Master Graduate Column invites master graduates from different programmes of HSS to share their campus life at CUHKSZ. Shi Xiyang, just drawing a perfect full stop to her six-year journey from bachelor to master, talks about her stories about learning and growing at CUHKSZ.

Follow your heart and make it your decision

“Go all out to something meaningful.” Shi Xiyang said in a graduate interview when she finished her bachelor’s 4-year study in Translation at CUHKSZ. Out of love for translation and alma mater, Shi Xiyang decided to continue her interpreting journey as a MASI student at CUHKSZ.

When asked why she chose CUHKSZ, she replied seriously: “My 4-year study at CUHKSZ gives me a good understanding of the atmosphere in this university. Our professors especially interpreting professors are nice and qualified. They are all highly professional and care deeply about the development of their students.” She is even more determined in her choice with positive sharing from her seniors. Therefore, Shi Xiyang started her familiar but distinct two-year master’s study in interpretation.

Diligence is the way to boundless knowledge

Comparing with bachelor‘s study in translation, Shi thinks master’s study would be more concentrated.

An undergraduate has a comparatively slow study pace and much free time. He or she can take general education courses (also known as GE courses) to expand horizons and have enough time to explore different fields. But after master’s study began, Shi devoted almost all herself to study in translation and interpretation. “Major courses and professional knowledge fill my daily schedule. One lecture usually takes the whole morning or afternoon. I also need to spend a lot of spare time on interpreting preparation and personal practice. Learning is almost my whole life.”

Practice makes a good interpreter. “MASI at CUHKSZ would assign students a lot of practice tasks, even more than some world-known interpreting programmes overseas.”

Although simultaneous interpreting is a difficult major, Shi Xiyang loves it. “I’m kind of sedulous and tenacious,” she said, “The more challenging it is, the more triumphant I would be after I make it.” In daily life, she would take the initiative to form study groups with other students. Every group member prepared interpreting material for the other members in turn, gave opinions to other members’ interpretation, and helped to improve it. Shi Xiyang also kept practicing by online meeting with her classmates when they have to take online courses.

At the same time, Shi Xiyang paid great attention to accumulating different expressions and knowledge. She established her own “corpus” early in her bachelor’s stage with Excel, classifying and recording unfamiliar words and good expressions. She marked nouns, verbs, phrases, sentences and other elements with different colours and review them in her spare time. It requires knowledge of current affairs to be a good interpreter, so Shi also stays informed about what is happening in the world, practices interpreting, and accumulates with related news reports.

Shi Xiyang added, “Learning interpreting is a process of practicing, improving yourself and acquiring more knowledge. Knowledge is boundless so that learning should be lifelong.”

People studying translation would be often asked the question: “Will translator be replaced by machines?” Shi Xiyang’s answer is “unlikely in near future”. She believes that technology is a very important aid for simultaneous interpreters and may even become a necessary skill for interpreters. Current translation software is still rather rigid, especially when it comes to speaker improvisation. A professional translator has a significant and irreplaceable advantage.

Changing in quantity leads to changing in quality

Outside of the classroom, Shi Xiyang has participated in many interpreting competitions and internship projects as a way to build up her courage and experience. During her time at school, she participated in the National English Interpreting Competition, experiencing the proliferation of muffled voices in the offline halls and trying out rounds of challenges online, becoming more confident as she continued to "fight" to complete her interpretation in front of the public.

During a Finnish food roadshow simultaneous interpretation internship, Shi Xi Yang met a company representative with a strong accent. This, together with the client's very professional and detailed questions, as well as the noisy offline voices and blurred online conversations, added to the difficulties of her translation activities. For this reason, Shih-Yang did a lot of pre-translation preparation, making detailed reference to the client's main product content, product production process, and selling point features, quickly expanding her knowledge and continuing to learn during her internship. She says with a smile, "I was particularly lucky to be assigned to this representative."

During her graduate studies, Shi Xiyang obtained her CATTI2 Interpretation Certificate and also had the experience of interpreting independently. For Shi Xiyang, an interpretation lover, she prefers to work as an interpreter in the future and continue to work and study in the field she loves.