Terms You Should Know When Searching for Professional Language Services

Language is our profession. As in any other technical field, some terms assume specific meanings within this context. Here are some key concepts you will encounter when communicating across multiple languages and cultures:

INTERPRETER: a professional who transforms VERBAL communication from one language to another. Interpretation can either be “simultaneous” (in real-time, as it is spoken) or “consecutive” (after each sentence or group of ideas, the speaker pauses while an interpreter repeats that entire section in the other language). ASIST routinely provides interpretation for business and trade meetings, conferences, medical facilities, legal proceedings, etc., as well as a 24-hour telephone interpreting service.

TRANSLATOR: a professional who transforms WRITTEN (or recorded) communication from one language to another. Whenever you are providing text, audio, or video content in multiple languages—product instructions, software, Web sites, manuals, materials for teaching, patient information, interactive training or a Power Point presentation, for example—you require the services of a translator.

SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETING SYSTEMS: These electronic systems provide multiple headsets for your audience members or meeting participants. Receivers can be tuned to any one of various channels, according to the language each individual wishes to hear. Interpreters provided by ASIST usually sit at microphones in cabins or booths at the rear of the room or auditorium. As they interpret in real time, transmitters broadcast their voice out to the earphone receivers in the audience. One or many languages can be interpreted simultaneously, while your event proceeds smoothly as if there were no linguistic barrier at all.

LANGUAGE vs. DIALECT vs. VARIETY: All right, we’re pretty sure you know what a language is! It has distinctive rules of grammar and a recognized oral tradition or written literature. But what about dialects that might be considered regional variants or sub-languages—that is, they are mostly identical, but with a significant number of grammatical differences and variations in vocabulary? And what if more people actually speak the “dialect” than the original or “standard” language? (For example, consider Mexico and Spain, or the USA and England.)
Modern linguists prefer the term language “variety,” rather than “dialect.” This helps avoid popular bias when distinguishing between “main” languages and their “dialects” or close relatives. Therefore, we might say that distinct varieties of English are spoken in New Delhi, Chicago and Glasgow, or varieties of Spanish in Madrid, Buenos Aires and Mexico City. Knowing which variety is your target for translation makes a difference!

So, if you translate installation instructions to Portuguese, for example, you might assume that they can be used in both Brazil and Portugal—both countries speak Portuguese, right? Not necessarily! The effect of inappropriate usage or vocabulary can be relatively minor (like “gasoline” vs. “petrol” between English varieties) comical, or even downright offensive. At ASIST, we’re acutely aware of these cultural issues. We use only native speakers of the target language variety to produce natural-sounding and culturally-appropriate translations of your original content. For some documents, for example, a single translation that’s relatively “neutral” may be usable for many different Spanish-speaking countries.

However, there’s more to translation than simply knowing correct language varieties—our objective is Intercultural Communication. Legal systems, currency, labor practices, weights and measures, voltages, business practices and vocabulary must all be considered to create a version of your document that’s truly appropriate for the target language and culture.

Your first step when beginning a translation project with ASIST is to identify where the translated documents are going to be used. We will guide you through the rest!