The goal of Mijoba Communications is to maximize the potential for success of your organization through minimizing problems due to inefficient communication. While there are many barriers to cross-cultural communication, the timely and effective use of properly trained interpreters and/or translators is an important step in the communication process.

What does an interpreter/translator do?

To explain what interpreters and/or translators do, it is important to understand the differences between interpreting and translation.

Interpreting vs. Translation--The primary difference between interpreting and translation is that the interpreter translates orally, while a translator interprets written text. Both interpreting and translation presuppose a deep knowledge of more than one language. However, the differences in the training, skills, and talents needed for each job are vast. The key skill of a good translator is the ability to write well and to express him/herself clearly in the target language. The key skills of the translator are the ability to understand the source language and the culture of the country where the text originated, and, using a good library of dictionaries and reference materials, render that material into the target language.

Forms of interpreting: An interpreter has to be able to translate in both linguistic directions immediately without the use of any dictionaries. There are two types of interpreting: consecutive and simultaneous. Simultaneous interpreting is when the interpreter needs to be translating the sentence into the target language while simultaneously listening to and comprehending the next sentence. One of the key skills of the simultaneous interpreter is decisiveness: there is simply no time to weigh the merits of variant translations or to recall just the right idiom in the target language.

During consecutive interpreting the speaker stops every 1-5 minutes and the interpreter then steps in to render what was said into the target language.

Interpreting or translating is not a matter of substituting words in one language for words in another. It is a matter of understanding the thought expressed in one language and then explaining it using the resources of another language. In other words, what an interpreter does is change words into meaning, and then change meaning back into words -- of a different language. This is why Mijoba Communications makes sure that its contracted interpreters and translators are knowledgeable in the subject matter of the assignment they are interpreting for and, just as important, making sure that s/he is an experienced interpreter.

 

Mijoba Communications only utilizes interpreters/translators that are fully prepared and competent to provide the quality of service that we promise our customers. Mijoba Communications will provide you with an outline of our interpreters/translators qualifications for your review prior to completing an assignment.

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