Let's start with the biggest difference between translators and interpreters: translators work with written text; Interpreters work with spoken language. So, if you've ever read a foreign-language book or watched a foreign-language film with subtitles in English, you're seeing the work of a professional translator.
Interpreters mediate languages orally while translators work with written material. When it comes to language skills, translators need to have solid reading comprehension, transfer, and target language production skills.
Although some people do both, interpreting and translating are different skills: interpreters work with spoken communication, and translators work with written communication.
Both interpreting and translation require focus and dedication. Both involve complex processes. But interpreting is more stressful. The work is more demanding, as interpreting requires real-time job performance.
Translators can also interpret programming code, converting it to instructions that a computer can understand and execute. For example, a compiler is an example of a translator that takes a programming language (e.g., C++) and translates into machine language or assembly language the computer can understand.
Their specialty and experience levels may influence their income. For example, a courtroom interpreter with ten years' experience may earn a higher salary than an interpreter who recently entered the field. Translators earn an average salary of $46,145 per year .
Interpreters are not to assist LEP persons or Deaf individuals by filling out court forms or paperwork. Interpreters are only present to interpret spoken or written communication from the source language of an LEP, for example Spanish or American Sign Language, into a target language such as English.
The average salary for an interpreter and translator in the United States is $43,870. Interpreter and translator salaries typically range between $27,000 and $70,000 a year.
Overall, a translation career requires a lot of dedication and investment in time and resources to learn your target languages, master the source and target cultures, as well as your domain specialisms, set yourself up as a business, and learn the latest language technologies.
It takes at least four years to become an interpreter.
However, many companies seek to hire a person who is already fluent in any language they are interpreting, so the time it takes to become an interpreter is largely dependent on their own language skills.
As a translator, you'll convert written material from one or more 'source languages' into the 'target language', making sure that the translated version conveys the meaning of the original as clearly as possible. The target language is normally your mother tongue.
Two kinds of language translators are used to achieve this. Compilers. Compilers translate an entire computer program into machine language before execution. Interpreters.
Qualities of a good Interpreter:
The ability to understand the spoken words so they can convey their meanings and accurate message. Ability to communicate well with people from all backgrounds or cultures. Have a broad vocabulary of multiple languages. Be culturally aware.
A good translation should be clear, accurate, and precise. It should be based on the original text and use the target language, expand its vocabulary, and make it more intelligible for a wide audience. It should respect the integrity of the original text and never change it!
Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.