Here are some ideas to help you find a clear path through accent and pronunciation pitfalls when interpreting into English B.
Everyone agrees that clarity is important for an interpreter. Clarity of linguistic content and grammar are of course essential. But what about the actual sounds that you’re producing? As a voice and accent coach who has worked a great deal with interpreters, here are some reflections on the more elusive qualities of accent and voice that can be crucial for the listener.
How do you measure “clarity” in terms of accent?
As with any language, any accent can be clear. By “clear” I mean understandable. Someone with a very strong Glaswegian accent may be perfectly understood by their neighbours. However, beyond their neighbourhood, people might struggle to understand them. As an interpreter, you need to make sure you model your pronunciation on an accent that is clearly understood by as many listeners as possible. For an interpreter, Standard Southern British English (the modern equivalent of R.P.) or General American are safe accents to model. They are “clear” not because of any inherent qualities they posess in terms of their production, but because, for cultural and historical reasons they are relatively ubiquitous and widely understood by English speakers world-wide.
How foreign can I sound when I speak English?
If you are interpreting from your mother tongue into English, it’s fair to say that a hint of an accent is no bad thing. As an English listener, hearing someone interpreting from French into English with a slightly French accent simply reminds me that both the speaker and the interpreter are French. A slight accent in this context lends an air of authenticity to the interpreter. My message to any English B would be this: think of your accent as something akin to a perfume. At the right level it can be pleasantly evocative. At the wrong level, it can be overpowering and distracting. You also have to remember that not everyone listening to your English B will necessarily have English as their first language!
Tricky English phonemes you don’t have in your language
When I teach a “foreign” accent, what I focus on are the sounds that the speaker doesn’t have in their native language. An example would be the dental fricative – which many languages simply don’t possess. This is why a French speaker might struggle with words like “path”. The final sound in this word is a voiceless dental fricative /θ/. Placing your tongue on your top teeth and forcing air through the gap to make a hissing sound is a bit of a faff if you haven’t been doing it all your life – but that’s what you need to do to make this /θ/ sound. Of course, French has two perfectly respectable voiceless fricatives that make a hissing sound – /s/ and /f/. So – if I’m teaching an actor to “do” a French accent, then the word “path” will sound like “pass”. This is fine for an actor. It’s a legitimate “artistic” choice. For an interpreter this is not the case. Clarity demands that “path” cannot sound like “pass”.
Minimal pairs: what they are, and why they matter to interpreters.
“Path” and “pass” are example of what phoneticians call a “minimal pair”. The phonemic transcription of these words are /pɑːθ/ and /pɑːs/. The two words vary by just one phoneme. Minimal pairs are crucial to the phonemic inventory of any language. They are how we come to distinguish one word from another. It is possible to imagine a language where the sounds represented by /θ/ and /s/ don’t change the meaning of a word. In such an instance, these sounds would be known as allophones. However, in English, /θ/ and /s/ are contrastive. They do change the meaning of a word. That is why it’s important for someone learning English to master the dental fricative /θ/.
Ship or sheep?
Here is another example of a minimal pair. In this example, the contrastive phonemes are the two vowels /ɪ/ and /iː/. Many languages have a vowel close to the vowel in sheep – or the vowel in ship – but few seem to have both. Spanish and Italian speakers will often veer between the two, using a long sheep vowel /iː/ for a stressed syllable – and a short ship vowel /ɪ/ for an unstressed syllable. The result? Somebody might take a voyage on a beautiful sheep – or wear a jumper made of ship’s wool. You really have to separate these two vowels if you want to be taken seriously. There are some very tricky minimal pairs that rely on you nailing these contrastive sounds.
Shaping your thoughts for the listener
One of the trickiest things to acquire in a foreign language is the prosody: the music of the language. The commonest fault I hear when listening to interpreters in English is a failure to finish – or land the thought. Endless sentences remain suspended on a never to be resolved pitch that makes it impossible for the listener to tell where one sentence ends and the next one begins. If it helps, think of the speaker’s sentences as existing in distinct units that you physically take from the speaker, interpret for the listener, then put down on the table in front of you.
The voice will do what the body does!
Remember, speaking is a physical act. I’ve worked with many interpreters who have been taught to sit absolutely still and “focus” while they work. The result? A dull, unengaged delivery – often accompanied by vocal fatigue. Don’t slump back on your seat or lean into the microphone. Keep your shoulders relaxed and imagine your head is floating up to the ceiling, allowing your spine to lengthen. A tight hunched body will lead to restricted breath and muscle tension in the throat. Pitch is controlled by tiny muscles in the larynx. Keep the pitch moving and these muscles will be flexible. Any muscle that is kept in one position for too long will become stiff and tired. So keep everything mobile! AND – if it helps you, use your hands! The role of gesture in human communication is a fascinating area of study. Read David McNeill’s Gesture and Thought and set your hands free!
Summary
- Don’t stiffen up in the booth. Remember: speaking is a physical act!
- Choose an accent model that is widely understood.
- Don’t feel you have to lose your accent completely!
- Practice those phonemes that are not present in your mother tongue.
- Be mindful of minimal pairs.
- Finish your sentences/ thoughts!
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From the Editor:
Tim is offering lessons on accent, intonation and vocal issues, designed specifically for interpreters working into English: Voice and speech coaching for interpreters working into English. He can be contacted at: tim_birkett@hotmail.com.
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