While searching for language services, you might have come across the words ‘translation’ and ‘interpretation.’ Most people use these words interchangeably, thinking them to be the same, but these words are quite different from each other. Although translation and interpretation differ in aspects of the medium, tools, and other skill sets, they revolve around the common grounds of the linguistics field. Let’s explore these terms more in this blog.
What’s Interpretation?
According to the dictionary, interpretation means an action of explaining the meaning of something. In terms of linguistics, there is a slight addition; it involves translating the spoken language and delivering its meaning to the targeted people. In simple terms, interpretation means that you must translate the oral text.
Interpretation are done in three ways:
Simultaneous Interpretation: Interpreter will translate and deliver the sentence on the spot to the targeted people while the dialogue is spoken.
Consecutive Interpretation: Interpreter will translate and deliver it after the person completes the speech.
Sign Language Interpretation: Interpreters convert the spoken language to sign language and vice versa, for communication between people who have hearing impairment.
In both cases, the interpretation has to be done on the spot. Unlike translation, they aren’t provided with any duration, deadlines and therefore, an interpreter must be quick and thorough to deliver topmost quality of translation without any mistakes since they don’t have the privilege to correct it later!
How does translation differ from interpretation?
Translation is the process of converting a source language to another language. Although the process of translation sounds similar to interpretation, this process involves interpreting text or written documents. Translators are required to read the text, unravel the meaning, write the text in the targeted language, and polish the text to maintain the accuracy. Along with the knowledge of the source and target language, translators are required to have an understanding of cultural nuances to translate specific idioms, phrases, and local expressions to ensure the meaning is appropriately delivered in the targeted language.
What makes them different are their working methods, processing time, tools, and skill sets required for each process. Let’s have a look at the differences between them:
Aspects | Translation | Interpretation |
Format | Revolves around text-based | Interpretation involves spoken language. |
Delivery Time | Translation requires more time hence they are provided with enough time along with the deadlines. | Interpretation is done in real time. |
Tools | Translators can use various tools in order to assist them in providing accurate work. | Interpreters do not need any tools. |
Accuracy | Ample time provided for translation allows them to proofread and edit to provide polished text. | Compared to translation, interpretation has less accuracy due to time constraints. |
Skill sets | Requires good writing and reading skills along with knowledge of cultural nuances. | Requires good verbal and communication skills with quick reflexes |
Reference materials | Rely on dictionary, glossaries and other materials that may help in accurate translation | Interpreters must rely on experience and good memory |
Direction | Translation can be one way or two ways. | Interpretation is done in two ways i.e. interpreters have to simultaneously interpret from source language to target language and vice-versa. |
Difficulty level | Easier compared to interpretation | Level of difficulty is more in case of interpretation |
Role | Involved in translations of documents, website and video subtitling. | Involved in live translations of meetings, conferences, legal proceedings. |
Besides the differences, translation and interpretation share the common grounds of deep understanding of language, culture and ability to communicate clearly. Therefore, both the processes are built on the same foundation; to convey the meaning of a message to target audiences.
What is the necessary skill sets for translation and interpretation?
Networking and communicating has become a necessity and they should not be obstructed by language barriers, thereby arising the need of interpreters and translators. Let’s discuss more about the role that comes under each of the services.
Translators
Translator provides services to interpret and deliver the accurate meaning of written text or documents. When we convey it like that, it sounds very easy, doesn't it? But it’s not that simple.
While translating, a translator has to take care of many scenarios. That means, a translator must have a deep understanding of both the languages and cultures. There might be cases where one word in the source language might have different contextual meaning in the target language. This is especially applicable to idioms; phrases of the source language are not applicable to target language. Hence, translators have to refer to a lot of resources to extract the required contextual translation that would help in accurate translation.
Apart from the knowledge of the languages and ability to translate, let’s list some of the other skill sets that is applicable to a translator:
Good reading comprehension
Writing skills
Cultural knowledge
Ability to provide contextual translation over literal translation
Specialization or knowledge of certain fields like medicine, legal and academic to provide accurate translation of certain terminologies applicable to those fields.
According to the 2024 report, there are approximately 6,40,000 translators worldwide, working under various industries and language pairs. The need of bridging gaps has increased the need of translations and created different opportunities for language experts. These are some of the positions and jobs to apply if you’re interested in translating:
Translation Project Manager
Freelance Translator
In-House Translator
Localization Specialist
Subtitler/Captioner
Transcriptionist
Technical Translator
Literary Translator
Medical or Legal Translators
Editor/Proofreader
Interpreters
Interpreters provide services of oral translation. That means an interpreter has to listen to the speaker, analyze the content of the dialogue, understand the important points that need to be conveyed and translate those into the listener’s language. But what's important to note is that, all these have to be done on the spot and the above-mentioned steps should be repeated for all the dialogues! On top of that, the interpreters have to speak two languages simultaneously. Hence, interpretation services are considered as difficult tasks and the pay for them is more compared to translation services.
Therefore, the skill sets required for the interpreters are in contrast to those required by the translators. Let’s list some of the important skills that are to be present in interpreters:
High concentration
Good listening skills
High accuracy
Exceptional communication skills
Simultaneous speaking of two languages
In-depth knowledge of culture and business practices
Knowledge about cultural signs
Avoiding biases and maintaining neutrality
Currently, the market value of interpreters has reached $11.6 billion in 2024, and it’s expected to reach a new scale in the upcoming years. This has created new opportunities for the interpreters in various sectors and provided openings like:
Conference/Seminars Interpreters
Meeting Interpreters
Healthcare interpreters
Legal interpreters
Interpreters who work for Government agencies
Conclusion:
Although AI is expanding to different fields, including the translation industry, people still prefer human expertise for accurate solutions.Thus, the need for translators and interpreters is rising to ensure global communication, whether it’s for educational videos or high-profile business meetings. Timbel, with over 20 years of experience, is a house to many professional translators, providing them opportunities to work on diverse projects with competitive pay. Timbel offers proper training to the translators and thereby, ensures a timely delivery and satisfies the client’s needs.
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