Note: this article was written for UEES in 2005 as an informative and educational piece for deans and board of
directors when said university in Guayaquil, Ecuador considered opening a School of Translation and Interpretation.

Prepared by
Monica D. Reynoso, MA
Provost
Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo

An intercultural communication profession

By Provost Monica D. Reynoso, M.A.

PART I

WHAT IS TRANSLATION? WHAT IS INTERPRETATION?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM?

What is generally understood as translation or interpretation involves the rendering of a source language (SL) text or speech into the target language (TL).
In a nutshell, when we translate we are transporting words, sentences, or text (message) from one language into another in WRITING whereas when we do this ORALLY, we are
interpreting. However, in reality we do not transport words, sentences or text, but ideas.
Translators and interpreters must convey the ideas, that is, the meaning of the original (text or speech) in an accurate, complete, grammatical, idiomatic, and clear way.
Professional translation and interpretation are acts of communication.
“Translators are unassuming artisans of communication.” (Jean Francois Joly, President of FIT, Montreal, 1996)
Some authors recognize the value of translators and interpreters and understand that they are important links in the intercultural communication across languages. Communication and
quality are paramount in the translator’s and interpreter’s performance.
“Translators live off the differences between languages, all the while working toward eliminating them.” (Edmond Cary 1956: 181)
For many people there is no clear distinction between interpretation and translation. At best, the term “translation” is used indiscriminately to mean transferring written or spoken words
from one language into another, although translation and interpretation do perform essentially the same function, that is, they reexpress in one language what has been expressed in another.
Many people believe that if you speak two languages you can perform a translation and perhaps even an interpretation job. These basic faux assumptions form the basis of a series of mis conceptions about the very old and respectable art and science of translation and
interpretation. In fact, translators and interpreters are quite often regarded as some sort of “magicians” of the tongues by those who, in awe, watch them perform. Others see them as a sort of human machine capable of mechanically transporting the message from one language into another.
Professional translation is aimed at a Receiver (a user –reader or listener) who is
interested in the message, and is done on request and for a financial compensation. The client –a
person, a company, or an organization—who orders the translation or interpretation job pays for it. In professional interpretation the Sender (the speaker) generally speaks either to the target-
language listeners only, or to both source-language listeners and target-language listeners. In interpreting, the parties concerned are not always aware of the communication situation,
including possible difficulties associated with the interlingual and sometimes intercultural transfer.
Many scholarly essays have been written on these topics, however, there is a great need to educate the general public and explain the basics in simple terms and that is our intention here.
Throughout history, many translators and interpreters have been scorned and even called traitors, however, their contribution to mankind is invaluable. In today’s world, there seems to be a
growing awareness of cultural and language differences and, therefore, understanding and appreciation of the translators’ and interpreters’ work. In Europe language and cultural diversity
awareness are part of every day life. However, in the United States there is a long way to go as
far as demystifying and educating the public, in order to achieve true respect and recognition for
the translation and interpretation profession.
The fact is that throughout history translators have left their mark in civilization in many
different ways. Their contributions range from creating alphabets, enriching languages, and
encouraging the emergence of national literatures, to disseminating technical and scientific
knowledge, propagating religions, not to mention writing dictionaries. (Delisle and
Woodsworth, Translators through History, Philadelphia 1995)
Modes of translation and interpretation

Depending on the project, a translator may be asked to perform different tasks, such as
précis writing and subtitling. There is no mystery to a regular written transIation assignment: it is
hard work –although many people think it is simply a matter of typing in another language. The
translator, in addition to having excellent, native and near-native command of the languages
involved, must have other important skills, such as analytical and research skills, as well as
cultural expertise.
Translation involves the transfer of meaning contained in one set of language signs into
another set of language signs through competent use of the dictionary and grammar, but it also
involves a whole set of extra-linguistic criteria.
There are different types of translation:

Note: this article was written for UEES in 2005 as an informative and educational piece for deans and board of
directors when said university in Guayaquil, Ecuador considered opening a School of Translation and Interpretation.

