Generic Edition, Introduction to the Simultaneous Interpretation Chapter

Generic Edition, Introduction to the Simultaneous Interpretation Chapter: "Simultaneous interpretation, in which the interpreter speaks at the same time as the speaker, is the most common mode of interpreting used in court. Generally, simultaneous interpreting is done from English into the second language, because it is intended to enable the defendant to understand what is going on in court proceedings. The U.S. Constitution states that every criminal defendant has a right to be present at all stages of the proceedings, and the courts have interpreted this to mean that non-English-speaking defendants are not 'present' unless everything is interpreted into their native language for them. Therefore, the court interpreter is required to interpret everything that is said in the courtroom so that the defendant hears exactly what an English-speaking defendant would hear. This does not mean that the court interpreter explains what the proceedings mean; the interpreter must convey every single statement that is uttered in the courtroom, at the same language level or register in which it is stated, regardless of the defendant's ability to understand the concepts involved. Many of the proceedings are conducted at a rapid pace, as judges and attorneys are going through routine steps that they have done countless times before. The language they use is often difficult, if not impossible, for the uninitiated to understand. The challenge for the court interpreter is to render their statements into a target-language version (the target language is the language into which you are interpreting; the source language is the language out of which you are interpreting) that is as intelligible to the average non-English-speaking layman as the original message is to the average English-speaking layman, without adding or omitting anything. "