Note-Taking Symbols and Technique Training 

Hi Isabelle! Thanks for sharing! That’s excellent! It shows you’re a visual person with great memory/retention skills. That’s awesome so you don’t have to rely on notes so much! Great job!

That's amazing! Thank you! I'm so glad to hear it was helpful!

Hi Maxwell! I'm glad you stumbled upon and now we have you here! Congratulations on the course you are taking! That's great! Note-taking is something very personal and particular. Every interpreter takes notes differently but what I can tell you is that for me, notes are essential and I cannot interpret consecutively without them. It can be a bit challenging to master but not impossible. It just takes a good method that works for you, and then consistency and practice.

Would you mind telling me where you're taking this course ?

Sira!!!! Thank you so much! You are so kind! This motivates me to create more and more content!

Wow! Muchas gracias, Jorge! 🥰

Thank you so much, Shanti! I'm glad you find value in the videos I share. Thanks for being here!

Thank you for your support and welcome to Interprepedia! 🤗

Excellent! It does make a world of difference!

Thank you!!! 🙏

Thank you, Luxi!

Hi Nellie! Thank you so much for your kind words! It really means a lot to me and keeps me motivated to share whatever I can with my colleagues. I'm planning on going to the next NAJIT conference in the summer :) It's going to be in Las Vegas! If you're there, please say hello!

Awww 🥺 I’m sorry you didn’t do great but don’t give up! Study and practice some more and try again!!! 🤗

Hi, Jay! Thank you so much for letting me know how you did. I'm very happy you found it helpful.

Thank you, Vanessa! Interpretrain's course and manual helped me a lot to improve my note-taking skills.

Hi, Maribel! Yes! That is exactly what I did before I learned this awesome technique. Thank you so much for being here!

Hi! Thanks for sharing! Yes, this note-taking technique for interpreters it amazing! It's like learning a whole new way to write/read but it really makes a difference in my experience. I hope you keep enjoying the channel! Thanks for being here!

Con mucho gusto 🫶🏼

Hi, Mildred! Thank you for stopping by! 🤗

@@Interprepedia I am teaching an interpreting course. Your videos are really helpful :)

Wow! That sounds great! I’m so happy! Let me know if you have ideas or suggestions for future videos 😉

That’s awesome, Jacky! I love how detailed your analysis was. It shows you are really recorded yourself and paid attention to your rendition. This kind of self evaluation is crucial to our improvement as interpreters. Great job!!!! 🙌

Thank you so much, Gerson! Great job!

Hi Rawan! Thank you for sharing your experience!

You did awesome, Miriam! Great job!

Hi! Congratulations on passing the written exam! Yay! I highly recommend Holy Mickelson’s material, ACEBO. They were so helpful for me to pass my exams and I still use them for practice to this date. Best of luck!

Hi Doly! I mostly use abbreviations for court-related terms but there are instances when I also use a lot of symbols, for example, when I have to interpret testimony about something that happened since the speakers tend to use non-legal terms to describe that.

Hi, July! Thank you for your support! You've shared an excellent question. If you feel you need to gain a bit more confidence to brush up on your English and be ready to start interpreting, I'd say keep practicing the language by speaking it, reading, writing, and even taking English classes if you can. Once you feel you've overcome that, then I'd suggest taking specialized training in medical interpreting so that you can set yourself up for success. Best of luck and thank you for being here!

Great job!!! 👏

Excellent self-evaluation! You’re very thorough 👌 Thank you so much for sharing this! Great job!

Hi, Isabel! Thank you for sharing your experience with this practice! I mostly take notes by typing abbreviations and codes on my computer since I primarily interpret remotely, LOL. Taking notes by hand is hard for me. Still, sometimes there is no other option (like in a test, for example). I learned some symbols from this course, and I came up with other symbols of my own along the way or borrowed them from other colleagues. Other times I just write abbreviations of certain words; it's a combination of things. I would say the main thing is doing whatever is more intuitive for you because this is one of those things that is different for everyone.

Great Tip. Thank you so much

Thank you! I’m glad you liked it! I’m working on creating more content so stay tuned!

Thank you for sharing how you did, Natalia! That's awesome! Taking notes definitely aids our memory because even after having listened to this many times, I still mess up if I don't take notes.

Thanks for sharing your experience! Great job!

