Memory TrainingMemory Training

Memory:

sensory memory vs. short-term memory vs. long-term

memory

substantive memory vs. verbatim memory

Tips for memory training

Organization

Mental repetition

Visualization

Chunking

Association

Organization（信息组织）

Sequential: chronological, cause/effect, building to climax…

Directional: north/south & east/west, front/back, left/right,

bottom/up, top/down…

Transitional (Connective): relational words or phrases, e.g.

on the other hand, however, also, conversely…

Component (part/whole): classification by category or concept

Relevance: central unifying idea or principle

Mental repetition（大脑重复）

Mentally repeat what the speaker has said previously

while still listening to the on-going speech or

interpreting consecutively into the TL.

Visualization（信息视觉化）

Try to create a mental picture or to visualize what is

heard whenever possible. This technique works well

with narrative or descriptive speeches.

Chunking（信息组块化）

Chunking means to group pieces of information into

units. It’s a major technique for keeping information

in short-term memory.

Association（信息联想）

Association in interpreting refers to interpreters’

deliberate mental connection of what they hear as

new information to something they already know

or are familiar with.

Specific training steps

Listen to a text;

Retell the main idea in the SL form;

Retell the whole thing in the SL form;

Analyze the nature and reasons for information loss;

Keep trying and be time-conscious;

Listen to a text and do the retelling in the TL form;

……