What is sight translation?
Sometimes a translator is asked to read/render aloud the source written text in the target
language. That is called sight translation. For this, in addition to all the linguistic and analytical,
and cultural skills the translator must have good public speaking skills. He/she must deliver the
message with poise, eye contact, good pace, good voice, good accent … and must translate
accurately, on the spot –no time to check anything in the dictionary. When receiving the
message, the user depends entirely on the translator as he/she renders it aloud from the original
source as if it were read in the target language.
Sight translation is considered a bridge between the written and the spoken, between
translation and interpretation.
Sight translation is a skill used in several professional situations. Court interpreters are
often called to perform sight translation. Sometimes simultaneous interpreters also apply this
skill in the booth when they have been provided the document that the speaker will be reading or
quoting from.
Particularly with the new voice and speech recognition technologies, it is essential that
translators have good sight translation skills because they can be more efficient, save time and
money by dictating into the computer microphone and editing the job later.
Interpretation can be performed in two basic modes: consecutive and simultaneous.
In consecutive interpretation, the speaker gives a speech and then pauses for the
interpreter to render it in the target language. While listening attentively to the speaker, the
interpreter takes notes and must give back the speech without any meaning errors, omissions or
shifts. The interpreter must have excellent public speaking skills. The interpretation must be
delivered at a good pace and must convey and capture the tone and spirit of the original speech.
Training for consecutive interpretation is very important. It involves developing special
listening, memory and analytical skills, note-taking techniques as well as public speaking skills.
This mode of interpretation is used at high-level and smaller meetings, as well as in after-dinner
speeches and escorting situations. Occasionally, in the diplomatic world or in negotiations the
notes taken by the interpreter have helped the delegations in drafting the proceedings. It is also
used in court interpreting at the witness stand.
Simultaneous interpretation is the rendition of a speech in the target language
performed as the speaker is speaking (in real time) in the source language. It is usually done
using special interpretation equipment. In a conference situation, the interpreters are seated in a
soundproof booth, usually set up in the back of the meeting room from where they have a view
of the podium and the speaker. The interpreters have the sound of the speaker’s (floor)
microphone fed into their ears and their interpretation is, in turn, broadcast into the audience’s
headsets. Some conferences have attendants from different parts of the world and, therefore,
have different language booths, so their audience can follow the interpretation in the language of
their preference (French, Spanish, Russian, Korean, etc.) The meetings held by the United
Nations Organization, the European Parliament, Organization of American States, FAO, WHO,
and other international organizations are interpreted into their different official languages. Most
of these organizations have staff interpreters but they also hire professional free-lance conference
interpreters.
Training for simultaneous interpretation is quite challenging and intense. It requires a
good consecutive interpretation background and special training for stamina, mental reflexes,
voice, on the spot problem solving, dealing with foreign accents, speed as well as other special
techniques.
What are some of the challenges…
Because of the stress and high level of concentration involved, conference interpreters
work in teams of two, and sometimes three, per booth. It is necessary for them to rotate, taking
turns every 30-40 minutes. An interpreter’s workday should not exceed 6 hours. Working
conditions are very important both for the quality of the interpretation delivered and for the
health of the professional performing. Unless conditions are adequate for performing this kind of
task, the interpreter cannot deliver total quality and/or suffers great stress. Adequate view and
sound, ventilation and temperature in the booth, and space (booth size) are extremely important,
not to mention the necessary breaks and meal periods. Some international standards have been
developed especially for the conference interpretation profession.
Currently, as the world grows smaller and conference attendees come from all over the
world, the number of working languages has increased. Due to space constraints, conference
organizers often place the interpreter booths in a room adjacent to the conference room. This
presents additional challenges to the interpreters: it can hinder total quality interpretation since
the monitors that are placed in front of the interpreter booths cannot really replace neither the
panoramic view (podium, audience, entire stage, projection screen, etc.) nor the emotions and
direct contact with conference participants, or the dynamics inside the meeting room.
Quality sound and sight are, thus, of paramount importance. Cases of “mishearings” by interpreters show the dangers of “misunderstanding” as well as the importance of working
conditions (number of interpreters, quality of equipment) and the need for teamwork. It is also very important that interpreters be briefed as far as topic, type and purpose of meeting, and that
they be given the appropriate reference materials and documents.
For seminars and small group meetings, users often prefer to have simultaneous
interpretation (vs. consecutive) in order to have a more dynamic communication and use portable
whispering interpretation devices. These devices seem to be very convenient and are in fact easy
to use, and much less expensive to set up. They are ideal for a tour, for example, or for very
special situations. However, because this set up does not provide the interpreter any direct feed
of the floor sound into his or her ears, the interpreter must perform “a capella”. The interpreter
whispers the interpretation into his/her microphone which is broadcast into the headsets of the
participants. Often times the speaker’s voice does not carry or is projected away from the
microphone or the interpreter does not have an adequate view of the speaker and cannot read the
lips, facial expression or gestures of the people speaking. These drawbacks lead to
“mishearings” and frustration on the part of the interpreter who is interested in delivering total
quality interpretation.
Simultaneous interpretation is used in international conferences and in all international
organizations. It is also used for interpretation in federal and state courts in several states of the
Union, however, very few counties have outfitted their courtrooms with interpretation
equipment.