Hola, Adriana! OMG! I'm so excited for you! You will do great! Even if idioms are challenging, it's only a small part of the test, so don't worry. I know the University of Arizona sells some practice tests (bit.ly/3gElzVR) but I have never used them so I don't know how good they are or not. Also, you probably have this but this booklet has a huge collection of idioms (bit.ly/3xrESYj) and any idiom that comes up in the test will most likely be there. Thanks for the support and good luck!

Great job, Zaal! Thanks for sharing!

Excellent! I'm so glad you found it useful!

Hi Carolina! Thank you for your kind words and for your support. I felt the same way, but this book and the subsequent course based on the book helped a lot. It took me like 6 months of constant practice until I felt a bit more comfortable with my notes.

@@Interprepedia Thank you for your response!

Hi, Andrea! Technically yes, that is correct. In general, many online courses nowadays are only granting access for a certain period of time. However, you can always request extended access and sometimes they'll charge you an extension fee or something - not sure how this one in particular works. Keep in mind that there is also the "Note-taking Manual" that you can buy and keep forever. It's based on the same material of the online course and it comes with the audio recordings and even more symbols to practice. Check it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8h-d_wSIAro.html

(I do appreciate your video alot, thanks!)

Hi! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for following the exercise. That is exactly what used to happened to me before I learned that note-taking system.

@@Interprepedia thank you for your respond

I totally understand your struggle! I have been doing this for a few years and I'm still striving to improve these skills. The good news is, it's attainable, although it's a constant work in progress. Chin up and keep working on it! It will get better!

Hi! In my experience, the manual and later the course really helped me improve my note-taking skills to the level I needed to pass my certification tests. I think both are great but I prefer the online course because it's the same material as the book but it was much easier to follow. Best of luck!

Hi! Sorry about that! Here’s the link: interpre-train.digitalchalk.com/learn/note-taking-symbols-and-techniques

Hi! Sure there are! One I love and recommend is Interpret Your World. They are here on RU-vid and have awesome practices.

Hi! Based on the classes I've taken one of the first thing they teach is symbols and abbreviations for the most commonly used words. Then implement those symbols/abbreviations with other techniques.

Wow! That’s great!

Personally, I take notes in the language that is being spoken to me, and when I do the rendition, I do it in the target language.

Great question! Note-taking is a very personal skill and I’ve noticed we all do it a little differently. After I read your question I started thinking about how I do it and realized I do a mix of both. I use a combination of symbols, drawings and abbreviations in both languages mixed together.

Great job, Ikaa!!! 👏 Thanks so much for sharing your experiene!

That's great to know, Isaias! Thank you so much for sharing this!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! This is something that gets better with practice. It's definitely not an easy skill to master but it's totally worth the effort.

That’s a great inquiry! I totally agree. Some of the existing tools or courses use general conversation topics for practice but those don’t always represent the type of dialogue we have to interpret in real situations.

Keep it up and thanks for sharing your experience! It takes time to master this skill (and like me, even if you get a certain level of mastery you have to keep practicing or you lose it) but it's worth it!

¡Hola, Claudia! Muchísimas gracias por compartir tu experiencia con este ejercicio. No te desanimes, a mí me pasaba lo mismo y te confieso que a veces, si no estoy al 100% y es un material difícil, me vuelvo a sentir así. El curso que tomé me ayudó muchísimo y te van llevando poco a poco a poder tomar notas a ese nivel y te enseñan las técnicas. Aquí te dejo el enlace: tinyurl.com/2c68a8fc

You’re so welcome!

Hi! I'm doing great, thanks for asking! Although it's a bit too chilly for my taste here in FL 🥶 Anyway, I got the book first because the online course was not available at the time. It did help me improve my note-taking technique. When the course became available I took it, and it helped even more because it was easier to follow along. You can't go wrong with either one because I'm sure both will help you.

