Translators & Interpreters

It's a common misconception that translators and interpreters do the same things. I'd just like to highlight a few similarities and differences between the two vastly. Translation refers to written communication, whereas interpreting refers to verbal communication. So, for example, a translator will not attend a court hearing to verbally translate between the parties involved, but would maybe translate the written evidence used in the case. Secondly, both jobs require different skills, translate to require the ability to write well comprehensively into a target language. This means that they need to have an excellent command of that native language. For example, although I can speak French to a good standard, I cannot translate from English to French, although I could translate from French into English, which means I'm only half-way that being an international player, an interpreter needs to be able to speak both languages proficiently. Thirdly, the qualifications and experience required to become either a professional translator or interpreter do differ. Both roles require years of training with the resulting qualification, but what they can learn on the training will be completely different. So just to be clear, translators will translate written text and interpreters will translate into verbal communication.