What’s the difference between translation and interpretation

Success on a global scale requires your business to communicate with non-English speaking audiences as succinctly and flawlessly as possible. There are three main types of communication: nonverbal (written), verbal (oral) and visual (sign language). This article focuses on written and verbal communication, and the need to ensure that both convey the intended message and will resonate with the target audience.

When crossing language barriers, the need for accurate translation and interpretation can’t be stressed enough. While these two linguistic disciplines are closely related and may require subject matter expertise, they are rarely provided by the same professionals since they typically require different skills, training and aptitude.

The question then becomes… what’s the difference between the two and how do you know which service you need? At its most basic level, language translators translate the written word and interpreters interpret the spoken word.

Translating the written word

Translators are provided a source document from their clients, which can be in various file types such as PDF, DOCX, PPT, JPEG, INDD, MP3 or MP4. The type of file provided to the translator matters because it affects the amount of time and cost it takes to render the document into the target language. The reason for this is that the file type determines whether or not it’s compatible with a computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool and the type of technical specialists (designers, audio engineers, voice talent, etc.) needed to ensure that the target file is publish-ready.

To provide faster turnaround time, maximize consistency, deliver higher quality and lower costs, language service providers (LSPs) use various tools and technologies such as:

A style guide for better communication of client needs and higher quality output.
A glossary to ensure translation consistency between files, increase accuracy and improve the translation process, resulting in less rework and lower costs.
A translation memory to automatically reuse previously translated text, reducing time and cost.
Machine translation: Technologies such as Google Translate are continuing to become increasingly more accurate, however there are many areas where they don’t excel such as idioms, complex sentence structure, technical terminology and long-form text. While it’ll never replace human translators, it’s a powerful tool to get the gist of the document while saving time and money.
Enhanced machine translation (machine translation plus editing) to quickly access key information in foreign languages, while providing human quality. This technology combines the output from a machine translation engine and a professional translator that reviews the machine’s output.

Interpreting the spoken word

Professional interpreters don’t provide a word-for-word interpretation. Their role is to listen and understand what is being said in the source language and then repeat the meaning, in the same register, in the target language. To ensure that the original message is accurately interpreted, professional interpreters require a comprehensive command of both the source and target languages, as well subject matter expertise and training.

Depending on your needs, for example, medical interpretation between a patient that has limited English proficiency and medical staff, a meeting with a foreign company, or legal proceedings, there are three types of interpretation services:

Phone interpreting (OPI): This service provides scheduled or immediate phone interpreting services.
Video remote interpretation (VRI) including Zoom interpretation services: Also a scheduled or on-demand service, it’s an extension of OPI that combines video with audio, enabling the professional interpreter to pick up on visual cues as well as provide sign language interpreting. This may be essential for languages like American Sign Language.
On-site interpreting (OSI): The highest quality form of professional interpreting services, this service requires scheduling.

Aside from the primary difference between translation and interpretation – where one is written and the other verbal, translation is not typically real time, while interpretation is. Regardless of which one you need; precision and exactness are requirements of both to ensure the written or verbal communication of party A makes sense to party B.

If you’d like to learn more about how BURG Translations helps you ensure high quality translations and interpretations, contact us today.