What is the difference between interpreting and translating?

 

Connecting with many people around the world is paramount to the success of your product or business. It is important to interpret, translate and localize the product and marketing content you want to promote. So, what is the difference between translation and interpretation? An interpreter translates verbally while a translator translates written words. Interpreters and translators require a deep understanding of the culture and language, subject matter expertise and the ability to communicate clearly.

Interpretation

Interpreters interpret simultaneously with the original speech without the aid of scripts, dictionaries or other reference materials. Professional interpreters must change the language to be translated within the context to retain their original meaning, but interpret idioms, colloquial words, and others in a way that the audience can understand. Interpreters work on projects related to real-time translation, such as conferences and legal proceedings, live TV broadcasts, and sign language.

Translation

A translator uses a computer to translate, unlike an interpreter. Translators mainly work to translate by filling in the blanks from the beginning by applying a translation memory (TM). Translators refer to the glossary and translation style guide to translate to ensure translation quality. When the translation is complete, it is passed on to another reviewer for proofreading and correction, and editing is also performed so that the final document is consistent with the original. Translators translate everything in written form, including websites, books, word documents, PDFs, video captions, software, and more.

The main differences between interpreting and translating are as follows:

1.     Format

 Interpretation is real-time, spoken-based, and translation is text-based.

2.     Delivery

Interpretation is done on-site, in person, over the phone or via video. On the other hand, translation takes place after the original text has been created. Translators can use the glossary and reference material to ensure that they have sufficient time to make an accurate translation.

3.     Accuracy

 Interpretation requires a somewhat lower level of accuracy than translation. Interpreters aim for perfection, but it is difficult to achieve in a live environment. For example, parts of speech may be excluded from the target language. However, translators review and edit the written text for greater accuracy.

4.     Procedure

Interpreters must be proficient in both the source language and the target language, as they must interpret immediately in both directions without the aid of reference materials. Professional translators usually translate into their native language.

This is the difference between translation and interpretation. Interpretation and translation seem to have become essential in order to reach the world. Need an interpreter or translator? I’M Translation and ISIS Korea provide translation services as well as interpretation services. In addition, I’M Translation and ISIS Korea has a professional translation team resident in the office to professionally manage all translation projects.

How might I’MTranslation and ISiS Korea aid interpretation and translation?

At I’M Translation and ISiS Korea, we can connect you with a professional patent translators and interpreters. We have over 30+ languages available on our platform and we are flexible and available regardless of the language pair, topic, and time zone. Please visit us at www.imtranslation.com and www.isiskorea.com/eng to request a free translation and interpretation quote. Thank you!