Quick Quote
Archives
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- December 2020
- October 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
Translation is all About Good Communication
There is nothing worse than poor communication, except no communication at all! Translation is, of course, all about ensuring that communication can exist between people who speak and use languages that are different and ordinarily would not be able to understand each other. In other words, translators ensure that people can understand each other across language barriers. These days, in a world that is fast becoming smaller, with ever increasing amounts of international travel, visitation, discourse, trade and the need for global cooperation, the work of the translator in improving and enabling effective communication is becoming more and more important.
Communication never has been and never will be a passive process. It is a dynamic interaction of words and ideas between the sender and the receiver of the message. The work of the translator is not just to decode one message and translate it passively into another but understand and become part of that dynamic relationship. Poor communication, whether it is in the same or different languages, can be disastrous, whether it is in ordinary life or in business. Good communication involves appreciating the role of the person or entity with which you are communicating and delivering a clear, transparent and effective message. One of the dangers in attempting to be a good communicator is to over simplify the message. The other danger is that the original message becomes garbled or so confused that it cannot be understood by the receiver. The translator stands as a third party between the sender of a message and the eventual recipient, so the possibility of the message being distorted is more likely than if the communication is a simple two way exchange. Of course, that has to be set aside the fact that without the translator there may be no communication at all! The fact that the translator is part of a process of communication between the sender and the receiver means that he or she has a critical part to play in the overall communication. The translator must try to decode what the sender’s intention is in their message and convey that message in a way that the receiver will best understand. The translator must therefore be aware that their relationship with both sender and receiver is a dynamic one even when the translator’s role as a mediator may appear not to be perceived.
Leave a Reply