Week 1 – Discussion Board 2

[Art Liebl]

In at least 250 words, think about the difference between an interpreter and translator. What are the biggest differences? What are the challenges of each? Why is it important to understand that an interpreter is not a translator? Reply to two fellow students by Monday.

[Ariane Barrial Zivkovic]

Are you wondering whether you need a translator or an interpreter? While both professions require similar skills and knowledge, there is a crucial difference in their practical application.

A translator specializes in written translations, making foreign-language documents accessible by using either their mother tongue or the official language of the area in which they work. For example, a translator might translate an official document from English to Spanish, ensuring that the information and message conveyed in the original text are preserved in the translated version.

Interpretation, on the other hand, involves providing an oral translation of a message from a foreign language into the desired language. Unlike translation, interpretation is not based on written documents, but rather occurs in real time, requiring a highly developed sense of hearing as well as linguistic competence.
So, whether you need a translator, or an interpreter depends on the nature of the material you need translated and how it will be delivered. In either case, it’s important to choose a professional with the appropriate skills and experience to ensure accurate and effective communication across languages.

The art of translation presents numerous challenges that require a high level of skill and dedication to overcome. To achieve success in this field, a professional must meet a variety of demanding requirements.
First and foremost, precision is essential. Translation demands an unwavering commitment to accuracy, with no room for error. A skilled translator must possess the ability to select the precise words and phrases that capture the intended meaning of the source text, while ensuring that the resulting translation is fully understandable to the target audience.

In addition to precision, discipline and rigor are crucial qualities for any translator. Meeting tight deadlines and managing multiple translation projects simultaneously requires a strong work ethic and exceptional organizational skills. The ability to remain focused and motivated throughout the translation process is essential, ensuring that each project is completed on time and to the highest standards of quality.
In short, the challenges of translation are significant, requiring a unique combination of skills and attributes to achieve success in this complex and demanding field.

Interpreting is a complex and demanding profession that presents a unique set of challenges. Unlike translation, which involves working with written documents, interpreting requires the ability to translate orally, with no written support.
To excel in this field, an interpreter must possess a range of essential qualities and skills. Concentration and active listening are crucial, as the interpreter must be able to quickly and accurately convey the intended message without distorting the meaning or context. Whether engaging in simultaneous or consecutive interpretation, the professional must maintain an unwavering focus, demonstrating exceptional listening skills and heightened concentration.

In addition to concentration, spontaneity is another critical requirement for any interpreter. With the obligation to convey emotions and messages with reassurance, the interpreter must be able to react quickly and spontaneously, delivering a confident and reassuring message to the audience.
Ultimately, the difference between a translator and an interpreter lies in their respective priorities. While the translator emphasizes accuracy, the interpreter prioritizes understanding over perfection. However, both professions require a deep immersion in the languages and cultures they work with, as well as a genuine passion for words and communication.

Overall, interpreting represents a challenging yet rewarding profession, demanding a unique set of skills and attributes that are essential for success in this vital field of communication.

[Claudia Contreras]

Ariane, I appreciate the amount of detail you have used to differentiate both translating and interpreting. I enjoyed reading all the different skills and professional qualities that make each important in the their own way. This helps highlight the importance in identifying when one or the other is needed. Spontaneity is definitely a word that can be overlook when analyzing the skills of an interpreter. Thank you for pointing that out because now I can understand how important this part of interpreting is, specially within medical interpreting. I look forward to learning from your experiences.

[Eliann Cruz]

An interpreter is someone who is in a linguistic profession. They receive a message and relay it to the recipient, from one native language to the other ” mother language” or primary used language. Interpreters have set skills such as listening to spoken words, and memorizing content. A translator is also a linguistic professional, who translates written communication. As an interpreter they also have set skills such as researching, and the knowledge of diverse cultures, and different dialects. Both have professional backgrounds, and certifications in order to provide service in hospitals, courtrooms, meeting rooms and even schools. In some cases, translators are given time to translate from the native language into another. Other times the translator may have to translate multiple contexts, in different subjects. Whereas an interpreter would have to translate on the spot using their active listening skills, and memory. Both acts of service use different tools to provide service. A translator may use dictionaries, and computers in order to translator and a interpreter may use headphones, microphones and maybe a notepad to take notes, however their most important tool is their memory. Both translator and interpreter require precise acquired memory, and experience to continue to grow this skill. Each service is equally needed and respected; each career is needed to continue communication both basic and complex. Both are hardworking and very much needed, especially in a high populated immigration state. Especially in the medical and legal fields mostly in the Spanish, Portugues, and French languages, as well as sign language!

