What is Interpretation?

 Basically, interpretation consists of expressing the meaning of a message

in one language into a different one through either spoken words or
sign(ed) language.

Thus, there are mainly two INTERPRETING VARITIES:

1. Spoken language interpretation: required by hearing people who do

not speak the same language. Thus, spoken language interpreters work
with hearing people and convey messages through spoken words.

2. Sign(ed) language interpretation: required by hearing-disabled

people who use sign rather than spoken language. Thus, sign language
interpreters express the meaning of a message from spoken language
into sign language and vice-versa. They aim to bridge the linguistic
gap between hearing and deaf parties. [also, hearing-impaired
people]

Therefore, interpreters provide spoken and sign language interpretation

services by conveying (or rendering) a message from a source language (SL) into
a target language (TL). An interpreter’s main goal is to preserve the meaning
of the message as it was conveyed in the SL while expressing it in the TL.

Some people may think that there are many important differences between sign
and spoken language interpreting. However, the underlying interpretation
processes are overwhelmingly similar regardless of language pair and there are
many more similarities than differences in comparing signed and spoken
language interpreting.
The main differences center on modality. Spoken language interpreters rely on
aural/oral approaches while signed language interpreters rely on aural/oral
and manual/visual modalities.

People using interpreting services are often monolingual and uninformed

regarding what interpreters do professionally. That is why clients frequently
request “a word for word translation”, a request based on the misconception
that interpreters “translate” and that there is word for word equivalence
between languages. It is NOT the words interpreters must focus on, but rather
the meaning expressed through those words. An interpreter’s goal is to
preserve every unit of meaning intact when rendering the message into the TL.

1
 The difference between Translation and Interpretation

Interpreting and translation are two closely related linguistic disciplines. Yet,
they are rarely performed by the same people. The difference in skills, training,
aptitude and even language knowledge are so substantial that few people can
do both successfully on a professional level.

On the surface, the difference between interpreting and translation is only the
difference in the medium: the interpreter translates orally, while a translator
interprets written text. Both interpreting and translation presuppose a certain
love of language and deep knowledge of more than one language.

The differences in skills are arguably greater than their similarities. The key
skills of the translator are the ability to understand the source language and
the culture of the country where the text originated, then using a good library
of dictionaries and reference materials, to render that material clearly and
accurately into the target language. In other words, while linguistic and cultural
skills are still critical, the most important mark of a good translator is the ability
to write well in the target language.

Even bilingual individuals can rarely express themselves in a given subject

equally well in both languages, and many excellent translators are not fully
bilingual to begin with. Knowing this limitation, a good translator will only
translate documents into his or her native language.

An interpreter, on the other hand, must be able to translate in both directions

on the spot, without using dictionaries or other supplemental reference
materials. Interpreters must have extraordinary listening abilities, especially for
simultaneous interpreting. Simultaneous interpreters need to process and
memorize the words that the source-language speaker is saying now, while
simultaneously outputting in the target language the translation of words the
speaker said 5-10 seconds ago. Interpreters must also possess excellent public
speaking skills and the intellectual capacity to instantly transform idioms,
colloquialisms and other culturally-specific references into analogous
statements the target audience will understand.

As described, each role requires a different set of skills:

Briefly, a translator needs:

• Excellent reading skills. The effective transfer of a message across languages hingeson
perfect comprehension of the source language(s).
• Excellent writing skills. The end-product in the target language(s) must soundnatural,
idiomatic, and be effective.
• Excellent analytical skills. Great attention is to be paid to conveying details and
nuances, detecting typos, proofreading and editing.
• Excellent IT skills. This ranges from the more basic keyboarding skills and use of word
processing tools, to the more advanced Computer Assisted Translation (CAT)tools
which play an ever more pivotal role in the translation industry.

2
while an interpreter needs:
 Excellent listening skills of the language(s) being interpreted.
 Excellent speaking skills in the target language(s). This includes
clear enunciation, voice projection and discourse structuring.
 Excellent memory and note-taking skills. Interpreters must be aware
of the different techniques they can use to gather and organize the
speaker’s information, so it can then be relayed in the target language.
 Excellent interpersonal skills. Interpreters deal with humans, so they
must pay attention to aspects such as body language, non-verbal cues,
and cultural differences, to name but a few.