Inside the World of Translators and Interpreters

If you ever find yourself surrounded by translators and interpreters you will hear them
talk about language combination, or about an A, B, or C language. Language combination refers
to the specific languages a person can speak or function in. For example, Spanish-English,
French-Russian, Italian-Spanish-Portuguese, or Greek-English-French. So, depending on the
languages you speak and the part of the world you live in, you may have an unusual (=scarce) or
exotic language combination, for example, Chinese-Greek-Danish, or Polish-Spanish-Japanese.
The “A”, “B” or “C” category refers to the native or “A” language of the interpreter, the
near-native or “B” language, or the passive or “C” language of the interpreter. The A and B
languages are the active languages of the translator or interpreter, that is, the interpreter and
translator can perform into and out of either language. A “C” means passive knowledge of that
language, in other words, translator/interpreter can work out of it into his/her mother tongue but
does not work into that language. While a person can have several B or C languages, and can
add, upgrade or drop a language, few interpreters declare, professionally, two A languages.
In general, amongst interpreters true bilingualism, not to mention trilingualism, is rather
rare, although there are cases of highly talented professionals who do have more than one native
language, all equally strong.
Professional conference interpreters usually work into their native language, however, in diplomatic spheres and highly sensitive conferences there is a preference for sacrificing style in
delivery rather than risking a meaning error due to faulty comprehension of the source language
(nuances, shifts, undertones, accents and other elements) by the interpreter. In other words, this
school of thought believes that the interpreter is much less likely to misunderstand a speech in
his/her native language than in the foreign language, hence it is preferable that he/she work into
his/her B language even at the expense of style.
In Europe, in particular, bilingual booths are not favored, whereas in Asia and Latin
America these are commonplace. Bilingual booth means that the interpreters work in both
directions, that is, into their A and into their B language.
International conferences hire both professional conference translators and conference
interpreters.
Conference translation is the work performed by a translator who is hired for a
particular conference to translate official documents, speeches and other materials presented and
produced at the conference. Conferences can be very large events, having several working
languages, and may need several teams of translators hired especially for an event –sometimes
in addition to their staff translators. Conference translators work in teams according to their
language combinations, they also create style guides and specialized glossaries. Often the Chief
Translator or Project Director is the link with the press room and the team of conference
interpreters. What with fax machines, e-mail, and other forms of communication via Internet,
conferences may even have translators on duty in a continent other than that of the event in order
to have round the clock translation services and meet strict deadlines.
Conference interpretation is the work performed by an interpreter at any given event,
be it a conference, a meeting, a convention, a parliament, or a congress. Although simultaneous
interpretation is the preferred mode because it saves time and makes the meeting more dynamic
and “seamless”, there may be instances where consecutive interpretation is requested at a
particular event (for example, after-dinner speeches, break out groups, special negotiations, and
dialogues.) Consecutive interpretation is useful, for example, in trade and business negotiations
or very sensitive diplomatic missions because it affords the speakers some perspective on what
has just been said or heard and thus have more time to think out their next speech. The Chief
Interpreter can organize and coordinate teams of interpreters, workload, schedules, and also
collects and distributes materials from speakers and –depending upon the size and complexity of
the meeting– is in general, the link between the client, speakers, interpreters, conference
organizer, and/or hiring agency.
Community interpretation, sometimes called liaison interpreting, is the work
performed by thousands –trained and empirical— of interpreters in situations “small” and
“large” and communities where there is a need for intercultural communication across languages.
Their contribution to their communities and society, in general, is precious, yet many times not
properly, if at all, (financially) rewarded. In immigrants’ communities it is not uncommon to see
children serving many a times as interpreters for their parents or relatives. Quite often these
children grow up to train formally and become conference interpreters as well.
Community interpreters handle all kinds of common everyday matters and topics,
technical and general, legal, and medical. Community interpreters serve in different ways and
places: at town hall meetings, neighborhood gatherings, government offices and agencies, large
department stores, tourist information sites, religious services, and many other situations. An
interesting element featured by community interpreters is “client advocacy”. There are over the
phone community interpreters who assist in conversations and dialogues between organizations,
clients, users, consumers, and even in more sensitive situations, for example, with doctors and
patients, and even courtrooms and law enforcement agencies. All these interpreters train for
assisting the different client-organizations that subscribe to the services of telephone interpreting
learning their specific vocabularies, and internal procedures.
Two distinct fields have developed out of community interpreting that have acquired a
professional status. Medical interpreters work in major hospitals and at medical doctors’
offices assisting with patients, in operating rooms, even in tele-medicine events that are
broadcast via satellite for teaching purposes, for example. Court Interpreters specialize in legal
matters. They learn all about the law and legal systems of the states and the country, and train for
working specifically in court –usually in criminal matters, at state and federal levels, and
immigration courts– or in law offices. Law enforcement agencies as well as other government
agencies use professional, certified court interpreters for administrative hearings, proceedings,
trials, arbitrations, for example, Worker’s Compensation Boards, Insurance Boards, Department
of Labor, Social Security Administration, Employment Development Departments, among
others.
Both medical and court interpreters train to deal with highly specialized vocabulary and
in some states (for example, California) interpreters must pass special certification exams,
written and oral, before they are allowed to work. Although the basic skills of interpreting are
universal, accuracy, memory skills, and delivery, for both medical and legal interpreting are
particularly important and involve training in specific interpreting techniques. There are also
important and highly sensitive ethical issues that apply to these fields of interpretation.
Escort interpretation and seminar interpretation are categories created by the US
Department of State (other than the conference interpretation category) for their large contingent
of professionally trained interpreters who are hired as independent contractors to offer
professional interpretation services on special assignments, missions, and training courses to
visitors from all over the world. These interpreters are performing a diplomatic mission all the
while interpreting for international delegates and visitors in different meetings, interviews, tours,
and hospitality encounters on topics ranging from the environment and architecture to legal,
political, copyright or health issues… These itinerant interpreters travel throughout the United
States gaining exposure in different fields and accumulating over the years a wealth of expertise.
Some historical highlights of the translation and interpretation profession
For a sense of perspective, let us rewind time and trace some of the known origins of the translation profession. Translation has existed since time immemorial. Moreover, the history of
translation is intertwined with the history of writing, and the truth is that translation permeates
every aspect of society.
“If we stand back and assess the work of translators over the centuries, we can see that
receiving cultures have generally considered themselves enriched by their work. Just think of
Livius Andronicus, the Greek slave in the third century BC who introduced the stern Romans to
the treasures of Greek literature; Ibn al-Muqaffa, the eighth-century Persian translator who
enriched the Arab culture with the famous Indian Fables of Bidpai, which later inspired the
fables of Jean de La Fontaine; Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400), a translator before becoming an
author, who brought the ballad, the romance, the fabliau and animal fables into his culture;
Jagannatha, the eighteenth-century Indian astronomer who translated Ptolemy’s Almagest and
Euclid’s Elements from Arabic into Sanskrit; Voltaire, who acquainted his compatriots with
Shakespeare and shook their aesthetic values; Emilie du Chatelet who was the first to translate
the seminal work of Newton into French; Yan Fu (1853-1921), who introduced the work of the
great British thinkers Thomas Huxley, Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer and John Stuart Mill to
China; and finally, closer to home, Constance Garnett (1861-1946), the eminent English
translator, who made the Anglo-Saxon world familiar with great Russian writers such as Tolstoy,
Dostoyevsky, Chekhov and Turgenev. There are thousands and thousands of examples.” (Jean
Francois Joly, 1995)

The earliest form of writing known to us is Sumerian cuneiform script. The Sumerian-
Eblaite vocabularies (bilingual lists) inscribed in clay tablets uncovered by archaeologists are

