Poll: Can a language professional be equally good at translating and interpreting? 论题张贴者: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Can a language professional be equally good at translating and interpreting?".
This poll was originally submitted by Marcin Rachmiel. View the poll results »
| | | | Julian Holmes 
日本
Local time: 05:57
正式会员 (自2011)
Japanese日语译成English英语
I just can't imagine equal competence in translation and interpretation - at least in my language pair.
However fluent you are in a pair, I think that speed and accuracy are different priorities when it comes to these two language skills - skills that require different training.
Interpretation requires speed due to the immediacy of the language interchange situation. Whereas, translators have more time (luxury?) to be accurate and the translation more often than not goes to pr... See more I just can't imagine equal competence in translation and interpretation - at least in my language pair.
However fluent you are in a pair, I think that speed and accuracy are different priorities when it comes to these two language skills - skills that require different training.
Interpretation requires speed due to the immediacy of the language interchange situation. Whereas, translators have more time (luxury?) to be accurate and the translation more often than not goes to print for everyone to see - something that interpreters need not worry so much about, except in some areas of interpretation, of course. This is the tradeoff.
I recollect reading somewhere that interpreters even use a different part(s) of the brain since more advanced short-term memory retention capabilities are required.
With the predominantly larger amount of Yes answers to this poll, I have pobably stirred up a hornet's nest. 
Maybe it's easier to be equally capable in both translation and interpretation with some language pairs?
Happy translating! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Of course it is possible | Jan 22, 2012 |
Possible, yes, but that does not mean that everyone can.
You can practice to improve but above and beyond the necessary pure knowledge of the language, studies have been undertaken and interpreting relates to attention and inhibition, inhibition being the ability to surpress one thing, here in order to free up the other. Attention is a subject of study in the neurosciences, psychology, biology and so on and has been for quite some time. Attention and bilingualism together are too. B... See more Possible, yes, but that does not mean that everyone can.
You can practice to improve but above and beyond the necessary pure knowledge of the language, studies have been undertaken and interpreting relates to attention and inhibition, inhibition being the ability to surpress one thing, here in order to free up the other. Attention is a subject of study in the neurosciences, psychology, biology and so on and has been for quite some time. Attention and bilingualism together are too. By way of example, a search of PubMed or Science Direct reveals a large number of current research projects on the subject of attention, inhibition and so on in the brains of bilinguals, with early or late acquisiation of the second language... Mastering different levels of memory is also required. Lots of cross-over in studies of attention, memory, learning and so on too. This is partly why and where I ended up signing on the dotted line for my biology and neuroscience research masters I'm doing right now!
[Electroencephalographic characteristic of cognitive-specific alerting attention in verbal learning--III: Localized characteristics of EEG spatial synchronization].
Dan'ko SG, Kachalova LM, Solov'eva ML.
Fiziol Cheloveka. 2010 Nov-Dec;36(6):14-23. Russian.
The effects of bilingualism on toddlers' executive functioning.
Poulin-Dubois D, Blaye A, Coutya J, Bialystok E.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2011 Mar;108(3):567-79. Epub 2010 Nov 30.
Language selection in bilingual word production: electrophysiological evidence for cross-language competition.
Hoshino N, Thierry G.
Brain Res. 2011 Jan 31;1371:100-9. Epub 2010 Nov 23.
Involuntary switching of attention mediates differences in event-related responses to complex tones between early and late Spanish-English bilinguals.
Ortiz-Mantilla S, Choudhury N, Alvarez B, Benasich AA.
Brain Res. 2010 Nov 29;1362:78-92. Epub 2010 Sep 16.
[Edited at 2012-01-22 10:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Williamson
英国
Local time: 21:57
Flemish佛兰芒语译成English英语
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Usually a higher cognitive and ready-at-hand knowledge of the target-language is required of an interpreter. This comes in handy when translating texts. If you already know the words, you don't have to look up as much.
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I don't see why it wouldn't be, however I would expect that in majority of cases either translation or interpreting skills would prevail.
| | | | | Equally good? | Jan 22, 2012 |
I don't think so...
Interpreting and translation are two closely related linguistic disciplines, but the difference in skills, training, aptitude, and even language knowledge are so substantial that only a very few people can do both successfully on a professional level...
| | | | Oleg Osipov
俄罗斯联邦
Local time: 23:57
English英语译成Russian俄语
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... on the school and further professional environment.
| | | | Thayenga
德国
Local time: 22:57
正式会员 (自2009)
English英语译成German德语
+ ...
| It all depends | Jan 22, 2012 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
I don't think so...
