Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting
J-F Rozan
1
THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES
The use of a technique is always dependent upon the application
of a certain number of principles. This is what we call the instructions.
One need not follow the rules recommended in such instructions.
Indeed the product, device or system for which they were devised may
well work even if they are not observed, but will do so less efficiently.
Furthermore, the simpler the instructions, the more likely the user is to
follow them. The same applies to note-taking. A few very simple
principles give this system its sound base and precision, and make
using it straightforward. There are seven of these principles; in order
they are:
1 Noting the idea and not the word
2 The rules of abbreviation
3 Links
4 Negation
5 Adding emphasis
6 Verticality
7 Shift
Some of these principles have already been explained by Jean
Herbert in his Interpreter’s Handbook1
.
1. Noting the idea rather than the word
Take any French text and give it to 10 excellent english
translators. The result will be ten very well translated texts, but ten
very different texts in as far as the actual words used are concerned.
The fact that we have ten good translations, but ten different texts,
shows that what is important is the translation of the idea and not the
word. This is even truer of interpretation since the interpreter must
produce a version of the text in another language immediately. He
must be free of the often misleading constraints that words represent.
1
Georg & Cie
, Geneva, 1956.
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J-F Rozan
2
It is through the analysis and notation of the ideas that the interpreter
will avoid mistakes and a laboured delivery.
Example: Let us take the following, from French into English:
„Il y a des fortes chances pour que...../ There is a very good chance
that...” If we base our notation of this expression on the words, the key
word is chance. If we base it on the idea, it is probable.
The notes will have to be read 20 minutes – even an hour2
– after
the idea was originally expressed. In the first example it would be
very easy to make a mistake. Having noted chance the interpreter
might, if the context allowed, render it „there is a chance that” or „by
chance”. If on the other hand he noted probable the mistake cannot be
made. The issue of style is also dealt with in the second example
where one would automatically say (interpreting into English), „It is
probable that”, or „it is likely that”, or „in all likelihood” whereas in
the first example even if the interpreter had correctly recalled the idea
that the word chance represented he/she will be a prisoner to that
word and might easily produce a gallicism3
.
Example: „We should try to live up to....”. It would be absurd to
note the word „live” and it would greatly increase the risk of making a
mistake. Although it would seem to be very different from the original
it would be more appropriate to note in French, for example, „ à la
hauteur” (in english ‘to be up to’). This is the result of analysing the
idea behind what is said and noting it idiomatically in the target
language. It would be just as useful to note be =, representing being
equal to , which could very easily be read back idiomatically in
intepretation (ie. „à la hauteur in French”, „to be up to in English”).
Whenever taking notes the interpreter must concentrate on the
major idea and how this can be noted clearly and simply (preferably in
the target language, although this is not essential).
In the practical exercises in Part 3 of this book you will find a
number of examples of noting the idea rather than the word. It is
recommended that you examine these with particular care.
2
this was indeed the case when Rozan wrote. Although nowadays 20 minutes is considered a long consecutive
speech, his comments still apply.
3
being unduly influenced by the source language is, of course, not only a problem in French-English
interpretation but in all interpretation.
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J-F Rozan
3
2. The Rules of Abbreviation
A. ABBREVIATION OF WORDS
The rule of thumb is that unless a word is short (4-5 letters) the
interpreter should note it in an abbreviated form.
If we have to note „specialized” it is more meaningful and
reliable to note sped
than to write spec.
Other examples:
Stat. could be read as „statute” or „statistics” whilst Stute
and
Stics
are unambiguous.
Prod. could be read as „production”, „producer”, „product” or
„productivity” while Pron
, Prer
, Prct
, Prvity
are unambiguous.
Com. could be read as „Commission” or „committee” while Con
and Ctee
are unambiguous.
Rule: If you have time write a word as completely as possible,
however, if a word must be abbreviated, then write some of the first
and last letters rather than trying to write as many letters as possible
from the start onwards.
B. INDICATING GENDER AND TENSE
Having abbreviated a word or an idea (be it by the use of a
symbol or a contraction of its component letters) it can also be very
helpful to give an indication of gender4
and tense).
Thus in the expression: „I will come back to this a little later”,
noting the future tense will render the words „a little later”
superfluous. We will see below that „I speak” can be noted : I ”.
Therefore we note : I ll
”
4
Rozan was working from and into French. Gender is meaningless for those noting in English, however, the idea
could be usefully adapted for use in, for example, the Slavic languages where nouns have gender.
Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting
J-F Rozan
4
The expression: „those mentioned”, must be noted : rf d
; because
rf alone could be read back as „those which mention”.
Rule: To indicate gender5
and number we add e
or s
to the
symbol or abbreviation. To indicate tense we add ll
for the future and d
for the past.
See also the examples in Part 3.
C. ABBREVIATING THE REGISTER
The expression „which have contributed to” is long. The word
help is short. Wherever possible we must abbreviate by using a word
which conveys the same meaning but is shorter.
Similarly, „...which are worth looking at” can be noted intg
(interesting).
„In order to arrive at some conclusions” can be noted to end.
„Taking into account the situation at the present time” can be
noted as siton
now.
Examine closely the abbreviations in Part 3.
3. Links
The part of any speech that is both the most important and the
most difficult to note is the sequence of ideas and the links between
them. (Jean Herbert)
An idea can be distorted completely if its relation to the previous
idea is not clearly indicated. When taking notes then, we should never
miss out the links. Indeed what we actually see is that if the links are
noted well the rest of the idea can be summarised in just a few strokes
of the pen.
A. Noting links becomes very simple if we use the key words that
follow. (Over time this will become automatic.)
