What You Need to Know About Language Interpretation

As long as there has been language, there has been language interpretation. The English word for “interpreter” is derived from the Latin “interpres”, meaning “person who explains what is obscure.” Interpreters facilitate spoken communication between two parties that do not speak the same language.

Language interpreters can be found in courtrooms, conferences, hospitals, recording studios, and many other locations. What form does interpretation take and how is it used in localization? In this blog we share what you need to know about interpretation.

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How Interpretation is Different than Translation

Interpretation and translation are similar in the sense that they both convert one language into another language so that it is linguistically and culturally understandable to a target audience. A key difference is that, interpretation concerns itself with the spoken word whereas translation is focused on the written word.

For example, a court interpreter’s job is to orally translate what is spoken in court, typically the questions and testimony for witnesses or defendants that have limited knowledge of the local language. Dealing with the spoken word, the interpreter must also be able to convey the tone and connotation of what is being said, without adding or removing any information. In contrast, a legal translators’s job is to translate legal documents, contracts, transcripts, and other legal documents from the written source material to its target language while also being able to convey any nuances in the words.

Thus language interpretation requires incredible listening and speaking skills while translation requires strong reading and writing skills. Both interpreters and translators should have specialized subject matter knowledge in their field. The above subject matter was law, however, there are interpreters for medicine, business, sports, and other fields.

Different Types of Interpretation

There are six main forms of interpretation that we will cover. As mentioned in our previous blog, simultaneous interpretation is when interpreters listen to what is being said in the source language and then speak their target language, generally their native language, with only a few seconds delay.

Consecutive interpretation, is when the interpreter listens to the speaker, takes notes, and then interprets what is said when the speaker pauses. Consecutive interpretation takes longer than simultaneous since there is generally a delay of a few minutes between what is said and what is translated.

Live interpretation: this is when the interpreter is onsite and is able to see the speaker and the listener. Live interpretation is more expensive than remote interpretation, however it is generally more accurate since the interpreter is able to read the body language of the speaker and interpret accordingly. This can be done both simultaneously or consecutively.

Remote Interpretation: interpretation done by an interpreter over Skype, phone, or some other way that is offsite. This is cheaper than live interpretation and can be either a scheduled call or on-demand on the phone, in which interpreters are on call through a phone service. Interpretation for this is generally done consecutively.

Whisper Interpretation is when the interpreter sits next to the listener and whispers the interpretation to them. This is so as not to disturb the others with the interpretation such as in a government meeting or in the back of a courtroom. This is a form of simultaneous interpretation and can be physically demanding on the interpreter’s voice.

Travel interpretation is when interpreters help clients that are traveling to a different country and need interpretation in the local language as well as help navigating the cultural nuances of the region. Travel interpreters can also perform the role of assistant and help their clients with business deals.

Why Interpretation is Great for Localization

Now that we better understand language interpretation, how does this relate to localization? Interpretation is an excellent localization method that can save businesses money and time.  For E-learning companies that have many hours of educational content, going the traditional video localization route might be too costly given the sheer amount of content they want to get recorded into a different language.

Since interpretation bypasses the need for a translator and a script and can be recorded in the studio on the spot, turnaround times for localizing a video can be up to four times faster and cost half as much or less to produce. Please note, that this is only true if there is a large amount of content. For a 10 minute video, interpretation would not be cost effective since interpreters generally charge by the day, not the hour. Therefore, doing traditional video localization for short videos would be more cost effective. Also, informational videos like E-learning, webinars, human resources training, and orientation videos are great candidates for interpretation since they are more matter of fact and do not require creative or emotional voice-over.

Things to Keep in Mind

One thing to keep in mind is that interpretation is not as accurate as full audio/video translation because there is no review process afterwards to check the interpretation and implement changes. However, if the interpreter has subject matter expertise, for example hiring an interpreter that has experience teaching math for interpreting math E-learning videos, can help increase the accuracy of the interpretation. If accuracy is more important than the cost and turnaround time, consider going the traditional video localization route.

When using in-studio interpretation as a localization method, it is essential to have a good engineer that is able to work quickly and monitor the interpretation carefully. It also helps if the engineer is familiar with the foreign target language.

It’s important to have a professional studio that is capable of playing back the videos and recording the audio quickly and effectively. If you have an audio/video project that you would like to localize, consider working with our professional localization team here at JBI Studios. We can take care of all your production and post production needs. If you’d like to get more information about a video localization quote, click on the link below.

To request information or a free quote, contact JBI Studios today.