Translating v. Interpreting

Have you ever wondered why you usually hear about “court interpreters” and not “court translators”? Or why Nicole Kidman’s movie is called “The Interpreter” rather than “The Translator”? No, it’s not because “interpreter” sounds cooler or more exciting. (Frankly, the average interpreter’s job is not quite as exciting as Nicole Kidman’s character!) The difference between “translation” and “interpretation” is pretty basic: a translator works with written text, whereas an interpreter works with spoken words.

People who don’t work in either field tend to incorrectly refer to both as “translation.” While they both involve a rendering from language into another, the skills required to perform translation and interpretation tasks are different. Thus, the distinction.

What is a Translator?
Translators take documents written in one language, usually referred to as the source or original language, and transfer it into a different language, usually called the target language. There are endless varieties of documents that translators work with. It can be anything from a work of literature, to a cookbook, to a legal complaint, to a medical journal article. Due to the wide range of texts that often require translation, many translators pick a field to specialize in, depending on their background knowledge and interests.

What Skills Should a Translator Have?
First and foremost, translators require a very solid knowledge of the source language and an excellent command of the target text. Most translators work into their native or dominant language, but there are a few exceptions in which a translator can work equally well into more than one language. Translators should have a strong grasp on spelling and grammar and have a keen eye for detail. Research skills are very important, because translators will always need to look up unfamiliar words and phrases. There’s just no way anyone could ever know everything there possibly is to know about a certain field. Every translator I know will agree with me on this important point: there is no such thing as too many dictionaries. So stock up, ladies and gentlemen!

What is an Interpreter?
Interpreters listen to words being spoken in the source language and transfer them into the target language. There are three modes of interpretation: simultaneous, consecutive, and sight. During simultaneous, the interpreter speaks at the same time as the original language speaker. Consecutive requires that the interpreter wait until the speaker finishes before rendering their interpretation.

Sight interpretation, also called sight translation, involves reading a document in the source language and speaking it into the target language. Many interpreters dislike the name “sight translation” because the very nature of this activity involves speaking (in other words, interpreting), whereas translation would involve writing.

What Skills Should an Interpreter Have?
The most important skill that an interpreter needs is the ability to multitask. One would think this is obviously useful for a simultaneous interpreter, because you need to be able to listen and speak at the same time. It does also apply to consecutive interpreting, given that you need to be able to take notes and listen carefully at the same time. Having an excellent memory is also essential, because it’s extremely difficult to rely completely on note-taking during consecutive interpreting. Furthermore, given that they don’t have time to look up concepts and do research, interpreters absolutely need to be able to think on their feet. Not to mention sound graceful while doing it! Interpreters are expected to communicate everything being said without adding, omitting, summarizing, or changing any part of the message.

Want to know how to effectively speak through an interpreter? Check out this video! It’s filled with some great tips illustrated in very simple ways. Feel free to comment or ask questions!

Get to Know Me!

The first time I heard the term “court interpreting,” I was 15 years old. My mom wanted to help me pick out possible career options, and she briefly mentioned court interpreting. She pointed out that I was good at languages and enjoyed my language classes. I acknowledged the suggestion with a shrug and a brief nod, and we changed the subject. I had no idea what it was that a court interpreter really did or what the job entailed—in fact, I didn’t know the profession even existed before that.

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, in an environment where almost everyone I knew was fully bilingual in English and Spanish and those who didn’t speak English most certainly spoke Spanish, the common language of the island. If you didn’t speak Spanish well, you could get by well enough with English. At the tender age of 15, surrounded by people who had no communication problems whatsoever due to language barriers, why would I have thought that anyone would need a “court interpreter,” much less that a person could make a living doing that kind of job?

When I finally decided on a major in college, interpreting and translating was not really my main interest. I briefly entertained the idea of going into journalism or possibly music—I’m a proficient guitarist and singer, and my guitar professor wanted me to get my degree at the Conservatory of Music. Instead, I picked a major called Modern Languages at the University of Puerto Rico. It required that the student pick two languages, main and secondary. I picked Italian as my main language, and, interested in something challenging and different, German as the secondary. (Not that I really had a clue what I would later do with either of them.) Fortunately, college in Puerto Rico was cheap enough that my parents tolerated my seemingly unwise career decision.

During my sophomore year, I had the honor of taking a translation class with Dr. Andrew Hurley, who taught Spanish-English Translation at the UPR. It certainly planted the seeds for what lead me to my current career choice. Following that class, I decided to take two more translation courses; this time we did work into both languages as opposed to just English. Prof. Yvette Torres not only taught us translation, she also introduced us to the world of interpreting and encouraged us to research what it takes to obtain the skills to become an interpreter. (If you don’t know the difference between translation and interpretation, stay tuned!)

But it wasn’t until I got accepted into the Rutgers University MA program in Translation and moved to New Jersey that I really understood the scope of this career. During my four years of living in NJ, I have met people who have helped shape my views on language access, translation and interpreting skills and services, and language acquisition, among other things, all of which I plan to share with you.

When I get asked what my family members do for a living, a one-word answer suffices. “Dentist.” “Engineer.” “Lawyer.” “Mechanic.” People understand exactly what that means. When I get asked what I do for a living, “interpreter” or even “translator” usually requires an explanation to follow. Thinking back to my 15-year-old self, I understand that the average person has no idea what that means, even if they’ve heard the term before. So what kind of skills does this profession require, and what kind of issues–often controversial–is an interpreter confronted with on a daily basis?

Follow this blog to learn about issues relevant to the field of language access, translation, interpretation, the training thereof (which is something I am currently partially involved in), and other related issues. And please, ask questions!

Let’s get the conversation going – what do you want to learn about interpreting/translation services? Please introduce yourself and let me know why you’re here!