Common Types of Interpretation Services for Today's Businesses
January 15, 2019
Failed deals can often be traced to miscommunication at some point in the overall business process. This is true of meetings and conversations where everyone was speaking the same language. With the explosion of opportunities generated by today's global marketplace, doing business in another language or country the risk of missed concepts that your message intended to deliver increases exponentially. Interpretation is tricky business and hiring the right professional interpreter is the best way to ensure your business deal doesn't get lost in translation.
Listed below are common types of interpretation services that are used in specific ways, such as:
- Simultaneous Interpretation - Simultaneous is a popular type of interpreting that converts what is said in one language to another language in real-time. The interpreter (or multiple interpreters) sits in a soundproof booth and translates information to a target language that is delivered via headphones where the recipient does not contribute.
- Consecutive Interpretation - In consecutive interpretation, the interpreter waits for the speaker to finish the sentence in the source tongue and then delivers the speaker's words in a target language. The speech is typically segmented with pauses and the interpreter listens to the source-language speaker (often taking notes) as the speaker progresses through the message. The overall message is sometimes harder to render because of the interrupted delivery.
- Whispered Interpretation - With whispered interpreting (chuchotage, in French), the interpreter sits or stands in close proximity to the person receiving the interpretation and speaks softly in the target language. It is a form of simultaneous interpretation that does not require an interpreter's booth and is most often used in smaller meetings that are of short duration. The obvious disadvantage is that the interpreter's voice can disturb other participants.
- Relay Interpretation - Relay interpreting is used when interpretation between two languages is unavailable and must be accomplished through a proxy language. A source-language interpreter interprets the text to a language common to interpreters, who then render the message to their respective target languages. Relay techniques can be applied for simultaneous and consecutive interpretation. Using headphones, you may not know it is occurring.
Accurate interpretation is much more complex than merely listening to a bunch of words in one language and repeating corresponding words in a second language. Since most languages have tons of semantic variances that produce different meanings based on how a word is spelled, pronounced, enunciated, or used in a single sentence, it can be extremely difficult to interpret a business presentation or marketing campaign for multiple target languages. ProLingo's mission is to deliver the highest quality of Interpretation and translation services to businesses while minimizing the costs.
