Simultaneous or consecutive interpreting in a veterinary context: A Veterinary Pathology Teaching Experience in the South China Agricultural University (SCAU), Guangzhou, China

Abstract

China is the second world's strongest economy and the largest manufacturing economy and exporter of goods. Furthermore, it is also the world's fastest-growing consumer market. Veterinary Sciences are underdeveloped in China Universities due to a complete lack of veterinary specialists in the country. This paper describes the experience of a Board Certified Veterinary Pathologists during one week of teaching in the South China Agricultural University (SCAU), Guangzhou, China. A course (40 h) entitled “Fundamental and Practical Pathology for Veterinary Clinicians and Researchers” was provided to 100 attendees including; veterinary students, researchers and veterinary graduates. The teaching was given in English by a native Spanish with a C1 English level. The lectures were translated into Chinese using two modalities; simultaneous and consecutive. Significance differences regarding the adequacy of each method were noted after analysing a survey conducted at the end of the teaching. Simultaneous interpreting was preferred over consecutive by 82% of the attendees. The present work emphasizes the need of specialist veterinary medical training in China and highlights how simultaneous interpreting is a useful tool to provide veterinary pathology teaching in the context of a highly-specialised discipline.