Translators and Actors

Practical workshop with actress and teacher Nina Vartic.
One might ask him/herselfwhat these two professions have in common. It turned out that there are many similarities. Both require the ability to speak in front of an audience and to be heard and understood.  Both need  clear articulation and the ability to emphasize things.  There are other commonalitiesbetween these two professions, which were learned by translators in the training provided by the actress and teacher Nina Vartic.

The idea to organize an internal training came from our colleague Doina Banaru.  At the beginning of this  May, Doina translated at a workshop held by Mrs. Vartic for Moldovan journalists.  She was very impressed by the event and understood that translators need "acting"skills.
This idea was implemented on June 13 - 14, this year, when about 17 translators and fresh graduatesof the School of Translators, participated in the workshop "The Art of Speech". Among the topics discussed were:art of sending a message,  art of being convincing in oral speech, ability to communicate effectively, and elements of logic in translator's work.

Mrs. Vartic began the training with lots of quotes from various authors, which were designed to stress the importance of proper speech. Then we were involved in a small test, during which we had to demonstrate that we have more or less acceptable speech. It was not long, but it was enough to convince most of us that we need to improve our oral speech. It turned out that some of us "swallow" word endings.Others "soften" harsh consonants. There were even some with monotonous speech, who don't know where to put accents when you want to highlight a particular feeling, attitude or meaning. There were also some persons suffering from shyness and for whom it was hard to speak in public. All  these problems can be easily settled!

The funniest moment happened when we started pronouncing "language troubles". Very few of us could speak these distinctly and clearly while emphasizing the correct accent.  However, all of us practiced with the greatest pleasure, because everybody understood their usefulness.The purpose was to train specific muscles and vocal cords.  After that,we understood why some translators cannot keep up in simultaneous translation - their respective muscles have not been trained enough. The solution for them is to practice "language troubles".

Another advantage for translators, as explained Mrs. Vartic, is correct breathing. Particularly, correct breathing helps the translators to speak quickly and to keep up when dealing with the most emotional speakers and a choleric temperament. This respiration can also be trained! Participants were able to find out about certain breathing exercises, which, over the time, can help improving the respiration.

Category: Internal trainings