Poll: "Different accents have a vital role during interpreting." Autor vlákna: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question ""Different accents have a vital role during interpreting."".
View the poll results »
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I’m not an interpreter, but I suppose it will make the job more difficult if the accent happens to be very thick and the interpreter is not used to it…
| | | | | Accent is of great importance | Aug 24, 2025 |
I believe the key element in precise interpretation is "understanding" what the speaker is saying. If there is any problem with understanding or even any delay in understanding, that will harmfully affect the process and precision of interpretation.
| | | | Daryo
Local time: 07:58
srbština -> angličtina
+ ...
| Definitely true | Aug 24, 2025 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
I’m not an interpreter, but I suppose it will make the job more difficult if the accent happens to be very thick and the interpreter is not used to it…
Definitely true. You can't get very far if you can't understand the speaker to start with.
But that potential problem has only a tenuous connection with the poll question as asked.
The way it's worded the poll question makes about as much sense as 'Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau'. Someone decided to turn poll questions into a tribute act to 'les surréalistes'??
If you want to go into purely technical details, what definitely has 'a vital role during interpreting' is to reduce or eliminate any background noise, and to have a properly working equipment if boots are used.
I can't see in which way the presence or absence of 'different accents' (whatever it's in fact supposed to mean) could/would/should(?) have some 'vital role' in the business of interpreting.
Maybe whoever dreamed up this poll question could shed some light on the logic behind this question, because I can't see it?
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Luca Adie
Německo
Local time: 08:58
němčina -> angličtina
+ ...
I imagine it does. As a Scot, I know very well about accents. I'd imagine that to interpret well, you'd have to create some kind of neutral accent so that people do not know where you are from.
How interesting!
| | | | Denis Fesik
Local time: 09:58
angličtina -> ruština
+ ...
| I wonder if there are languages other than English... | Aug 25, 2025 |
... that can beat English in the accent game. I mean, the game of keeping an insane number of accents, some of which are mutually unintelligible. Okay, it's not so bad, really. There's a fat chance that, if your English is good enough, you'll never hear someone talking with a completely unintelligible accent unless you watch a video with an elderly countryman whose accent scores ten out of ten on the scale of unintelligibility. This time I'm not just guessing: I heard tons of different accents a... See more ... that can beat English in the accent game. I mean, the game of keeping an insane number of accents, some of which are mutually unintelligible. Okay, it's not so bad, really. There's a fat chance that, if your English is good enough, you'll never hear someone talking with a completely unintelligible accent unless you watch a video with an elderly countryman whose accent scores ten out of ten on the scale of unintelligibility. This time I'm not just guessing: I heard tons of different accents and could almost always understand what the person was saying. I remember our English teacher in university saying that, if you are a good interpreter, it'll be easier for you to work from rather than into your native language ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ikram Mahyuddin 
Indonésie
Local time: 13:58
angličtina -> indonéština
+ ...
Accents other than the "usual" ones can be harder to understand during interpreting.
| | | | IrinaN (X)
Spojené státy americké
Local time: 01:58
angličtina -> ruština
+ ...
| Some wordings just leave you speechless | Aug 25, 2025 |
Whose accent? Speaker's? Interpreter's? Vital for whom? What is "vital" in this puzzling context?
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