4500 years old (Dalnoky, 1977). And with the emergence of the writing systems the art and
science of translation was born. In ancient civilizations, scribes were the masters of writing,
teaching, and translation. Invariably, writing was attributed to the gods or regarded as a divine
gift. According to Egyptian mythology, Thoth, the God of knowledge, language and magic,
invented writing. Thoth was also an adviser and scribe to the other gods. In fact, the word
“hieroglyphs” means “sacred inscriptions”.
The Phoenicians invented their alphabet around 1000 BC, and merchants and navigators
as they were, their alphabet spread to other peoples living on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Other alphabets derived from the Phoenician are Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Coptic, and Arabic.
Translators played an important role in the creation of alphabets and writing. Although
they also dealt with commercial contracts, law, and literature, translators have always had a
connection to the sacred and religious teachings. Let us mention just a few important figures in
the history of translation:
Ulfila, was a lector during religious services, and as part of his duties he studied the Bible
which prepared him for his later work as a translator. He invented the Gothic alphabet, and then
undertook a translation of the Bible from the Greek text into Gothic language.
In the fourth century, Mesrop Mashtots had a gift for languages: he spoke Greek, Persian,
Syriac and Armenian. He became a monk, founded several monasteries. He invented the
Armenian alphabet, which enabled him and his team of translators and disciples to undertake the
translation of the Scriptures in order to preach in Armenian. There is reason to believe that
Mesrop also created an alphabet for the Albanians and is also credited with the invention of the
Georgian alphabet.
In Armenia the annual holiday Tarkmanchats, which means “the translators”, honors
translators, writers and teachers.
In the ninth century, after inventing a system of writing for the Moravians, the Glagolitic
(glagol meaning “word” in Old Slavonic) alphabet, Cyril was able to carry out the work as a
translator, missionary and diplomat. It is noteworthy that the first words translated using the new
Glagolitic alphabet were: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God” from the Gospel according to St. John.
Fast forwarding closer to our time, in 1840 we have another missionary-translator.
Methodist minister James Evans needed a writing system to facilitate his work as evangelist and
educator among the natives of western Canada. He learned Ojibway, transcribed it into Latin
characters and began translating. He later developed the Cree syllabic alphabet which in time
was adopted by many native communities and was even adapted for the language of the Inuit of
the far North. This enabled the translation of several books of the Bible into Inuktitut in 1876.
(Delisle, Translators through History, Philadelphia 1995)
Space does not permit to include here a full outline of the history of translation or
translation studies (traductologie), suffice it to be aware of the pivotal role played by translators
in the development of national languages, emergence of national literatures, dissemination of
knowledge, reins of power, spread of religions, transmission of cultural values, and in the writing
of dictionaries.
In an ever-shrinking world, in the era of globalization, communication across cultures
demands different language combinations and specially trained translation and interpretation
professionals to assist in business, trade, science, and technology. The Information Age and
Internet have brought about a revolution in communication across cultures: not only is it
accelerating the evolution of languages and exchanges between cultures but also incorporating
those that were falling into oblivion, and new words are coined which in turn create new
cultures.
As people become more world-oriented and feel greater need to have a presence in
cyberspace in order to be competitive, the translation and interpretation profession is evolving
rapidly. Translators and interpreters incorporate in their daily work the latest technologies: from
optical character and speech recognition to translation memory and glossary-building software as
well as digitalization technologies to preserve ancient manuscripts dating from the first centuries
of our Common Era which are now on the endangered species list of mankind’s cultural heritage.
The spoken word does not leave a written record. It is therefore difficult to trace the exact
history of interpretation. However, as early as 3000 BC the Egyptians had a hieroglyphic that
signified “interpreting”. In some classical works several references to interpreters have been
documented: ancient Greece and Rome or the Middle Ages. Interpretation was widely used for
purposes of exchanging and spreading philosophies, ideas, and religion as well as for science,
and diplomacy.
The Romans, for example, used interpreters in the administration of their conquered
territories and in their campaigns on the frontiers of their far-flung empire (Van Hoof 1962).
All the major world religions have used interpreters. The Judeo-Christian world for their
missionary work or for interpretation from Hebrew into Aramaic, and viceversa. In Armenia, in
the early centuries of Christianity, the Scriptures were initially taught in Greek and in Syriac, and
therefore, interpretation was often required during religious services. Between the fifth century
BC and the sixth century AD (and certainly into the tenth century), interpreters were working in
Palestine and Babylonia, in courts as well as in Talmudic schools and academies. Often they
worked with the rabbi under whom they had studied and whose thinking and teachings they
knew well. Some also seem to have been what we would call freelance interpreters, called in for
important occasions. Some interpreters were martyrs, others rabbis themselves, even lawmakers
and what we call today teaching assistants. (Bowen, Kaufmann, Kurz, Translators Through
History, Philadelphia 1995)
Later, during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Crusades, trade, and diplomatic as
well as religious missions to Africa, the Middle and the Far East made interpreting indispensable
and caused interpreters to be more recognized. The Arabs mention the use of interpreters in their
medieval literature.
During the Age of Discovery there were men and women who served as interpreters
translating their languages and also their cultures for outsiders. Some were guides and scouts
who worked, voluntarily or involuntarily, for soldiers and explorers. Others had careers as
assistants to missionaries and as professional civil servants, while others worked as what
anthropologists and linguists call “native informants”. They functioned as conduits through
which information flowed between worlds in collision, translating more than just words and
bringing comprehensibility to otherwise meaningless static. (Karttunen, Between Worlds, N.J.,
1994)
In North America, one famous figure is Doña Marina (sixteenth-century Mexico), the
Indian woman who spoke nahuatl and mayan, and Spanish. The chronicles of the time refer to
her as the “interpreter” for Hernan Cortes, and Cortes himself referred to her in his
communications with the king of Spain as “my interpreter, who is an Indian woman.” From
historical documents we have also learned of chains of interpreters (relay interpretation) that
were formed in order for the expeditionaries to communicate with natives who spoke other
Indian languages. Doña Marina in particular was more than an interpreter, the fact is that having
fallen in love with the conqueror she played an important role more than an interpreter and
advocate, she was a strategist and an adviser to Cortes. She is also known as “Malinche” or
“Malintzin” and is perceived by Mexicans as the ultimate “traitor”, the collaborator who
betrayed the indigenous peoples of the New World to the Spaniards.
I suppose we could assume that the method of interpretation that predominated until the
introduction of special equipment was consecutive interpretation –with or without notes–,
however, I do not discard the posibility that interpreters developed and used simultaneous
(whispered) interpretation long before technology was incorporated. (Whispered interpreting is
done by one interpreter for another individual to whom the translation is repeated in a whisper.
Without a whispering equipment, this can only be done for the benefit of up to two listeners).
We have record of very fine interpreters performing in consecutive interpretation during
the meetings of the League of Nations at the end of World War I. Consecutive interpretation
skills were perfected by many highly skilled practitioners. Salvador de Madariaga, a historian,
writer, diplomat, and chief of the Spanish delegation to the League of Nations, has documented
some exciting moments in the profession. As far as the length of speech “intake” (longer, shorter
segments) by the consecutive interpreter, in some instances of history, interpreters have been
asked to provide a sentence by sentence rendition. In any case, mastery of mnemonic techniques
are the key in this art.
In the era of the League of Nations, new solutions were sought. Special equipment for
simultaneous interpreting, which allowed the interpreter to talk at the same time as the speaker
by means of a system of earphones and microphones, was developed by IBM and introduced to
the League of Nations by three Americans. The International Labour Office in Geneva was the
only agency of the League of Nations that decided to adopt it. (The system was first put to use in
1927 in combination with consecutive interpreting). In 1935, at the 15th International Congress of
Physiology in Leningrad, the inaugural address given by Professor Pavlov was simultaneously
interpreted from Russian into French, English, and German. (Van Hoof 1962: 19-20)
Later on during the War Crimes Trial of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg
(November 1945 – October 1946) simultaneous interpretation was used and involved four
languages. Only two interpreters, Edouard Roditi (1920-1992) and Haakon Chevalier (1902-
1985) had previous simultaneous experience, and the team of interpreters had to handle a wide
variety of subjects under difficult conditions.
The chief of interpreting and translation services in Nuremberg was Colonel Leon Dostert
(1904-71), an American of French extraction with remarkable organizational abilities. Dostert
recruited interpreters among students and teachers from the University of Geneva’s school of
interpreting, along with people who had learned several languages in a multilingual family or
through the vicissitudes of war. The technical system was perfected by a Canadian, an ex-RAF
bomber pilot and audio engineer named Aurele Pilon, who had done research resulting in the
invention of radar. He designed the complex network of wires linking microphones and
earphones, which ultimately made simultaneous interpreting workable (Delisle 1990: 335)
By 1950, once equipment had been improved, simultaneous interpretation was fully
accepted. Today it is widespread…

