Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You tell the producer you know very little about medicine and need
some time before you can begin.
This is the real-life decision Teri Darrenougue, a closed
captioner, would make in a similar situation.
It would only take you a few days to learn some of the more important vocabulary
on the show, and to program them into your real-time dictionary. It could
be a disaster if you started work without any knowledge of the field.
The television network agrees to give you a few days to learn the vocabulary
when you assure them that it will mean you will be able to do a top-notch
job.
"Captioning involves knowledge and familiarity in many things, like world
geography, politics, sports, medicine and just about any other industry you
can think of that has language specific to it," says Darrenougue.
"You are writing what other people are saying, so you really don't
input anything of your own, but you need to be familiar with their language."