5
Again the ‘e’ represents the French feminine ending. Any letter can be used and this will depend on the
languages involved.
Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting
J-F Rozan
5
as, why and that is because, this is the reason why, since,
given the fact that, (in some instances)given that; to convey
explanation.
tho although, despite the fact that; to convey opposition
but on the other hand, but, nevertheless, however; to convey
limitations
if it is possible that, assuming that; to convey
supposition.
as to as far as x is concerned, on the matter of; to convey
reference
tfe therefore, one can then conclude; to convey
conclusion.
The three symbols below (which can also be found in Part 2) are
also extremely useful.
= the same goes for, one might say the same of; to convey the idea
of equality or correspondance
 on the other hand, contrary to; to convey the idea of difference or
lack of correspondance
in + in addition, furthermore, if we also take account of; to convey
the idea of additional precision.
B. Linking is not just about representing the idea; it will often impact
on the very content of the speech. It is a question of noting
quickly and without repetition the group of subject words and the
group of complement words to which the idea relates. This problem
can be solved quickly and easily by using the the recall arrow (Jean
Herbert)
Examine carefully the examples of links in Part 3.
4. and 5. Negation and emphasis
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J-F Rozan
6
Negation and emphasis are two essential elements of any speech
and as such should be noted unambiguously (See Jean Herbert pp46-
47).
1. NEGATION
Negation might be noted by means of a line running through a
word or symbol.
Example:
If we use OK to signify „agree”, then „disagree” will be OK . It
is also possible to write the word no before the word to be negated
(thus in our example we would note no OK). This second method is
clearer and since „no” is a very short word using it is not a problem.
2. EMPHASIS
To emphasize a word we can underline it (twice if we are
dealing with a superlative or absolute).
Example:
„(The study) is interesting” : intg
„(The study) is very interesting” : intg
„(The study) is extremely interesting” : intg
In some cases the line may be replaced by a circumflex to avoid
confusion arising from the use of verticality.
Alternatively emphasis can be noted with a dotted line.
Example:
„This report might be useful” : useful
The use of underlining to denote nuance allows us to qualify the
word (or idea) underlined without noting the qualifier.
Example:
„important question” becomes : ?
„we should look at this very carefully” becomes : look at
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7
„I would like to say in the strongest possible terms” becomes : I
say
„...an imperfect solution” becomes : soltn
6. VERTICALITY
It is the principles of Verticality and Shift (described in the next
section) which form the backbone of the note-taking system described
in this book.
Verticality means taking notes from top to bottom rather than
from left to right. This method makes it possible to:
a) group ideas logically, allowing a complete and immediate synthesis
when we come to read back our notes,
b) to do away with many links which would otherwise be essential to
the clarity of the text.
A. STACKING
„Stacking6
” consists of placing different elements of the text
above or below one another.
„the report on western europe”
Rort
.
W Eur.
„the report on western europe is an interesting document”
Rort
intg
W Eur.
„Since the French, US and UK delegations....”
6
„Superposition” in French
Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting
J-F Rozan
8
„Since the French, US and UK delegations have suggested....”
Fre
As US
UK
Fre
As US suggestd
UK
„The chapters of the report which deal with economic situation
in Europe offer additional information and new statistics”
Chrs
info
_________
give new
Ec.Eur statics
If (as we will see in part 2) the sign → is used to denote „offer”
and the sign + to denote „additional” and „new” then our notes will
look like this:
Chrs
info
_________
→ +
Ec.Eur statics
See the examples in the practical exercises in part 3 and study
them carefully.
B. USING BRACKETS
Brackets are an important part of the verticality system. In every
speech there will be certain elements, which are mentioned to clarify
an idea or to highlight a particular point, but which are not integral to
the speaker’s train of thought.
These parts of a speech should be noted in brackets, below the
main element to which they refer.
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9
Examples:
„....which leads to new investment, particularly in the transport sector”
→ + invts
(Tort
)
„(We hear that our exports will suffer as a result of increases in factor
costs), which will make them less competitive.”
(so - compive
)
See also the examples of the use of parentheses given in the
practical exercises at the back.
To encourage a natural use of the verticality technique it is
recommended that you use relatively large but narrow pieces of paper.
This will allow you to note the maximum amount of text on one page
whilst automatically bringing your notes back to the left hand side of
the page.
7. SHIFT
Shift and Verticality are the fundamental principles underlying
this note-taking system.
To explain Shift let us take an example: „Over the course of
1954, prices rose, although not to the same extent as income, thus the
population’s net income increased.” Our notes will be as follows ( the
symbol  denotes increase):
54, prices 
but ───── no =  income
so ────Popon

Word for word on the first line : Over the course of 1954, prices
rose,
Word for word on the second line : although not to the same extent
as income,
Word for word on the third line : thus the population’s net
income increased.
Having used Shift to give our notes a vertical layout on the page,
noting the links is almost enough to give us an accurate and full
version of the text.
Shift means writing notes in the place on a lower line where they
would have appeared had the text on the line above been repeated.
The examples below show how notes would be positioned
during interpretation, but have not been abbreviated.
„The report on the economic situation in Europe is a fine
document which discusses some interesting topics”:
Rort
good
Ec.Eur
discusses interesting topics
„to understand the program, one must”
to understand the program
one must
„The effectiveness of the Social and Economic Council’s efforts
at solving.....”
effectiveness efforts Ecosoc
at solving.....
„Thus in the Report and the Study we find a theoretical and
practical analysis which will help in the adoption of......”
tfe
(in Rort
)
Study
theoretical
there is analysis practical
which will help in the adoption
of
See also examples of Shift in part 3.