Part II

The process…
How is the message transferred to another language?
The communicative relationship in the process of translation shows that the
translator/interpreter is receiver and emitter, the end and the beginning of two separate but linked
chains of communication:
Author –> Text –> Receiver = Translator –>Text –> Receiver
Here’s a brief description of the process of translation and interpretation:

Decoding and recoding

The translator/interpreter operates criteria that transcend the purely linguistic, and a
process of decoding and recoding takes place. According to Eugene Nida’s model of the
translation process these are the stages involved:

SOURCE LANGUAGE RECEPTOR LANGUAGE
TEXT TRANSLATION
| |

ANALYSIS RESTRUCTURING

| |
à à TRANSFER à |

The translator first reads and understands the text in the original or “source” language and
does a text analysis before undertaking the actual translation.
Research/preparation is an integral part of a translator/interpreter’s job since he/she must
fully understand the content of the original in order to produce a good “target” text/speech.
One of the first writers to formulate a theory of translation was the French humanist Etienne
Dolet (1509-46) who was tried and executed for heresy after ‘mistranslating’ one of Plato’s
dialogues in such a way as to imply disbelief in immortality.
In 1540 Dolet published a short outline of translation principles, entitled “How to Translate
Well from one Language into Another” and established five principles for the translator:
(1) The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original author,
although he is at liberty to clarify obscurities.
(2) The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL.
(3) The translator should avoid word-for-word renderings.
(4) The translator should use forms of speech in common use.

(5) The translator should choose and order words appropriately to produce the correct tone.
(Bassnett-McGuire, Translation studies, London 1991)

Word for word (dictionary) vs. meaning units

The translator is far more than a competent linguist, and translation involves both a
scholarly and sensitive appraisal of the source language text and an awareness of the place the
translation is intended to occupy in the target language system.
The great translator of Homer, George Chapman, states that a translator must
(1) avoid word for word renderings;
(2) attempt to reach the ‘spirit’ of the original;
(3) avoid overloose translations, by basing the translation on a sound scholarly investigation
of other versions and glosses.
In the exercise of transporting text or speech, the translators and interpreters cannot
merely search for equivalent words in the “target” language to render the meaning of the
“source”. They work with meaning units. But there is much more to it because they must take

into account the contexts –a world, a culture– and with respect to comprehension, extra-
linguistic knowledge plays a major role in both the comprehension phase and reformulation

phase.
How do translators and interpreters acquire the necessary knowledge for their different
assignments, which can range from political speeches to highly technical and scientific to trade
issues?
To interpret or translate specialized texts or speeches in fields they are not thoroughly
familiar with, interpreter and translator must prepare and research thoroughly. And even so, the
interpreter, doesn’t have any guarantee of having acquired all the knowledge/information
necessary to perform the work. Hence the stress of the job. This gives you an idea of the intensity
of professional conference interpretation training programs. The interpreter acquires most of
his/her knowledge before the performance at the conference, whereas the translator’s knowledge
acquisition takes place during the translation work.
Both translators and interpreters require linguistic information, terminological
information and stylistic information. The sources of information for knowledge acquisition are
very diverse –printed, human, electronic. Ideal sources are the ones originally written in the
target language, written by experts in the subject matter, up-to-date, as well as “parallel” texts
(type of material, target audience, purpose, and context).
Professional translators and interpreters acquire a very wide extra-linguistic knowledge
which accumulates over time in the course of their career. But let us not forget that in-depth
cultural knowledge is also necessary. Professional translators and interpreters possess bicultural,
multicultural “literacy”, a key element that cannot be acquired overnight or through books or crash courses of any kind. It is intrinsic and natural to them, often it is the result of 10+ years of
living and studying in a foreign culture, or of having lived totally immersed in more than one
cultural environments, or having grown up in an international setting where communication
across languages was simply indispensable.

