抄録
This essay describes the conference interpreter training program at the Graduate School of Economics, Daito Bunka University in Tokyo, the first post-graduate program of its kind in Japan. It explains its origin, program design, and actual execution in a humble hope of possibly providing some suggestions to many such programs now in existence.
At the 20th Anniversary Symposium of the Division of Translation and Interpretation, Monterey Institute of International Studies, I was shocked to see that there were many solid post-graduate training programs in Asia Pacific region, all of them having Japanese as one of their languages. I felt a strong moral and professional urge to correct this shameful imbalance. In retrospect I realize that I had practiced the profession for three decades at various settings, including that of the official interpreter for a Japanese President of PTTI, the International Labor Conferences, and US-Japan Legislator’s Committee, and I had become rather sure of my style of Japanese-English interpreting generally a la Seleskovitch’s sense theory, rather than the impracticable attempt at word-for-word transposition (which strangely abounds even today). I had also conducted and observed a number of successful training programs in and out of Japan. Thus armed by my experience, I came out with the following points of emphasis in the DBU program: ample hours of practice, including ‘interpreting marathon’ to replicate an immediately prior conference of a few days’ duration as well as practicing the skills at real job settings whenever available; theoretical underpinnings of the style emphasizing meaning and message content of the original; input of some European methods of training; combining knowledge of economics and economic affairs; and completing an MA thesis, among others. I thank all those who have pitched in to make this program a success, and I personally feel gratified to have initiated and played some role in it.
