understand dialect. Uh I just give synopsis of the most important information that I managed to understand. only only important information not every single word um I'm talking about numbers names uh titles um information that cannot be guessed but um if if if we are in a booth or a simultaneous interpreting uh booth actually we are not allowed to ask for repetition or something like that so synopsis and short version of interpretation that would be that would be very nice and a lot of people will understand they will understand by end of the Yes.

[01:26:15]Do you have any question? Do you have guys? Do you have any question? Okay.

[01:26:20]Before we leave, I would like to thank Dr. Muhammad.

[01:26:34]Thank you for joining us. Thank you.

[01:26:38]Thank you very much. I can't. Thank you.

[01:26:42]>> Such a pleasure. Thanks a lot for everything. Thanks a lot for having me over, for having me abroad. So, it it was such an honor and I I I hope we do this more and more and more.

[01:26:53]>> Inshallah in the future. Inshallah.

[01:26:55]>> Inshallah inshallah.

[01:27:06]foreign.

[01:27:27]See you later.

[01:27:30]See you later. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.