Derived from my own experience of simultaneous interpretation, the following scenarios are dedicated to those dreaming of building interpretation capacity.

1, “Doom”. No matter how fast you speak, you always get outpaced by the speaker. No matter how far you have reached in terms of background knowledge, the speaker will travel farther. It’s mission impossible. It’s an art of regret without the slightest possibility of regression. It’s a modern version of Sisyphus in a darkened booth, with the only dim light there not to enlighten, but to witness your plight, always ready to ridicule.

2, Accent. Sometimes it gets so strong that you really cannot help wondering whether the guy is speaking English, or rather some obsolete language of the remotest kingdom that even fairy tales have never told us any clue.

3, One servant, two masters. In discussions and debates, speakers don’t always line up and take turns. They may jump to defend themselves and attack their adversaries. They quarrel. They bark. All these verbal exchanges are conducted without any consideration of interpreters. So you are the voiceover for that savvy German banker now, trying to make your voice as authoritative as your client, and 5 seconds later, without any interval or signaling of lane change, you are the spokesperson for the elegant lady from the world’s leading film and imaging company. Oh, don’t forget to flip the language switch on the interpretation control panel.

4, Turf war. The interpretation booth is notorious for its small size, and elbowing for space seems inevitable when you have a partner like Howard. Sorry buddy, but I’m telling the truth.

以上的文字写给大家随便看看。肯定有很严肃的成分，也有玩笑。So, it’s fun, seriously.

还可能有很多挑战。比如最近咳嗽不断，同传间里也不例外，于是我可怜的听众们在耳机里听到的，除了译文，还有时不时的咳嗽声…

有时候客户严格甚至挑剔的要求，过高的期望，也会对同传造成很大的压力。尽力就好了。各位也放松些。

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