Off topic: Can one translate without interpreting? Thread poster: Ibo Moss
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Ibo Moss
Local time: 03:24
English to Dutch
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Hello fellow translators
I do a lot of research professionally and often crosses texts where I can’t get head or tail.
So I wondered if one can translate without being an interpreter.
Who has experience with texts that seems like they are scrambled?
Experiences or comments?
Thanks you,
Ibo
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Kan vertaler zonder te tolken?
Hallo coll... See more Hello fellow translators
I do a lot of research professionally and often crosses texts where I can’t get head or tail.
So I wondered if one can translate without being an interpreter.
Who has experience with texts that seems like they are scrambled?
Experiences or comments?
Thanks you,
Ibo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kan vertaler zonder te tolken?
Hallo college vertalers
Beroepshalve doe ik veel opzoekingwerk en kom vaak teksten tegen waar ik kop nog staart
aan kan krijgen. Daarom maakte ik mij de bedenking of men kan vertalen zonder tolk te zijn.
Wie heeft ervaring met teksten die lijken alsof ze door elkaar gerammeld zijn?
Ervaringen of reacties?
Dank jullie wel,
Ibo ▲ Collapse
| | | | monica.m
Italy
Local time: 03:24
Member (2011)
German to Italian
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| Your message | May 25, 2012 |
tends to seem one of them, unfortunately...
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 03:24
Spanish to English
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| Interpret this | May 25, 2012 |
Translation and interpretation are two related disciplines involving similar yet different skillsets, so the answer is yes, but no. Not really, but yes.
But seriously, in research and academic works yes, I am sometimes appalled by the poor quality of some materials submitted for publication, or even some published material. If the question is whether it is normal to come across texts that are even difficult to fathom in the source language without a lot of guesswork and brainstormi... See more Translation and interpretation are two related disciplines involving similar yet different skillsets, so the answer is yes, but no. Not really, but yes.
But seriously, in research and academic works yes, I am sometimes appalled by the poor quality of some materials submitted for publication, or even some published material. If the question is whether it is normal to come across texts that are even difficult to fathom in the source language without a lot of guesswork and brainstorming (i.e. "interpreting" in the sense of working out the author's intended meaning), then the answer is yes.
However, when dealing with technical, specialist, especially medical or scientific texts, I consider the rigour of the actual content of the text to be the author/client's responsibility and always establish this fact beforehand. As I often tell them, I'm a translator, not a clairvoyant/geneticist/brain surgeon/Sherlock Homes...
[Edited at 2012-05-25 08:41 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Agree with dsd | May 25, 2012 |
Kan vertaler zonder te tolken?
Hallo college vertalers
Beroepshalve doe ik veel opzoekingwerk en kom vaak teksten tegen waar ik kop nog staart
aan kan krijgen. Daarom maakte ik mij de bedenking of men kan vertalen zonder tolk te zijn.
Wie heeft ervaring met teksten die lijken alsof ze door elkaar gerammeld zijn?
Ervaringen of reacties?
Dank jullie wel,
Ibo
This is not a good example of 'clear writing'. Some errors, too.
Besides, false friend or wrong assumption about what translators and interpreters do, translation is not 'interpreting a text' (to try to find a meaning) but 'render a text in another language', in a written form.
[Edited at 2012-05-25 12:01 GMT]
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Ibo Moss
Local time: 03:24
English to Dutch
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TOPIC STARTER | it is a yes, but no | May 26, 2012 |
Agree that interpreting and translating are related,,
Involving academic translation it is not only terminology, even terminology requires
to be apprehend. Languages provide a rich vocabulary and synonyms, and
terminological words are often descriptions instead of synonyms.
Maybe a suitable question was: “Does translators need to know a lot of synonyms?”
| | | | Ibo Moss
Local time: 03:24
English to Dutch
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TOPIC STARTER | transpreter & interlator | May 26, 2012 |
The posting was not an assuming but a wonder, I'm unprejudiced about translators nor interpreters and respect everyone's skills,
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If the source text needs interpretation then get back to the author, or at least to the client, for clarification.
Some elasticity may be permitted if the source text is not of a technical nature.
| | | | jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 21:24
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| I think "being an interpreter" needs to be defined | May 26, 2012 |
and it seems the participants are talking about 2 different things:
1. interpreting a conversation between 2 parties;
2. paraphrasing the source text.
What does the topic starter really mean by saying "being an interpreter"?
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