What is Translation?

 What is Translation?

Prof. Abbas Amir Abkar

 Translation is the transmittal of written text from one language into another. Although the terms translation and interpretation are often used interchangeably, by strict definition, translation Refers to the written language, and interpretation to the spoken word. Translation is the action of interpretation of the meaning of a text, and subsequent production of an equivalent text, also called a translation, that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the source text, and the language it is to be translated into is called the target language; the final product is sometimes called the "target text."

Translation must take into account constraints that include context, the rules of grammar of the two languages, their writing conventions, and their idioms. A common misconception is that there exists a simple word-for-word correspondence between any two languages, and that translation is a straightforward mechanical process. A word-for-word translation does not take into account context, grammar, conventions, and idioms.

Who Uses Translation Services? 

Businesses often seek translation services in an effort to serve their customers better and keep up with their demands. As this world gets more and more competitive, it's imperative that businesses convey their message clearly and accurately to their customers. Translation mistakes can potentially affect a company's reputation and result in financial loss.
Generally, most industries have a need for this type of service. The legal field has the need for the translation of depositions, petitions, court records, and court proceedings. Law enforcement may need to have statements translated and the medical field frequently needs medical records and notes translated. Other examples of industries that benefit form document translation services are insurance and financial companies, as well as the media.

As more and more companies make their services available through the Internet, the need for the translation of websites and web content has also grown. Furthermore, talk radio, pod casts, surveys, focus groups, and corporate meetings often need translation services.
Businesses are not the only ones that have a need for document translation. On a personal level, individuals also employ this type of service. Due to more people migrating to different countries in search of a better life, they find themselves in environments that are unfamiliar, including the language. As a result, they may need legal documents translated, such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, passports, contracts, and leases or mortgage contracts.

 Translator Jobs

The demand in the translating field is greater than ever before. Many translators work as freelancers and others are employed by international organizations as well as government agencies. Nonprofit and religious organizations also hire or contract the services of translators for document translation. Individuals who work as translators are highly intellectual. Their work is rewarding and satisfying.
You can find forums and boards on the Internet where you can find job advertisements. You'll be able to benefit from other translators' experience and support. Other places to find document translation jobs are newspapers and online job websites. Your local newspaper could be a good source of job leads.
If you want to work independently, you may want to start by marketing your services to local businesses. Insurance companies, hospitals, doctor's offices, and real estate companies are sectors in your community that may benefit from your translating skills. One advantage of doing document translation is that you can work from home. You can receive the source documents through email, fax, mail, or courier.
To succeed in this field, you will need good organization and time management skills. The ability to meet deadlines and set priorities is very important as well. The possibilities are infinite if document translation is what you want to do.

 The Difference between Translation and Interpreting

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 Skill Profile of Technical Translators

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  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. This is why we at Language Scientific absolutely require our technical translators only translate into their native language, in addition to their subject matter expertise.

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. 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.

  Interpreter Qualifications

Interpreting, just like translation, is fundamentally the art of paraphrasing—the interpreter listens to a speaker in one language, grasps the content of what is being said, and then paraphrases his or her understanding of the meaning using the tools of the target language. However, just as you can not explain a thought to someone if you did not fully understand that thought, neither can you translate or interpret something without mastery of the subject matter being relayed.

It simply cannot be overstated: when choosing an interpreter, his or her expert knowledge of the subject matter is equally as important as their interpreting experience.

 Language Scientific's interpreters possess the following skills:

• Thorough knowledge of the general subject to be interpreted
• Intimate familiarity with both cultures
• Extensive vocabulary in both languages
• Ability to express thoughts clearly and concisely in both languages
• Excellent note-taking techniques for consecutive interpreting
• At least 2-3 years of booth experience for simultaneous interpreting

 Different kind of Translation

a.      Sworn translation

Sworn translation, also called "certified translation," aims at legal equivalence between two documents written in different languages. It is performed by someone authorized to do so by local regulations. Some countries recognize declared competence. Others require the translator to be an official state appointee.

b.      Telephone

Many commercial services exist that will interpret spoken language via telephone. There is also at least one custom-built mobile device that does the same thing. The device connects users to human interpreters who can translate between English and 180 other languages. 

c. Internet

Web-based human translation is generally favored by companies and individuals that wish to secure more accurate translations. In view of the frequent inaccuracy of machine translations, human translation remains the most reliable, most accurate form of translation available. With the recent emergence of translation crowd sourcing, translation-memory techniques, and internet applications, translation agencies have been able to provide on-demand human-translation services to businesses, individuals, and enterprises.

While not instantaneous like its machine counterparts such as Google Translate and Yahoo! Babel Fish, web-based human translation has been gaining popularity by providing relatively fast, accurate translation for business communications, legal documents, medical records, and software localization.  Web-based human translation also appeals to private website users and bloggers. 

Computer assist

Computer-assisted translation (CAT), also called "computer-aided translation," "machine-aided human translation" (MAHT) and "interactive translation," is a form of translation wherein a human translator creates a target text with the assistance of a computer program. The machine supports a human translator.

Computer-assisted translation can include standard dictionary and grammar software. The term, however, normally refers to a range of specialized programs available to the translator, including translation-memory, terminology-management, concordance, and alignment programs.

These tools speed up and facilitate human translation, but they do not provide translation. That is a function of tools known broadly as machine translation.

Bibliography

• Gouadec, Daniel (2007). Translation as a profession. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ISBN 9789027216816.
• Bassnett, Susan (1990). Translation studies. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415065283.
• Billiani, Francesca (2001), "Ethics", in Baker, Mona, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, New York: Routledge, ISBN 9780415255172.
• Pei, Mario (1984). The story of language. New York: New American Library. ISBN 9780452008700.