A Simultaneous Interpreting Practice Report On Zheng He’s Voyages To The West Of The Lecture Room(Excerpt)

Culture shapes the thinking and behavior of a country or nation.A lack of understanding of culture among different countries can easily lead to misunderstanding of speech and behavior among each other.Nowadays,the international community is paying increasing attention to China while its misunderstanding of this country and its culture is also conspicuous.In such a complex context,China urgently needs to communicate its cultural ideas in the process of building an international discourse system.As a great Chinese navigator,explorer and diplomat,Zheng He made seven consecutive voyages to the West during the 28 years from 1405 to 1433,and carried out unprecedented economic and cultural exchanges with Asian and African countries.Zheng He built peaceful,friendly ties with trading states,which was totally different from those western navigators who navigated for exploring and establishing colonies.He is considered as a good example of peaceful diplomacy and ambassador of friendship.Communicating Zheng He is conducive to disseminating China’s "peaceful development" around the world,so that the international community can truly understand and embrace China’s new concepts and policies as well as Chinese culture.As TV is now the media with the widest coverage,the largest audience and the most influence,China’s science and educational programs are not only the primary channel for people in China to be informed and educated on science and culture,but also a window for people in various countries to know about China.Therefore,in order to introduce Zheng He to people around the world,the author decided to simultaneously interpret the series Zheng He’s Voyages to the West of The Lecture Room.Two episodes have been selected from twelve episodes of Zheng He’s Voyages to the West by the author as interpreting materials.This report is based on the Chinese-English simultaneous interpretation practice of the video lectures Zheng He’s Voyages to the West.The report is divided into four parts.Chapter 1 is a description of the interpretation task,including source,features and significance of the interpretation task.Chapter 2 is a description of the interpretation process,including background knowledge preparation,theoretical preparation,quality evaluation criterion,interpretation process and feedback.Chapter 3 is case analysis of interpretation,including difficulties encountered in the interpretation process and interpretation skills applied.Chapter 4 is a summary.It is hoped that this report will provide useful reference for interpreting learners and also will provide reference and help for foreigners who are willing to understand more about Chinese history and culture.