Interpreting and translation are two closely related linguistic disciplines, but the difference in skills, training, aptitude, and even language knowledge are so substantial that only a very few people can do both successfully on a professional level...
I agree with you, Teresa. All depends on the individual's abilities and education background. Yet I'm sure that there are a "handfull" of people who are successful on said professional level.
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Jenn Mercer
美国
Local time: 16:57
正式会员 (自2009)
French法语译成English英语
| Next question | Jan 22, 2012 |
Yes, it is possible. The next question should be, is it likely? As a translator, I am happy to trade the "luxury" of time as Julian phrased it, for the expectation of (near) perfection. If circumstances forced me to interpret as well, I think the time pressure and my necessary imperfections would cause me too much stress to be happy in the profession. I am sure for many interpreters, the reverse is also true.
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
葡萄牙
Local time: 21:57
| Yes, it is possible. | Jan 22, 2012 |
But certainly not in my case. I have no training in interpretation, but I know that I would not be good because I could never hold a telephone at each ear, or listen to two conversations at once.
In day to day life, I can switch quite easily from English to Portuguese and vice versa (although my Portuguese is by no means perfect), but when it comes to interpreting from one to the other even on an informal basis, I find myself getting a bit tongue tied in both languages after a few... See more But certainly not in my case. I have no training in interpretation, but I know that I would not be good because I could never hold a telephone at each ear, or listen to two conversations at once.
In day to day life, I can switch quite easily from English to Portuguese and vice versa (although my Portuguese is by no means perfect), but when it comes to interpreting from one to the other even on an informal basis, I find myself getting a bit tongue tied in both languages after a few minutes!
As others have said, different parts of one's brain - and personality - come into play with each activity. I would hazard a guess that most translators have a greater inclination towards the written word whilst most interpreters are more comfortable with the spoken word. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Giles Watson
意大利
Local time: 22:57
Italian意大利语译成English英语
纪念
If you think of meaning as an electron for a moment, according to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle you can either know where it is or where it is going, but not both.
Translators concentrate on the former, interpreters on the latter.
It's perfectly possible to handle both, of course, but deep down all linguists prefer one or the other.
| | | | Williamson
英国
Local time: 21:57
Flemish佛兰芒语译成English英语
+ ...
| Translation is a preperation. | Jan 23, 2012 |
No interpreting without the proper training.
No training without passing competitive admission tests with 500 candidates in one school (about 35 admitted), 200 in another (14 admitted), 100 in another (20 admitted).
Translation is a good preparation for such tests.
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I once had the opportunity to compare a transcription of an interpretation side-by-side against a written translation of the same text. It was a technical paper, delivered orally by the author, and the interpreter was able to hear the speaker's emphasis, whereas the translation had been prepared in advance but for some reason was not available to give to the interpreter to follow.
The interpretation was much better than the translation - no comparison. The interpreter had understoo... See more I once had the opportunity to compare a transcription of an interpretation side-by-side against a written translation of the same text. It was a technical paper, delivered orally by the author, and the interpreter was able to hear the speaker's emphasis, whereas the translation had been prepared in advance but for some reason was not available to give to the interpreter to follow.
The interpretation was much better than the translation - no comparison. The interpreter had understood what the author wanted to say, whereas the translation was flat, literal, and difficult to understand, and it contained mistakes.
I realize that this is an isolated example. I will offer more.
I taught translation at Georgetown University for 17 years. For the most part, the students who were also studying interpretation were the better translators. Here you could say that the interpretation students were better because they had qualified for the interpretation program. I think there's a point to be made there. You have to have a quick mind and excellent mastery of your working languages to be an interpreter, and many translators don't meet such high standards.
I used to spend time with some successful UN interpreters, and a few of them eventually ended up as full-time translators instead because they preferred the stability.
On the other hand, many interpreters don't have the patience to be translators, and I have seen them do sloppy work as well.
To answer the question accurately, one would have to compare translators and interpreters who are at the same skill level in terms of mastery of their working languages and who also have the temperament and curiosity to do research and the patience to work with details and sit at a desk all day. ▲ Collapse
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I think it's generally impossible. People are different from psychological point of view. Some of them prefer working quietly, they are slower but more accurate, which is an undoubted advantage in many translation fields. Other people are more dynamic by nature, more quick-minded. Can one unite within oneself the mentioned qualities together? Rarely. Yes, there are conformance exceptions but they only confirm the "rule" of being mostly a translator or mostly an interpretor by nature.
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