Assuna’s Advice on Professional Business Translation: How to Handle Situations When You Missed the Points of the Speaker?

Professional Business Translation Scenarios

Professional Business Translation

In some professional business translation scenarios, people often inquire about how to handle situations where they don’t understand the foreign speaker’s meaning during communication. First, I need to know the context you are in.

1.If you are attending a technical meeting or similar setting:

If you don’t understand, it’s acceptable to ask, “Sorry, I was lost.” “Can I beg your pardon?” “Say that again, please?”
In such contexts, the communication objective is problem-solving, so it’s crucial to clarify and resolve issues without ambiguity.

2.In more relaxed and pleasant settings, if you don’t understand, you can simply smile and move on. I recall an incident with a German client where he made a joke about shirts that I didn’t follow, but I knew it was a jest, so I just smiled along to show my respect. In such settings where the content of joke isn’t import and won’t affect the overall outcome, just let it go.

3.In formal speaking engagements, if you fail to catch what was said, you can just focus on key words and craft a fluent and politically correct response. It’s not appropriate to ask again in such contexts, but if an opportunity arises, you can rectify it later.

Unremitting Efforts Must Be Made to Improve Our Capabilities

professional business translation

I hope my above response can assist newcomers to the business translation industry.I hope people in professional business translation will find it helpful.

You’re not a saint, so there’s no need to feel nervous. Also, you’re not a machine; it’s impossible to understand everything you hear. As long as you can ensure the accuracy of crucial information and maintain smooth communication, that is sufficient. However, as a language industry professional, it’s essential to broaden your knowledge base, demonstrate high emotional intelligence, and try to avoid awkward situations as much as possible.

Remarks!

YOU MUST MAKE PREPARATIONS BEFORE EVERY MEETING! Thorough preparation for the meeting is extremely important. Clarifying industry logic, terminology, potential issues, and both parties’ demands in advance will make interpretation or communication much simpler. I hope the above advice is helpful for peers in the translation industry or friends who need to communicate in a foreign language. Please remember: True effort lies in preparation behind the scenes. Generally speaking, professional business translation is not that difficult if you get the whole picture of backgrounds from both sides.

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