Master of Arts in Translation and Interpretation (MATI) students were glad to receive two lectures on Consecutive Interpretation from Paul Hersy, a senior diplomatic interpreter of the U.S. Department of State.
Before the lectures, Hersy asked students to prepare a short speech in Mandarin Chinese and practice consecutive interpretation during the class. One student gave a speech on the "Extradition Bill," which was quite a hot topic recently, while others interpreted it into English. Another student prepared a speech on "Jewish Education." from the exercise, the students offered good examples of interpreting. "Listen well and be sensitive to catch all the important information, which is the key to successful interpreting," Hersy commented on students' class work.
"Names, numbers and dates are important, so we cannot make mistakes on these. You have to train your ears to be able to get all the aspects of the speaker's intent," added Hersy.
"Professor Hersy is a working professional with a good teaching methodology. I am grateful to learn many things that can help me become a good interpreter. I wish we can practice more with professor Hersy and develop my skills in consecutive interpretation," said Wendy Sun, second-year MATI student.