[Ariane Barrial Zivkovic]

Your explanation of the differences between interpreters and translators is, in my opinion well described. It is important to recognize the unique skill sets and tools that each profession utilizes in order to provide effective communication across languages and cultures. The importance of both interpreters and translators cannot be overstated, as they are essential in various fields including healthcare, law, education, and more. The ability to communicate accurately and efficiently in multiple languages is crucial in today’s globalized world, and these professionals play a crucial role in facilitating that communication. Thank you for shedding light on the significance of these professions and the hard work and dedication that goes into becoming a skilled interpreter or translator.

[Eliann Cruz]

If this was published on a public website i would refer everyone to this! I love how you careflly pinned out the key detailed difference between an interpreter and translator.

[Aishwarya Phatak]

Thank you for elucidating the different challenges, expectations, and qualities of both professions. I have been working as a translator for almost a decade now and many times people are not aware of skills other than translation such as organizational skills, and staying motivated through out the project to maintain quality. Thank you for mentioning that.

[Art Liebl]

Great post Arilene! What we are looking for in this post is what the differences are between an interpreter and translator. I enjoyed your thoughts when you mentioned, “Unlike translation, interpretation is not based on written documents, but rather occurs in real time, requiring a highly developed sense of hearing as well as linguistic competence.” and Eliann you mentioned the need for both translator and interpreter to be trained, to be proficient at what they do. Let’s dig a little deeper to help you see what I am getting at.

According to the manual, “an interpreter explains the meaning of – an interpreter is one who presents something spoken in understandable terms.” Of course, this does not mean we can adulterate the original message by adding or omitting to the original message. Another point to consider: interpreters need to convey not only the spoken message but also the feelings and emotions behind the words. This is a challenge – let’s demonstrate it in this way: I am sure you have all been to the doctors. Imagine you were with a physician and a “Mrs. Perez.” The doctor asks the patient how she is as he continues typing on his computer. With tears in her eyes, the patient responds, “I’m fine” (Estoy bien). How would you interpret that as an interpreter? To be a true conduit (a role you will learn about next week), you need to give the physician the whole and complete picture of what was said. You would need to convey not just the content “I am fine”, but along with the emotion that was behind the scenes… Now, THAT IS A CHALLENGE!

Question for the class: how would you give the words, “I’m fine” the emotional color necessary to impart to the provider the way it was said?

This expression, “I’m fine” can be said in a wide array of manners…from happy to sleepy, to sad, to sarcastic… How do we impart these varying feelings and emotions to a provider and influence the way we speak or interpret?

[Ariane Barrial Zivkovic]

As an interpreter, conveying not only the spoken message but also the emotions and feelings behind the words is indeed a challenge. In the scenario given, if the patient responds with tears in her eyes and says “I’m fine” when asked by the physician, the interpreter needs to convey both the content and the underlying emotions accurately.
To do so, the interpreter might use their knowledge of the context, such as the patient’s body language and tone of voice, to help convey the emotional content of the message. The interpreter might also use their own knowledge of cultural norms and language nuances to ensure that the physician understands the patient’s emotional state.
Overall, interpreting both the content and emotions of a message requires a combination of language skills, cultural knowledge, and sensitivity to nonverbal cues. It is a challenging but important role that requires careful attention to detail and a deep understanding of both the language and the people using it.

[Aishwarya Phatak]

To convey the emotional color of “I am fine,” an interpreter could use a different tone or register. Word choice is also important. The target language might have a different phrase for ” I am fine” with a shade of sadness. I am not sure but could one add any gestures to the tone to convey the speaker’s emotions?

