10 Ways to Prepare for Translation and Interpretation Studies

The Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education (GSTILE) at the Monterey Insititute of International Studies (MIIS) previously posted a very useful list on its website. However, with a recently updated website design, that list was temporarily taken down.

You can now download the October 2009 version in Word format here:
Ten Ways to Prepare for Becoming a Student of Translation and Interpretation

These are recommendations from GSTILE professors to prospective students of translation, interpretation, or translation and localization management.

Rough Times for Language Line Leading up to $400 Million IPO

Language Line Services has announced that it intends to raise up to $400 million on the Nasdaq. The past decade has been tough for the phone interpretation giant:

• Language Line posted a $44.2 million net loss during the first three quarters of 2009
• Language Line revenue appears to have actually decreased for several years (when excluding the revenue of its recent acquisitions)
• Many people have long been worried about Language Line's hefty debt load
• Echoes of unhappy employees have long been filling the ears of people in the industry (Having lived in Monterey, I personally know a few happy Language Line employees, but I have met many more unhappy Language Line employees, from intern level to VP level. Maybe if Language Line treated its employees better, it would have more people within hoping for success.)
  
• Language Line's only good characteristics to be reported at the time of this announcement are all related to large size and customer base
• Language Line's competitors are no longer small and unknown, but are gaining real ground

Politely Educating the Media about Translation and Interpretation

Grattitude and Civility
It is great when journalists and reporters make an effort to cover the translation, interpretation, and localization industries. We who work in the industry should be grateful. When we provide feedback to these journalists and reporters, we should encourage such coverage and emphasize our grattitute because they are doing us a service.

Many of us often forget this when we provide feedback. Just as most customers do, we provide feedback only when we have a complaint. One of the most common complaints we have about media coverage of our industry is that reporters and journalists regularly confuse the terms "translation" and "interpretation" or "translator" and "interpreter." Yes, this does feel quite exhasperating after the hundredth time, but we need to remember that we probably also did not know the difference long before we entered the profession. I sure didn't!

Let us continue to educate members of the media by providing feedback because it will help them maintain journalistic credibility and it will help to properly educate others about the language industry. However, let us always remember to be polite and civil. Above all, let's make an effort to thank members of the media for covering topics related to our industry. Thank them even if their coverage contains a few errors, and thank them even more when when they do it accurately!

Potential Side Benefit: Increased Media Coverage
Imagine the increase in positive and accurate media coverage if one hundred or more of us made the effort to regularly thank journalists and reporters for covering our industry! It is only natural that members of the media will want to cover our industry more if they receive positive feedback. Likewise, it is only natural that they will better accept correction that is given very kindly and politely with an emphasis on how grateful we are that they cover the industry.

Suggestion
When applicable to your feedback, you might consider directing journalists and reporters to this article about the difference between translation and interpretation. It includes simple explanations, an illustration, and various authoritative quotes for those who need a little extra convincing. Hopefully all readers will find the explanation very clear, teachable readers will find the article helpful, and even the most stubborn of readers will not be left with any doubt about the difference between translation and interpretation.

The Difference between Translation and Interpretation

You have been referred to this page because someone wants to politely explain to you the difference between translation and interpretation. There is no need to take offense. This is just an effort to educate many people who have previously been unaware. Not everyone outside the language industry knows the difference, but here is a basic principle you need to understand if you want to maintain credibility and appear as if you know what you are talking about.

Translation is Written & Interpretation is Spoken
It is really very simple. Translation is written. Interpretation is spoken. Translators work with written language. Interpreters deal with spoken language. That's it! There is nothing more to it!

Authoritative References
Trust me. You can take my word for it since I've worked as both a translator and an interpreter, and I've managed both translators and interpreters. If that is not enough to make you believe me, then check out a few of these authoritative references (with emphasis added):

Although interpretation and translation have much in common, the practice of each profession differs in the same way that written language differs from spoken... Interpreters must be good public speakers who are adept at grasping meaning and solving complex linguistic problems quickly, whereas translators must be able to conduct thorough and meticulous research and produce accurate, camera-ready documents while adhering to tight deadlines.
Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, & Language Education
Monterey Institute of International Studies

Translation refers to the rendering of written materials into a different language.... Interpretation refers to the relaying of spoken words, such as lectures or conversations, into another language....
Center for Language Study
Yale University

Translators work with the written word.... Interpreters work with the spoken word....
American Translators Association

Interpreters deal with spoken words, translators with written words.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Even Wikipedia recognizes that many people attempt to use the word "translation" to refer to both; however, "interpretation and translation are not synonymous."

Maintain Journalistic Credibility
I hope by now you get it and you think I'm beating a dead horse. If you find this repetitive and are almost ready to click away from this page, that is a good thing. Unfortunately, after all the evidence above has been presented, there are still some incredibly stubborn people who bury their heads in the sand and insist the two words are interchangeable. Sometimes these people will become very defensive and attack the person correcting them. I once had a reporter tell me he would not pay any attention to my suggestion because I had omitted a serial comma from my email. Please don't be one of those people. It will only embarrass you.

Imagine how embarrassing it would be for a reporter to confuse "libel" with "slander," when there is such a clear difference: libel is written, and slander is spoken. Or imagine how silly it would sound if a reporter referred to how a pair of political candidates demonstrated what great writers they were as they spoke impromptu in a recent debate. Clearly speakers speak and writers write, and it is just plain wrong to think that the words for speaking and writing are interchangeable.

• Writing ≠ Speaking
• Authors ≠ Orators
• Translation ≠ Interpretation
• Translators ≠ Interpreters

Journalists and reporters can maintain or lose credibility depending on how well they convey their understanding of the differences between the following: U.S. House and Senate; libel and slander; civil court and criminal court; speaking and writing; translation and interpretation; and more...

The Nicole Kidman Example
For one final example, remember Hollywood's 2005 film starring Nicole Kidman. Hollywood does not always get it right, but it did in this particular case. The film is correctly called The Interpreter, NOT The Translator, because Kidman's character works as a U.N. interpreter and deals with the spoken word, NOT the written word.

The simple illustration above was created by interpreters Johanna Parker and Sam Pinilla while they were pursuing graduate studies in translation and interpretation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. It was distributed to moviegoers in the Language Capital of the World when the The Interpreter was released in 2005.

Thank you
So, after kicking this dead horse a few more times, I hope you are convinced enough to use the words translation and interpretation correctly in the future. No one was insulting you by directing you to this link. This is merely an effort to educate journalists and reporters. Greater understanding will benefit everyone, and anyone reporting on this topic will be taken much more seriously if he or she uses these terms correctly.

Thank you for taking the time to write about or report on translation or interpretation. And thank you for taking the time to educate yourself about these two professions and their differences.

Additional Information
For an illustration of the angst felt by translators and interpreters every time people misuse these terms, see this comic by the late Ted Crump.

For more advanced industry terminology, read The Confusing Language of the Language Industry.