Interpreting is the oral translation of oral discourse, as opposed to the oral translation of written texts. The latter is known as sight translation or translation-at-sight.
Interpreting as an official or professional function seems to have been in existence since vary early times; some studies have indicated its use in Ancient Egypt (Kurz 1985). Interpreters have played important role in history, inter alia, during exploration and invasion campaigns; for instance when the Spaniards arrived in Central and South America (Kurz 1991). Recent interest in the field is associated with the emergence of specialised forms of professional interpreting, such as business interpreting, conference interpreting, court interpreting, community interpreting and signed language interpreting.
One of the most striking and challenging phenomena in interpreting is its fundamental difficulty for the interpreter. …
