Interpretation – is it translation or conversion?
If we start the discussion with connotations of each of the words here explained in dictionaries, we will find ‘Translation’ as “communication of the meaning of a source language text by means of an equivalent target language text” (The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Tom McArthur, ed., 1992, pp. 1,051–54) whereas “Conversion” having many implications depending on the domain it is being used for. The difference between these remains almost the same as this was between the ancient Greek “Metaphrase” and “Paraphrase”. We do not have any intention to enter into the conventional conflict between the supporters of each routes who anyway have the same objective – that is, to convey the receiver the same understanding that the sender communicates.
My quest as a language service provider since years - is ‘translation’ acceptable in real time communication?
My experience of working as a technical interpreter between India and European countries made me aware of couple of frequent accusations between client and service provider.
1) Client: Service provider doesn't pay attention to what I am talking about and some of these people are impolite.
2) Service provider: Client is too rude.
Let me try to explain the situation by taking examples from each side: “are we servants to them?” – Expression used by one native Hindi speaking service provider during a team meeting. I remember another line used by my another colleague “ …. Can you please tell me what do you expect in this ticket?” which, I am sure, would make the customer unhappy if it was sent to them. The client from Germany told something that was roughly translated – “I think we will never reach the solution if we follow the consultant’s suggestion”. Obviously that was a statement enough to make the service provider unhappy with the customer’s intention.
Little analysis shows that the first two are a very Indian expression translated verbatim from Hindi (colloquial) to English – very normal for a non-native speaker of English. But the issue does not remain simple if we analyse the impact, especially when uttered in the presence of the customer. Similarly, what the customer expresses does not sound rude at all in German but only a concern. Why are the translations making the receiver annoyed in each case? My simple answer would be – the absence of cultural understanding in the translation which may or may not be part of translation but an integral feature of language conversion. These kinds of issues appear mostly with ‘active communication’ where both the sender‘s and receiver’s cultural background plays a big role in the style of communication. Unless the interpreter has an in-depth knowledge of both the target and source languages with its cultural context, miscommunication is unavoidable. Moreover, while interpreting, interpreter ‘s duty is not only to analyse the grammatical structure of source and target sentences, but also be alert of the flaws in the structures, presence of homonyms and different connotations of the words used. There is no chance to go back to speaker to clarify the ambiguities and therefore the interpreter should have the capability of “independent handling” of ambiguities. I remember of one line described by a translator in some translation journal and how he solved the issue by long efforts. The line in French was “Je me dis qu’il est bon aussi de formaliser de temps en temps ces rencontres pour créer une mémoire collective de nos correspondances.” The verbatim English could be: “I feel it is useful from time to time to give these meetings formal expression in order to create a collective memory of our correspondence.” I am afraid this kind of interpretation would only become a puzzle to the target audience. An interpreter should know how to make it simpler in no time. How about something like: “I feel formally arranging these meetings time to time would be a memorable outcome of our communication."? Last but not the least; an interpreter has the ethical responsibility to maintain the cordial relationship between the customer and service provider. It’s always better to skip a couple of words/sentences which do not carry any information and bear the elements of instigating fight.
Considering all these, I would describe interpretation more a language conversion process than translation, which, because of its being carried out in real time becomes extremely challenging a task in the business and technical service sector.