Issues of untranslatability and interpretability

Sometimes the translator finds structures in the source language that do not exist in the
target language. This problem can exist on the linguistic level when there is no lexical or
syntactical substitute in the TL for an SL item. On the cultural level, an item may be
untranslatable due to the absence in the TL culture of a relevant situational feature for the SL
text.
An example of this are the different concepts of the term bathroom in an English,
Finnish, or Japanese context, where both the object and the use made of that object are not at all
alike. An even more complicated example is the translation of the term democracy. This is a term
largely present in the lexis of many languages and, although it may be relatable to different
political situations, the context will guide the reader to select the appropriate situational features.
The problem here is that the reader will have a concept of the term based on his or her own
cultural context, and will apply that particularized view accordingly. Hence, the difference
between the adjective democratic as it appears in the following three phrases is fundamental to
three totally different political concepts:
the American Democratic Party
the German Democratic Republic
the democratic wing of the British Conservative Party.
So although the term is international, its usage in different contexts shows that there is no
longer any common ground from which to select relevant situational features.
It is clearly the task of the translator to find a solution to even the most daunting of
problems. Such solutions may vary enormously, and the translator must intuitively resolve the
issue applying the solution that promises a maximum of effect with a minimum of effort, that is
the MINIMAX STRATEGY. (Bassnett-McGuire, Translation studies, London 1991)

Translator’s and Interpreter’s tools

Translators use a variety of tools: reference materials, dictionaries (monolingual,
bilingual, thesaurus, specialized glossaries, electronic versions, on-line databanks) as well as
several sophisticated computer technologies available nowadays, such as translation memory and
translation software for larger and more technical projects.
Translators have also made vast contributions to the creation of dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopaedic and other specialized works. Dictionaries are as old as writing itself. Sumerian
tablets dating from 2600 BC are the oldest surviving nomenclatures and they not only served as
unilingual dictionaries but also laid the foundation for a more complete dictionary of the
language compiled around 2200 BC. Bilingual lexicography also originated with the Sumerians.
Akkadian-Sumerian bilingualism developed after Akkadian supplanted the Sumerian language.
As of 1900 BC, Sumerian scribes, who were already accustomed to drawing up lists of words in
one language, as we have seen, began to add Akkadian translations to the Sumerian words. This
is how bilingual dictionaries were born. A quadrilingual Sumerian-Akkadian-Hurrian-Ugaritic
lexicon was found during archaeological digs at Ugarit.
Translators and interpreters have always been concerned with problems of lexicography.
The Renaissance was the first golden age of multilingual dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries
concentrate on a specific area of human knowledge. Unilingual works were the first to appear:
we have two Greek medical glossaries from the first century as well as a couple of unilingual
works in Arabic from the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Each century has seen the appearance
of different kinds of works in a wide range of disciplines. For example, during the war years,
most of the dictionaries produced were military ones. Later, there was a boom in all scientific
and technological fields. International agencies such as the United Nations, and the World Health
Organization, began publishing glossaries pertaining to their own spheres of activity.
With the advent of computers it became faster and easier to process lexical data and the
world saw the creation of several databanks or termbanks. The terminology profession grew out
of the profession of translator. The global village has brought along a technological revolution
and the so-called Information Age or Age of Knowledge. The translator is a “knowledge”
worker. The Information Technologies present the translator with highly sophisticated
computerized tools to perform increasingly challenging tasks, such as multilingual projects that
call for simultaneous translation, that is, requiring production of the translated identical version
of the original in multiple languages as the original is being generated.

The medium…

Who is this communication bridge, intercultural communicator, processor, or conduit? Is
this professional a sort of fiberoptic cable?
Can this person be replaced by a machine?
We have already mentioned that the translation and interpretation profession implies,
literally, a lifetime of learning.
To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture. In order to be efficient a translator
must not only know the languages but must primarily have cross-cultural awareness. This is
particularly evident in certain fields, for example, in advertising, marketing, negotiations, and the

business sector in general. Some items present special challenges because they are culture-
specific. Advertisements produce and are themselves the result of cultural stereotyping.