@@Interprepedia gracias Rosa., I just saw this answer y te escribí en otro mensaje preguntándote del libro., pues comprare el libro y cogeré el curso a la misma vez pues quiero seguir tus pasos“ you are my mentor “ so seguiré tu camino ., yo vivo en florida en el sur este., no sabía que estabas en florida

@@Interprepedia gracias mil Rosa

@@ileanakeller7526 Me encanta haberte inspirado. Eso fue lo que yo hice y la combinación de ambas cosas me ayudó un montón

Congratulations on becoming an interpreter and starting this awesome new career! I am so happy to hear you say this… YOU are the new generation in the language services industry and have the power to change things… I also type much faster and better than I can write, and I struggled with the same issue along the way. I had to learn to take notes by hand because some companies do not allow typing and also because I wanted to get my certification and I knew that in order to pass the oral test I’d have to be proficient at taking notes by hand since computers are not allowed. I don’t fully understand or agree with the reasons laid out as to why some folks are so opposed to typing or the use of technology, but now that I interpret in person more than I do remotely, I can tell you that in some situations it’s not practical to type (you have to interpret standing up, or have to move around a room without a table or desk in front of you) and there are places were electronic devices are not even allowed 😭

Thanks so much for sharing! Absolutely! Some people are more visual and have a very good memory so notes can become distracting. I have a colleague in federal court who is amazing at what he does and never carries a single piece of paper to take notes 👀 Thanks for doing this little practice with me!

¡Hola, Ileana! Claro que sí. Escogí el curso que ofrece Interpretrain. Aquí te paso el enlace: shorturl.at/vBN39

@@Interprepedia mil gracias Rosa., me encantan tus vídeos y desde que te vi la primera vez me suscribí a tus vídeos pues eres muy explícita y sabes compartir bien tus conocimientos, voy a coger el curso que tú cogiste ., crees que debo también comprar el libro? Pues veo que en otro vídeo hablas del libro también de Virginia Valencia ., o solo uno es necesario? El libro o el curso? O ambos? De verdad que quiero mejorar mis conocimientos en tomar notas pues estoy bien atrás., agradezco infinita mente tu ayuda., que Dios te bendiga!! Y gracias x compartir lo que sabes

@@ileanakeller7526 Muchísimas gracias por el apoyo. Ambas herramientas te beneficiarían y tienen sus ventajas y desventajas. El libro es algo que tendrás siempre contigo y es más económico. El curso es más fácil de seguir y en algunos aspectos más explícito, pero el acceso es por tiempo limitado. Por eso al final opté por ambas opciones.

Yes, that happens! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback 🙏🏽

Hi Trang! I know, right? It's tricky because notes help but they can also be distracting. It's also something very personal and there is not a universal system that works for everybody. If you feel satisfied with your note-taking skills, awesome! if you feel they could use some work, check out Interpretrain's book or their course on note-taking. It was a game-changer for me.

@@Interprepedia thanks so much. And how can I get the book? I am not student of the course

@@Interprepedia Do you take notes like that for simultaneous interpreting too?

Hi! Thanks for sharing your experience! Keep it up! I gets better if you keep practicing and work on your note-taking skills.

Thank you so much for sharing! I totally get it because if we abbreviate Gr, for example, it can be Grey, or Green, right? What helps me in that case is to visualize the whole outfit and now I'm making 3-letter abbreviations for most colors (Gry = grey, Grn = green, Blu = blue, Blk = black, etc). This takes time to master as it's pretty much like learning how to read/write in a different way but it's doable! Thanks for being here!

Hi, Ikaa! I'm not sure what happened there 🤔 but I'm glad to see you worked it out based on your other comment 🥳

Hi ClaRuth! I'm happy to hear you did better the second time. Did you take notes? You have a very good point, maybe I should have changed the story 🤔 but I wanted to have the same baseline to demonstrate how notes help with recall. Many of us, even after hearing the story two or three times still have a hard time keeping up and remembering things accurately without taking notes. Thanks for being here!

Thank you for sharing your experience! It takes time to master the skill but it’s totally worth it!

Thank you for sharing your experience! Don't get discouraged because practice makes perfect! Great job!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience!

Hi, Reham! Thank you for sharing your experience! It is hard to keep up with such long message unless we take good notes but the good thing is, there are tools out there that can help you achieve that. You can do it!

Thank you for sharing your experience! Don't get discouraged! It happens to all of us when we are learning to master note-taking. You got this!

Awesome job! Thanks so much for letting me know!

Thanks for sharing your experience. Note-taking is definitely a controversial topic in our industry and many interpreters have a different point of view about it. For what it’s worth, there is a more affordable option than the online course. It’s The Note-Taking Manual from which the course was created. You can find it on Amazon for a fraction of the price of the course. Best of luck.

FYI, I am not selling anything nor do I benefit in any way from the resource that I am simply recommending for colleagues who may be struggling with notes. Bye! ✌️

Hi Marcela! That’s awesome!