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A BRIEF GUIDE
TO THE TRANSLATING AND INTERPRETING PROFESSION
Introduction
Translation and interpreting (T/I) is quite a complex business. Before you plan or commit to using the services of a translator or an interpreter take a few moments to read this guide. Informed choices yield the best results.
Who's who
Interpreters speak. Translators write. There may be middlepeople involved as well. If you're a potential client, it helps to know who everyone is.
Expectations
T/I is a service you pay for. Historically, people have been reluctant to demand the quality and accountability they would of any other such service because they felt unqualified to judge. But there is no valid reason why the client should not be fully involved in verifying the quality of the service they've received when working with a professional.
Accountability
T/I professionals are experts at communication. They will be able to communicate clearly to you any technical obstacles to translation, the reasons things do and don't work, and the rationale for everything they do in your paid employ. All you have to do is ask the questions.
Finding a translator or interpreter
You need a NAATI-accredited and experienced practitioner. This AUSIT site is the best place to start your search.
Accreditation
Practitioners become "accredited" by either passing a NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters) exam or completing a NAATI-recognised tertiary course. Accreditation attests to the practitioner meeting the minimum requirements in terms of competence for professional practice.
Your responsibilities
T/I practitioners are not mind readers. They need a lot of prior knowledge before they can do the job you've given them. It's your job to provide this information. Beware the practitioner who doesn't ask questions!
Interpreters at work
Interpreters don't just talk all day. The job demands intense concentration and the ability to process complex information rapidly in a way that few other people ever experience. No one interprets "while they do something else", and to do their job properly interpreters need to be left to do it. Their working environment also needs special consideration.
How much will it cost?
Obtain quotes on written work wherever possible. Interpreters charge by the hour or day. Shop around and measure the professionalism of the responses you get. But if some quotes come in at half the rate of others, you should read this guide carefully to understand why these people are perhaps best avoided.
How long will it take?
Let the translator of written material tell you how long things should take. Make sure you let them know if something is urgent. If you want the job in 24 hours this may entail an extra cost. However if you want ten pages of telecommunications tender documents completed overnight, you've left it too late. Talk to someone as soon as you know translation or interpreting will be required.
Some Golden Rules
Know your translator or interpreter
If the translation, or the interpreting job, is at all important you need direct access to a responsible and knowledgeable practitioner.
Train your translator or interpreter
Don't pay a series of people to reinvent the wheel. Every time you work with someone you have invested in their knowledge of your problem. Sometimes you can maximise your return on investment by using the same people.
Some Red Herrings
Specialisation
If you have some technical document to translate on, say, pharmacology, and you have a choice between a professional translator and a bilingual pharmacologist, choose the translator. They will learn all they need to know about the terminology and textual conventions of pharmacology in a fraction of the time it would take the pharmacologist to learn how to be a translator.
Literal translation
Asking for a "literal" translation is like asking a modern medical practitioner to remove an evil spell. There are good translations and bad translations and you should work closely with your translator to understand the difference. But there are no "literal" translations.
Back translation
Contrary to popular opinion, having someone translate a translation back into its original tells you nothing about the quality of the first translation. There are better ways to find out whether you're getting what you paid for.
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