Translators often face a difficult time when it comes to a misinformed public. After all, most people never avail themselves of an interpreter at any point in their lives. Thus, translators and interpreters have to educate the clients about the industry in order to debunk the myths that seem to keep on circulating year after year. We’ve put together a list of 5 myths our professionals have encountered in their work as interpreters. They can be seen as educational tools for helping your business understand what to expect from qualified interpreters.
- Anyone who speaks two or more languages can be a translator: Mere linguistic knowledge does not make an efficient translator. Interpreters must possess knowledge on a wide range of topics, be excellent at research, have an interest in various cultures and must be discreet to name but a few qualities they must possess. Additionally, translators undertake several years of practice to acquire all the necessary knowledge and skills and often take additional courses to help them better serve clients.
- Translators can produce any translation with little or no turn-around time: A quality translation can take time to produce. A good translator will let the client know that they need sufficient time to produce a flawless translation.
- A native speaker is always a better translator than a non-native one: Just because someone is a native speaker of a particular language does not mean that they are automatically a better interpreter than a non-native speaker. Translation requires discipline, discretion and constant practice. Thus, someone who is a non native speaker of a particular language may be more reliable and skilled than a native speaker.
- Free online translation tools are as good as paid services: Google and Microsoft have language translation apps that are free to the public. However, these applications are inexact and are meant to provide short translations of relatively brief text. They can give you a general summary of some content in major languages, but they cannot capture, tone, context and other nuisance between languages which is what professional translators are able to do.
- Translators and interpreters do not need to understand the culture of a language: Language and culture work together. Translators and interpreters must be able to understand the language they are speaking in order to accurately convey the culturally sensitive information they are charged with. Moreover, knowing the culture gives the linguist the ability to pick up on appropriate idioms and cultural nuances.
We firmly believe in our ability to give you the best linguistic service possible. When you need help with translation or interpreting, call GlobalSpeak Translations. We have teams of linguistic experts, all of whom strive to give you the best linguistic services possible, anytime, anywhere. Call us at 1-844-557-7325 or use the contact form on our website https://globalspeaktranslations.com/