Translated advertisements import social values and often unrecognized beliefs, as well as
linguistic patterns. Because of the fact that various aspects of advertisements are closely bound
up with cultural phenomena, intercultural and not merely intertextual comparisons have to be
made and appropriately considered in translation. (Jettmarova, Piotrowska, Zauberberga, Prague
1995)
There is no doubt that translators and interpreters help awaken the collective
consciousness of ethno-linguistic groups and they also import new ideas and spiritual values.
They contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage and pave the way for cultural, social and
spiritual progress.
Thus translators have served as vital links in the transfer of knowledge between peoples
separated by language and cultural barriers. Translators are, in fact, bridges between cultures,
nations, races and continents that transcend time and space.
They have enabled certain central texts – works of science, philosophy or literature – to
acquire universal stature. Translators breach the walls created by language differences, thereby
opening up new horizons and broadening our vision of reality to encompass the entire world.
(Delisle, Translators through History, 1995)
These educated men and women of letters have been distrusted, even called turncoats and
traitors. But if we think about it, what people actually fear is not the translators themselves, but
rather the new, foreign and sometimes strange values that they [translators] introduce into their
own cultures. We are always somewhat unsettled by novelty, difference and otherness, which
challenge our own values and hold up a mirror that forces us to examine ourselves. Translation,
in the final analysis, is about discovery – a journey of exploration through the fabulous realm of
knowledge. (Jean Francois Joly, 1995)
Alexander Pushkin said that the translator is the mailman of human civilization. History
has not always been kind to translators, however, we could indeed study history through the
translators whose daily work attests to the fact that translation permeates all facets of human
activity and is an inexhaustible source of progress. (Jean Francois Joly, 1995)
Translators and interpreters possess a multiple track mind, they constantly go back and
forth between languages and cultures. Very often they are third culture children, because they are
born at a crossroad or because they are the result of a combination of cultures from their life
experiences. When they are using one language and not the other their mind is actually reading
that special “channel” in the brain where all that information and culture is stored and can thus…
laugh in French, cry in French, pray in French, and make love in French OR add in Spanish,
subtract in Spanish, and negotiate in Spanish.
Are you born a translator/interpreter? Can you train for it? Are there specialized schools?
What goes into the training?
Yes, you are born a translator or interpreter but in order to be a good one you must like
the activity, it must flow from within. …And if you put your heart and soul in it, you can train for
it as well so long as you have a full command of the languages and true understanding of the
cultures involved.
I hesitate to affirm that training translators and interpreters is a rather recent development
in history because of the many oral traditions throughout history and across very highly
developed civilizations on this planet of which we still know very little. Perhaps what is fair to
say is that in the age of annihilators of space and time, we are availing ourselves of technologies
that enable us to prepare excellent professionals and enhance the standards of this very old
activity.
In the earlier part of the 20th century, interpreters in the West learned how to interpret on
the job, by trial and error. Slowly important universities around the world have created training
programs distinguishing them from language and literature or applied linguistics. In the global
village, communication between cultures has become increasingly important and language
combinations have multiplied, largely due to the regional trade blocks that have and continue to
emerge.
In the United States, the Monterey Institute of International Studies is a leading and most
prestigious school. It offers the only two-year M. A. degree program in translation, translation
and interpretation, or conference interpretation available in the country. Training is offered in
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Russian, and German. Because more than 50% of
its student body and faculty is international, the intercultural experience is invaluable. What
makes MIIS unique is the resident translation and interpretation faculty who are active
professionals (practeachers.) The program is performance-oriented. Because T&I is an applied
discipline the low teacher-student ratio is definitely an important advantage.
During their training years students are introduced to basic and advanced translation and
interpretation techniques and focus on different areas of expertise. They train in the different
modes of interpreting and with different types of equipment and technologies available to keep
abreast of the latest breakthroughs. They work with actual conference materials, and research the
technical and specialized topics. Students also accumulate “booth hours” in their practicum
sessions where they interpret in real conference situations monitored by their professors. They
must also observe their own learning process and research important schools of thought as far as
traslation and interpretation theories. After two years of total dedication and self-improvement,
only the best survive the rigorous training.

PART III

The Profession…
The service or product to be delivered or the kind of translation or interpretation to be
provided depends upon who the audience is and what the purpose of the piece of communication
is.

Why hire a professional?
The globalization of trade in the twentieth century has contributed to more demand of
professional services. World War II triggered a political upheaval which led to further
developments in bilingual lexicography and unheard of language combinations. The political
polarization of the world brought the satellite nations’ languages to the forefront. Empires had to
abate language and cultural barriers and needed intercultural experts for communication between
various communities. Immigrant workers’ presence also brings about linguistic and
communication challenges.
The internationalization of political, economic, scientific and cultural relations have
increased the demand for translators and enhanced their status…
When companies invest enormous amounts in infrastructure and setting up affiliates,
branches or subsidiaries in order to do business in other countries, they simply cannot afford
failure due to lack of professional translation and interpretation services. The stakes are too high.
You cannot entrust your organization’s livelihood and, therefore, success in the global arena to a
non-professional. This is why T&I professionals promote intercultural awareness and are
constantly educating their clients and the public in general.
Another important concept is the “added value” delivered by the professional interpreter
or translator. He/she is capable of transferring a concept into another culture, whose
interpretation or translation does not merely translate word for word but is able to express and
incorporate the cultural concepts in delivering the message. The baggage of knowledge,
experience, and cultural expertise, as well as intuition and adaptation abilities is priceless and
makes all the difference in the world.
A literal translation or interpretation vs. one that captures the spirit of the original
The greatest satisfaction of the interpreter is to achieve total invisibility as well as
fidelity. Translators and interpreters work hard to make it seem easy. The better the interpretation
(or the translation) delivered the more invisible the medium. That means the “fibreoptic” cable is
truly carrying the information without any obstacles. When the meeting exchanges are lively it
means the interpreter is doing a great job, and is capturing the spirit of the participants and
communicating message and culture and is fulfilling the very important role of cultural conveyor
and commercial diplomat.