[Claudia Contreras]

This is a great point that can easily be overlooked when thinking about the differences between translators and interpreters. Conveying emotions definitely pose a great challenge that I hope to master with experience on the field. I look forward to gaining for insight on this particular point throughout the course. I am sure there are other challenges similar to this one that I may not realize impact the interaction between doctors and patients. I am glad I am already learning so much from all of your years of experience.

[Claudia Contreras]

In this ever evolving world, translating and interpreting are crucial to effective communication within many different aspects of daily life. I have come to realize that the two are very different from each other, but equally as important in their own ways. They each come with challenges while still providing great rewards and outcomes.

Starting this new career as a Medical Interpreter, I realized the need to comprehend and grasp a thorough understanding of the differences and similarities of the true meaning of translating and interpreting. This is very important to be successful in this industry. I will share what I have learned so far about the two however, I am hoping to broaden my knowledge with what others have experienced and know about the two.

It is easy to categorize translating and interpreting as being very similar to each other however, they have more differences than most people know. To put it simply, a translator deals with written text in various forms while an interpreter deals with spoken language. But there is definitely more to both than that.

A translator will translate written text over a period of time using various resources to achieve the goal of providing the text in a different written language. Translation requires highly developed written skills to focus on the content that will lead to an accurate and precise translation of it.

An interpreter will convey the spoken message immediately as it happens live. It requires great memory and retention skills and an ability to speak the target language effectively in order to convey the message from one person to another.

They each come with different challenges, In my opinion, the greatest challenge of a translator is that the written content being translated cannot be altered at all in the new language. The content has to the same and a translator needs to find ways to achieve this, requiring more time. The greatest challenge for an interpreter, is the importance of memory and retention. While it is equally as important to convey the message accurately in interpreting, dealing with a live environment requires great concentration and ability to solely focus on the person speaking, in spite of any distractions that many be going on around you. This ultimately leads to developing great memory and retention skills.

As an interpreter, it is important to understand the difference between the two in order know what is required of us to effectively communicate the message. I believe that truly understanding the difference is one of the first steps needed to becoming a successful interpreter. Even though interpreting comes with its own challenges, I have no doubt the rewards far exceed them. I am ready to face these challenges knowing that they will ultimately lead to a positive impact on people’s lives.

[Eliann Cruz]

Pointing out how many don’t see a difference between a translator and an interpreter was a great start it really does catch the audience’s attention!

[Aishwarya Phatak]

This a great post highlighting the differences between a translator and an interpreter. I liked that you also pointed out what challenges translators and interpreters face. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[Aishwarya Phatak]

We often see the terms interpreter and translator used interchangeably. But these are two different professions. A translator translates the texts from one language to the other. An interpreter translates spoken words from one language to another. The biggest difference is in the written and spoken language.
A translator needs to maintain the register and style of the written document while conveying the meaning in the target language. It is important to produce consistent and concise translations to convey the meaning to the target audience. A translator must have command of the source and target language. Knowledge of the subject matter is crucial to produce superior translations. To be a professional translator, one must also have excellent research skills. Once you have a document to translate, you must research the topic to understand the context. In addition to this, translators have tighter deadlines from agency clients. One of the challenges I face as a translator is that I only sometimes know the target audience.
An interpreter needs to maintain the tone of the source text while conveying the meaning in the target language live. You must ensure as an interpreter that there are no omissions or additions to what has been said. An interpreter interprets the language, which means it is more than finding an equivalent vocabulary. It is how you phrase to convey the speaker’s thoughts and feelings. Interpreters must have an excellent command of spoken language, knowledge of history and culture, and an understanding of the subject matter they are interpreting in. Interpreters also need to know how to interpret for a common man, who may or may not understand technical terms. Interpreters need to have memory and retention skills and the ability to relay as it is spoken.
Since both these roles require different skills, a translator cannot replace an interpreter.

[Maria Trindade]

There is a difference in between Translation and Interpretation as any translator must be fluent in the language and interpreters must be expert listeners to process information and relay it on another language , competency in terminology , general knowledge in the Medical field. An interpreter is needed to facilitate expansion into both local and global communities . A translator must have the ability to converta writing from one language to another.

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