Nataly Kelly helps to dispel these misconceptions: Being bilingual is enough to make you a translator or an interpreter, interpreters and language translators do the same thing, or such language professionals are usually multilingual.

Picking up where we left off in our last post, we now continue with the ten most widely held myths about language translation, as presented by Nataly Kelly, Chief Research Officer, Common Sense Advisory. The remaining examples of this three-part series will be listed in our next post.

4. Any bilingual can be a translator or an interpreter.

English-language writing ability does not make one a professional writer, nor does the ability to speak English make one a professional speaker. Likewise, the ability to write or speak two languages does not mean that a person can translate or interpret.

Many people who are fluent in two languages fail professional language translation and interpreting exams because being bilingual does not guarantee one will be able to transport meaning from one language and culture to another.

5. Interpreters and translators do the same thing.

The general public commonly refers to all language professionals as "translators," but translators and interpreters actually have distinctly different jobs. Language translation pertains to written language, while interpreting refers to spoken language.

Translators must have excellent writing skills and specialized training in language translation, but they must also be adept at using computer-assisted translation tools and terminology databases. Interpreters must have highly developed short-term memory retention and note-taking skills including the ability to memorize specialized terminology for instant recall.

6. Translators and interpreters work in more than two languages.

Translators and interpreters are commonly asked, "How many languages do you speak?" Actually, translators usually work in only one direction -- from one language into another, but not in the reverse. In this field of work it’s better to have in-depth knowledge of just two languages than to have a basic knowledge of several.

Some translators and interpreters do work in more than one language combination -- for example, conference interpreters often have several "passive" languages that they can understand. However, translators and interpreters are not usually multilingual.

Alex Dupont

See Also

• More about language translation
  Using a 3-step process ensures that your documents are rendered seamlessly and accurately into the languages of your choice, preserving every bit of their original meaning and nuance.
• More about Common Sense Advisory
  Common Sense Advisory is an independent Massachusetts-based market research firm that focuses on global business and language services issues.
• More about Nataly Kelly
  Her website