There are, of course, certain skills which overlap:

 both are expected to have proficient or native-like knowledge of
their foreign and source language(s) and culture(s)
 and they will, preferably, possess specialist knowledge of one or
more areas of expertise

INTERPRETATION and TRANSLATION. Similarities and Differences.

Translation: the process whereby a person who knows both the source and the target language
decodes written messages of the source language and encodes them into an appropriate
equivalent form (1st in terms of meaning and 2nd in terms of style) of the targetlanguage.

Interpretation: the interlingual transfer of an oral message using the spoken or sign medium,
in a given situation of communication.

Parallels and differences between interpretation and translation:

Neither is simply replacing the words of one language by those of another, and there are
similarities in the intellectual effort required as well as in the:

• Mastery of at least two languages

• Knowledge of the techniques of message transfer and language switching
• Comprehension of the message in the source language and reproduction of that
message in the target language
• Wide general knowledge

But there are significant differences between interpreting and translating.

o Interpretation is spoken, translation is written. Interpretation, therefore, makes use of
particular linguistic resources: the original speaker's ideas are transmitted as spoken
words, with a particular rhythm and intonation, making use of rhetorical devices. It is
carried out in real time (simultaneously) or very close to it (consecutively). The interpreter
has no time to refer to the written resources available to translators. This makes
preparation before each assignment all the more essential for an interpreter.
3
o Translating demands a high level of accuracy whereas in interpreting there is a less
stringent approach. It is enough to transmit the complete message in a suitable
register.

o Fidelity in translating means, above all, fidelity to the author’s stated text, whereas in
interpreting it refers to the speaker’s communicative intent above all.

o Another constraint is the extreme speed at which the interpreter has to receive,
understand, manage, and reconstruct information. A translator may translate 2000-
3000 words a day, while an interpreter has to keep up with around 150 words a
minute.

o In translating, importance is given to the contextual meaning of each of the words in

the text. In interpreting there is no time. The conceptualization of such words is the
process that enables the interpreter to render the message in the other language. What
is remembered is not the exact formulation of the message but the message itself.

o In translating, dialectal differences are not so marked since we are dealing with written
language, whereas in interpreting phonological differences which may impair
understanding should be added to grammar and vocabulary differences.

o In interpreting, some personality traits, which are not relevant for translating, are of the
essence: high degree of concentration, ability to listen and speak at the same time,
ability to deal with stress and work under considerable pressure, ability to make quick
decisions, good use of the voice, etc. [Don’t forget the use of memory in consecutive
interpreting, though not a personality trait]

o In interpretation, communication is immediate, involving an interaction between

speakers, listeners, and interpreters (shared experience). In translation there is always a
gap between the writing of a text by an author and its reception by readers (separation
in time and space). Due to the author’s remoteness, even in an emotional text, the impact
of a speech is greater in interpreting, where the interpreter is not only merely aware of
the tensions, emotions and excitements of a meeting but often subject to them.

o In translating, the text is virtually all verbal, despite the occasional picture or diagram,
and is usually delivered to the translator without supplementary information from its
author. The translator does not witness the circumstances or surroundings in which the
text is composed. In interpreting, the verbal utterance is enriched with gesture and
other forms of body language, and the interpreter is in immediate contact with the
circumstances and surroundings in which the text is being delivered.

o In translating, the text can be drafted, revised, criticized and edited before publication.
In interpreting, the utterance undergoes rapid fading and interpreters must get their
version right the first time they produce it. There is no editor to act as filter.
4
Translators often spend a long time working on one text, while interpreters, often working ina
team, are faced with people speaking and communicating right now.

Therefore, according to some authors, interpretation is not so much a linguistic profession as an

information and communication profession.

ACTIVITIES CONNECTED WITH TRANSLATING AND INTERPRETING

Sight Translation: it involves the transposition of a text written in one language into a text
delivered orally in another language. It is a type of translating/interpreting since both visual
and aural information processing are involved. Some people define sight translation as a
specific type of written translation as well as a variant of oral interpretation. Others call it
sight interpretation as it appears to have more elements in common with interpretation.

Sight translation is in fact a hybrid mode of interpretation since it combines written discourse
(the source text is always written) and well as oral discourse (target) and it clearly reveals the
complexity and differences of both translating and interpreting.

Dubbing: it is to create, add or replace the soundtrack of a film, video, etc., in a different
language.

Subtitling: it is to give subtitles to a film, documentary, video, etc., to translate the dialogue
held in a foreign language.