Translation and interpretation are professional acts of communication. Therefore,
translators and interpreters follow a code of ethics, a professional protocol, and abide by
professional rules. Conference interpreters and translators never break confidentiality and very
often sign non-disclosure agreements with their clients. Professional loyalty is key as well as
professional responsibility.
They must perform their work to their best knowledge and ability. Part of their professional responsibility is to prepare for an assignment in different ways: in advance, attend
briefing sessions as well as last-minute preparation and in-conference preparation. In addition, to
the extra-linguistic preparation they are responsible for glossaries and reference documents.
Interpreters work in teams in a small space, therefore they observe a special booth etiquette.
The so-called gray market is the contingent of quite often untrained, improvised, and
non-professionals who offer translation and interpretation services at very low prices (that
undercut the market) or accept to work under unacceptable conditions. They have no respect for
professional ethics, and worst of all, cannot deliver quality interpretation. In this regard, some
people believe the United States has a larger gray market than Europe. Some conference
organizers eager to get the business sell their clients the cheapest options and cut corners often
overlooking important elements for total quality interpretation delivery.
Professional interpreters and translators sign contracts that specify all the details of an
assignment or a project. Details include, among others, professional fees, per diem rates, working
languages, number of days, travel pay, total word count, teammates, etc. Interpreters count and
charge for days worked, translators count and charge for words translated or edited or proofread.
Although there is a long-term knowledge buildup in interpreters and translators, they are
actively engaged in updating their resources and continuous learning. They are constantly
improving their knowledge and use of new technologies in their work.
What role does technology play in the T&I field? Computers, machine translation,
translation management tools, computer assisted translation, translation memory. A good
interpretation equipment can make or break an event. Sound and sight are important elements for
this profession. Video-conferencing is emerging as an important communication tool in today’s
world for different purposes. There are different types of video-conferencing situations (one
language). As these technologies are used more and more across languages they must yet be
adapted to satisfy the technical requirements for interpretation.
Interpreting and translating for the media poses very particular challenges and
adaptations on the part of the professional delivering these intercultural communication services.
Above all, translators and interpreters must strike a balance between riding the technology and
innovation wave and adhering to the professional standards without compromising quality.
Professional training programs also must ensure their future graduates are familiar with
the latest technologies and are capable of functioning in real life projects making full use of the
tools available.
There are several professional associations such as the Association Internationale
d’Interpretes de Conference – AIIC and others such as the Translators Guild, the American
Translators Association – ATA, and the Federation Internationale de Traducteurs – FIT. These
organizations have been around for many years and have worked hard to maintain the
professional standards and status of its members. Through their annual conferences they make
important contributions to the field and serve as excellent professional exchanges. They also offer continuing education seminars for their members, and even represent them in group-
contract negotiations ensuring adequate working conditions and fairness in employment.

Conclusion

The purpose of this article was to offer a panoramic view of translation and interpretation
as an intercultural communication profession, to provide an insight to the world of translators
and interpreters, a deeper understanding of the communicative process across languages, the
training involved in acquiring the necessary skills to perform a professional translation or
interpretation job, as well as a closer look at the individual delivering the services.
Indeed, if there is any human endeavor of a pure intercultural nature that is the art and
science of translation and interpretation. A highly specialized field, as ancient as mankind and as
updated as cutting edge technologies, it is interdisciplinary because it reaches across sciences and
permeates every aspect of society.
The third millenium will undoubtedly bring about an increase in cultural awareness all
over the world. As more and more exchanges take place in the world, intercultural
communication across languages will be commonplace and will increase the demand for
professional services. In the Age of Information and Knowledge professional expertise in
translation and interpretation will no longer be overlooked or underemphasized in international
business communication, scientific and technological fora, or educational exchanges for the
stakes are too high and competition is fierce.
The translator/interpreter is the bridge that facilitates intercultural communication across
languages and cultures. What is the bridge made of? Perhaps we should see this professional as
the conduit through which human information flows back and forth seemingly seamlessly and
effortlessly. How and what “stuff” is the conduit made of?
The T&I expert is culturally knowledgeable, language proficient and possesses the
highest skills of a diplomat, a negotiator, a linguist, an artist, a scientist, an analyst, a researcher,
a journalist. The training is rigorous, it requires great discipline of the mind and entails a major
investment.
The translator/interpreter has the ability to encounter the new and foreign and journey
back and forth between cultures across languages. He/she captures the spirit of the original
speech/text as well as the listener’s background and culture in order to deliver total quality
communication.
Words and phrases are carefully scrutinized for their multilevel meaning, denotative and
connotative values, chosen according to the codes of language, and used according to the
language trends (buzz words). The information is received, processed and expressed in the
appropriate style with economy of words. The communication expert is the “stuff,” he/she has
“high resolution” listening, anticipation, analytical, research, and critical thinking skills. He/she
has the ability to assemble ideas and to deal with different speech styles, accents, and speed rates.
Interpreters and translators learn to use the proper words in proper places (diction,
register and style) and convey the message accurately and faithfully. These wordsmiths cultivate
the art of vocabulary-building in their different languages, they do not limit themselves to a mere
four thousand-word repertoire.
Speaking the language of our current Information Age, perhaps translators and
interpreters should be acknowledged as a sort of internet of civilization, extending over time and
into the future… ‘til the end of words?
References and Sources for this article
Bassnet-McGuire, (1991). Translation Studies. London: Routledge
Cary, E. (1956). La traduction dans le monde moderne. Geneva: Georg & Cie.
Dalnoky, R. (1977). “Une bibliotèque d’il y a 4000 ans: Ebla”. Science et vie 716.
Delisle, J. (1990) The Language Alchemists. Société des traducteurs du Québec (1940-1990)
Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.
Delisle and Woodsworth, (1995). Translators through History. Philadelphia: John Benjamins
Jettmarova, Piotrowska, Zauberga (1995) “New Advertising markets as target areas for
translation”, EST Congress Prague 1995
Karttunen, F. (1994) Between Worlds. Interpreters, Guides, Survivors. New Brunswick, N.J.:
Rutgers University Press.
Snell-Hornby, M., Jettmarova z. and Kaindl, K. (1995) Translation as Intercultural
Communication. EST Congress- Prague 1995. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins
Van Hoof, (1962). Théorie et pratique de l’interprétation avec application particulière au
français et à l’anglais. Munich: Max Hueber