After translating a couple of sentences, Qiu Xi realized this topic wasn't what she had expected.
What was this focus... congress...
Concern for people's livelihoods... resolutions...
...
There were many new terms she hadn't heard before.
But she could guess some of them, and based on that, she figured out what the topic was about.
However, if she hadn't followed the news beforehand, she really wouldn't have been able to say it in French, the way the teacher spoke it.
And now, the situation was that due to unfamiliar words, she was piecing together many phrases.
This wasn't the hardest part, the difficulty lay in having already read those articles.
The wording carried a Chinese aesthetic. After the teacher translated it, the previous impression remained in her mind, making her brain work a little harder.
Like now, her mind was filled with those words.
Mutual assistance, joint promotion...
Continuing the "Shan Hai Qing" collaboration, advancing...
Composing a new chapter for building humanity...
...
A pile of words, and Qiu Xi couldn't find a single one she could handle.
It made her feel that the skill of remembering everything she saw sometimes also brought troubles.
However, compared to Qiu Xi, Song Daiyao was actually in a worse situation.
Because Teacher Ding's spoken French was fluent... even though she had slowed down, Song Daiyao was still struggling a bit.
Furthermore, with this topic, even after Xiao Xi mentioned it and she combined it with what she heard, she still reacted.
But it was her first time, and with a bit of nervousness and unfamiliarity, speaking was truly a bit of a struggle.
It was like attending a formal leadership meeting, and she was taking notes.
Moreover, she was still a novice, not yet skilled enough, so the process was truly a bit agonizing.
The only good thing was that she wasn't exposed to too much, so there wasn't as much to agonize over.
Because she genuinely didn't have the extra brainpower to think about those things.
And things that weren't in her mind in the first place didn't need agonizing over.
So, the more Song Daiyao went on, the more she could only recall what came to her mind, thus reducing some of the agony.
Although Qiu Xi and Song Daiyao felt the two elders had spoken a lot during this process, it had actually only taken a few minutes.
However, due to the translation, it took a lot of time.
...
A mock practical session, which took a good half hour to conclude.
During this time, not only Li Minglan, but also Du Bin and Ding Yujing, who were speaking, were secretly observing their performance.
Unconsciously, they had taken note of quite a few things.
Finally, when they heard they could finish, Qiu Xi and Song Daiyao both let out a huge sigh of relief.
The process had been suffocatingly difficult.
One had to concentrate on listening to what the teacher said, while simultaneously struggling with wording in their mind, which was simply torture.
However, neither of them relaxed much, because Grandma Li and the two teachers beside them hadn't said a word.
...
The agony began again...
After a long while, it was Li Minglan who spoke first.
The reason was that she had an appointment with Ge Jiaojie, and it was about time; she couldn't waste any more time here.
"Daiyao, to be honest, you've really surprised me."
Song Daiyao looked at Grandma Li, who had a slight smile on her face, and felt a pang of unease.
She wasn't sure what Grandma Li meant by that...
She was a bit scared!
Just as she expected!
The following words made her bury her head.
"The first couple of sentences you spoke in everyday conversation were indeed good, but unfortunately, that was only at a beginner's level."
"After nervously finishing, you still relied on the opponent's translation to barely string your words together."
"As for the latter part, you spoke fluently, but unfortunately, very few of your words were appropriate, and it was worse than when you stammered earlier!"
Three sentences, spoken without any regard for feelings.
And Li Minglan, looking at Song Daiyao, who wished she could bury her head in the table, didn't feel she had been too harsh.
She was doing it for the young girl's own good. She had understood the girl's aspirations when she first arrived a few days ago.
Moreover, she had been working very hard with Xiao Xi recently, which was why she was willing to guide her.
If she couldn't even handle this, then there was no point in continuing.
However, she wasn't an unreasonable old person who was overly strict. Important matters must be addressed seriously, otherwise, the child wouldn't take them seriously.
And she understood the principle of giving encouragement after criticism.
That's why she said what she said next.
"But it's still good that you finished speaking. Unlike those who couldn't, and gave up halfway."
"You must know that sometimes persistence is victory. For this first time, you've managed to translate your words under pressure, which is already very good. Keep up the good work!"
After hearing this, Song Daiyao did feel a lot better.
She also understood that she still had a long way to go and couldn't catch up in a moment.
Thinking this way, she began to reflect on Grandma Li's earlier evaluations.
Li Minglan watched, secretly nodding.
Having self-awareness meant she wasn't doing too badly.
After Song Daiyao was done, it was Qiu Xi's turn.
However, Li Minglan thought it would be better to leave this to the two old men.
She glanced at them and then walked towards the front courtyard.
Qiu Xi, seeing this, felt puzzled but also truly relieved.
Seeing his young disciple like this, Du Bin waited for her to finish sighing with relief before speaking.
"Do you think you've done well?"
"Are you still thinking that the things you've read are actually quite useful?"
"..."
At his master's question, Qiu Xi's heart tightened again.
She had indeed relaxed.
But she didn't think she had done very well, or that there were no problems.
So she looked at her master nervously, "No, I still have many issues."
Du Bin nodded, "It's good that you know!"
"If it weren't for your exposure to some news today, you probably would have stumbled quite a few times."
Du Bin understood his disciple.
Her ability to speak fluently was due to her reliance on her "foresight."
However, it was precisely this "foresight" that made it harder for him to critique her.
Moreover, in a real interpreting scenario, you can never "foresee." At most, you can only know the general direction of the meeting or speech in advance, and then familiarize yourself with the relevant professional terms or content.
That is to say, today's official tone was set by him and Ding Yujing; if it were someone else, the content of these words might have been altered beyond recognition.
Not to mention trying to piece together content based on that little bit of memory.
"Yes, my disciple understands..."
Qiu Xi knew this well; she had realized it before the session ended.
Over-reliance on the existing articles in her mind, without giving due importance to what her master said, was already deviating from the fundamentals.
"Alright, I won't say anything else. Go back tonight and reflect properly."
Qiu Xi nodded silently, "Mhm."
"Now go out, rest for a while, and come back for further training."
Old Ding's visit was for training, so too much time couldn't be wasted.
"Okay."