A Project Report On The Class Interpretation For Foreign Military Officers In Nanjing Artillery Academy

With the continuous development of military diplomacy and the increasing military exchanges among different countries,a greater number of foreign officers and soldiers are invited to China to participate in military training courses.Serving as an interpreter in Nanjing Artillery Academy during the four months’ internship,the author encountered various difficulties due to the unfamiliarity with the characteristics of class interpretation for foreign military officers,the lack of experience in the class interpretation,and the uniqueness of the students(They come from 17 countries in Southeast Asia,South Asia,the Middle East,and Africa including Bangladesh,Cambodia,Myanmar,Laos,Sri Lanka,Pakistan,Lebanon,Jordan,Zimbabwe,Zambia,etc.with different cultural backgrounds and English accents).The major difficulties the author encountered during the interpreting process are:challenges caused by the type of the class including the initial unawareness of international publicity in interpreting,and the differences among the foreign military officers;the confusion about the role of the class interpreter for foreign military officers;and diversified English accents.Guided by the interpretative theory and based on authentic materials,the following solutions are proposed.Firstly,interpreters should grasp such interpreting strategies as being politically right,cultivating intercultural awareness and using easy English structures and words.Secondly,apart from the conventional role of "bridge" in interpreting,interpreters of foreign military training should also serve as "mediators" and "co-teachers".Thirdly,in order to solve the problem of the difficult understanding of different English accents,interpreters should have a positive attitude toward the accents without prejudice,study and summarize the characteristics of different English accents,in addition to enlarging the scope of knowledge.It is hoped that the solutions proposed in this report can provide reference for the interpreter of foreign military training and for people who do researches on this field.