Translator: Aletheia
First of all, thanks to Sister Xue for her trust! Activity Background: Home appliance company B considered to include intelligent equipment manufacturing company A in its assembly line supplier program, so it went to industrial park A for pre-discussion and workshop inspection. team B has five members from three countries: China, Germany and Poland. team A is the technical supervisor with two staff members.
This activity is mainly divided into two parts: business talk in the morning, workshop inspection and interpretation during lunch. The business talk started with a company introduction and product project presentation by Technical Director A. Because we had prepared according to agenda the day before, this part went smoothly, and the questions and answers during the discussion were also very smooth. With the deepening of the discussion, both sides involved in more and more technical details, because of the limited preparation time, some professional vocabulary and expressions did not cover. But do not panic at this time, you can calmly turn to the scene. For example, if you don't know how to say the terminology of a certain station, you can ask the customer about its function and then describe it in English. At the end of the discussion, we entered a state of "free discussion", where B's Chinese staff and A were discussing in Chinese, and the two foreign guests were talking in German in a low voice, so we could not be distracted at this time, and we had to pay attention to the content of the discussion in Chinese, so that we could respond freely to the foreign guests' questions about what had been said just now, when their respective conversations were over. When they finish their conversation and the foreign guest asks what they have just said, they will be able to respond freely.
During the workshop visit, Team B paid attention to a lot of details, and Representative A said to the interpreter, "Wow, they pay so much attention to such small details, so admirable." Although he didn't say it directly to B, the interpreter conveyed his meaning to the B team so that they wouldn't FEEL left out. similarly, during lunch, the B team chatted in English and encountered funny content that filled the room with laughter. At this time, it is important to tell the Chinese client what they are probably talking about and why it is funny, so that they won't feel embarrassed, and there is a possibility that they will participate in the conversation, further enhancing the communication between the two sides.
In the end, it is still necessary to remind yourself to take every translation seriously, and to be responsible for your clients is to be responsible for yourself!
