Negotiation interpretation belongs to the category of business interpretation. Business interpretation is a language communication activity in which listening, speaking, reading, writing, memorizing, translating and comprehensive abilities are integrated. Negotiation is the most important part of business activities, and a high-quality negotiation interpretation plays a key role in the success of the business.

Professional negotiation interpreters can facilitate good cooperation between the two parties. In particular, the translation of business and technical contract negotiations requires the on-site interpreters to be familiar with the technical materials and documents of project construction, and the interpretation should be accurate, faithful, rigorous and standardized. Due to the high requirements of clients for business interpretation services, all Chinese-Vietnamese interpreters in Guangzhou 1X1Y company are required to have at least three years of experience in interpreting and relevant industry background knowledge, so as to understand clients’ industry jargon.

1. Immediacy

Immediacy is a common feature of Chinese-Vietnamese interpretation, which is determined by the immediacy of spoken language. The carrier of interpretation is spoken language, which is distinguished from translation by the immediacy of spoken language planning. Interpreter do not know the content of the source language in advance, as the conversation goes on, they understand the intentions and convey them to the other party. Due to the immediacy of interpretation, the target language is not necessarily so compact. However, frequent expression training can make the target language clear, fluent and layered, with properly controlled pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm.

2. Urgency

"Relative rapidity of release". The normal language speed is about 14 phonemes per second, but the fastest speed exceeds 30 phonemes per second. The other one is "temporary retention of spoken language". Spoken words are ephemeral and hard to catch, let alone leave much time for interpreters to think. Due to the fast speed and transience of spoken language, as well as the absence of pauses in interpretation (the interpreter should immediately start the interpretation within 2-3 seconds after the end of the speech), the time for information receiving, analyzing, understanding, collating, and expressing is very short. In addition, the interpretation of technical negotiations involves a variety of professional knowledge and terms, and the interpreter needs to accurately translate them within a short time. If the translator fails to elaborate and query the problems, the pressure will be very great. To relive the urgency of interpreting work, the interpreter should prepare the topic and terms in advance. The process of preparing a topic is not only a process of understanding, but also a process of getting familiar with reasoning and analysis. In interpretation, the cognition and recognition are negatively correlated with the pressure of understanding and memory, that is, the richer the cognition is, the better the understanding of the subject is, the less pressure there will be in translation. Topic preparation includes the basic information of the negotiation parties, the technical content of the negotiation, the expected objectives of the negotiation, etc.

3. Specialty

Technical negotiations always revolve around a technical issue and relevant matters, so the interpretation inevitably involves a large number of professional knowledge and terms. The insufficient professional knowledge of interpreters, regardless of translating competence, can make it difficult to translate the technical issues and matters accurately and correctly, even leads to the suspension of negotiations. When encountering difficulties in translation, dictionaries and references are available, translators can also discuss with colleagues and take time to deliberate, however, there is no time to do so in interpretation. Therefore, interpreters should read widely, study hard to accumulate more comprehensive professional knowledge and terms, so as to lay a solid foundation for interpreting work and be prepared. Nowadays, with the rapid development of science and technology and the endless emergence of new professional knowledge and terms, interpreters need to keep up with the flow of the times.

4. Complexity

The complexity of technical negotiation interpretation is mainly embodied in the following three aspects: complex and changeable negotiation content, different social and cultural backgrounds of negotiating objects, and different speech styles of negotiators. First of all, the technical negotiations involve many fields, for example, the transfer of scientific and technological achievements, the export of automobiles, or the import of environmental protection equipment. Therefore, the content of interpretation changes greatly. Except for a few interpreters engaged in a single professional interpretation, ordinary interpreters’ work involves different majors. Secondly, negotiators from different countries and regions have different cultural traditions, customs and ways of thinking, which are reflected in the language and ways of negotiation. For example, influenced by Confucianism, Chinese people are modest and reserved, preferring to express concepts with vague terms. Whereas straightforward, clear, and logical expressions have always been the most prominent characteristics of the western communication tradition. For a variety of reasons, Chinese people tend to accept the western way of thinking, but westerners find it difficult to understand the Chinese’s. Therefore, in order for the two sides to communicate effectively, the interpretation should conform to the thinking and expression habits of both sides, and be clear and well-organized. In addition, technical negotiation interpretation involves not only professional skills, but also knowledge in politics, economy, culture, law and other fields. Interpreters are required to know the social and cultural background to help them correctly understand and express the overall meaning of the source language. Finally, the object of interpretation is the speaker's words. People often speak with accents and different styles, simple and clear phrases vs. compound sentences; articulate vs. slurred; slow vs. fast; intense and logical vs. loose and illogical. These different styles increase the complexity of interpretation. Thus, interpretation is a complicated and highly intelligent mental work, requiring interpreters to have good listening and understanding and quick response.

5. Accuracy

Technical negotiation interpretations must be accurate, especially for specialized terms, proper nouns, and numbers. The words used in negotiation are always carefully weighed and informative, misinterpreting or missing a word or sentence may lead to a opposite result. Accuracy of interpretation is the prerequisite for smooth communication in technical negotiation. For example, if a number is incorrectly interpreted, the outcome will be completely different. Limited by the immediacy, temporary retention and instantaneity of spoken language, interpreters can only render the overall meaning of the source language, but specialized terms, proper nouns and numbers must be conveyed accurately. For example, 35.2 million, translated into Vietnamese must be 35 triệu 200 nghìn. The accuracy of interpretation lies in the precise, clear and fluent expression of interpreters. As a carrier in interpretation, the language expression directly affects the progress of the negotiation. Even if the interpreter retells the words completely and accurately, any hesitation or abnormal sound and volume may have a negative impact on final outcome. In the process of technical negotiation, tone, gesture and other paralanguage information from both parties need to be delivered, so interpreters should strive to make the target language clear, the intonation accurate, and the pronunciation standard.

6. Flexibility

The accuracy of technical negotiation interpretation does not mean that interpretation is a mechanical bilingual translation. In principle, interpreters interpret all the main points and key words of the source language completely and accurately, but in some cases they need to be flexible. To maximize the benefits, both sides stick to on their own views, making the negotiation to a deadlock, so interpreters need to be flexible. In technical negotiations, in the face of the intemperate language of the supplier, the interpreter acts as a "filter" to avoid the tensions. In case of deadlock between the two sides, the interpreter need to mediate, appease, ease the atmosphere, and help the two sides reach an understanding. In conclusion, technical negotiation interpretation is characterized by immediacy, urgency, specialty, complexity, accuracy and flexibility due to the immediacy, temporary retention and instantaneity of spoken language.