1. Aren’t translators and interpreters the same?

This is a very, very common misconception. Outside of the language service provider sphere, “translator” and “interpreter” can be used interchangeably in most discussions. Such as: “We’ll need a translator at the board meeting” versus “We’ll need an interpreter at the board meeting.”

But just what is the difference between those terms? Simply enough, both “translator” and “interpreter” refer to someone who conveys information from one language to another; more specifically, a “translator” works with written words, while an “interpreter” works with spoken words. Some people are only translators, some are only interpreters, and others are both.

2. Can’t any bilingual person be a translator/interpreter?

A very common misconception (in the workplace especially) is “Billy is bilingual, so he can handle this project and translate/interpret for us.” Just because a person is bilingual (or trilingual or more, even), does not mean that they have the training required to be a proper translator or interpreter.

Imagine that “Billy” speaks Spanish at home, but grew up going to school where the primary language of instruction was English. While there’s a chance he can talk about any subject at home with his family members, a likely scenario is that he will know more about biology in English terms rather than Spanish terms. Unless the conversation were very simple, such as general conversation for travel or something similar, it would be very difficult for Billy to translate or interpret something.

Translators and interpreters go through rigorous training for their respective crafts, and have expanded their vocabularies enough to compensate. Proper translators and interpreters have high-level certifications as well.

3. I know a translator/interpreter who did Assignment X, why can’t they do Assignment Y?

In the language services industry, some translators and interpreters can fall under the category of “subject matter experts.” These people have trained to not just be general translators or interpreters, but have polished their skills to cater to certain types of work.

Take “Billy” from above, for example. Imagine he’s become passionate for being an interpreter, and his other interest in biology spurs him to an interest in medical interpretation. After enough study, focus, and—of course—certification, he becomes a proper medical interpreter and specializes in speaking between doctors and patients about surgeries. He might be able to do general interpretation as well, but because of his deep specialty, he might have trouble if he suddenly needed to interpret for, say, a lawyer discussing a lawsuit.

Just like how doctors and lawyers require separate studies, medical interpreters and legal interpreters also require focused study in their area of expertise. They may have skills that overlap, but generally, it’s best to rely on separate translators/interpreters who are subject matter experts rather than the same one for every single job.

4. Wouldn’t machine translation work well enough?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Machine translation can certainly help a translator do their work. Computer-assisted translation tools (called CAT tools in the industry) can keep a handy glossary of terms for the translator, and have the memory to provide reference for older, similar translations.

But if we rely only on machine translation, any number of problems can happen. Machines think very differently than humans and might misinterpret context, homonyms, word register, and so on. Computers may be able to perform complex mathematical calculations, but the human brain is hardwired for language. Put simply, a translation from a human is going to sound a lot more natural—and have fewer mistakes—than a simple machine translation.

5. Why does a translation need proofreading? Shouldn’t the translator be enough for that?

Speaking of “mistakes,” mistakes happen. To err is human, after all. Translators need proofreaders for the same reason that a journalist, book writer, or a lawyer needs one. Mistakes concerning facts, grammar, spelling, etc. can easily be made by any sort of writer, and the same goes for a translator.

Having a second pair of eyes does wonders for any written work. A proofreader for a translation can catch errors in spelling, word register, a forgotten period or comma—anything that might have slipped through the cracks. If you want a translation to be as polished as possible, having a proofreader is essential.

This graphic novel project is part a type of new media, a pioneering effort by a handful of creators in search of a new medium for presenting art, story, voice, and music. A pool of talents was gathered for an old-fashioned romantic adventure with elements of Arabian Nights, Cinderella, and the Shangri-la myth. The story depicts a romantic adventure that spans modern-day New York City and the ancient, fictional country of Gao in China. In the midst of modern and old, fiction and non-fiction, West and East, English and Mandarin, romance and mystery, the graphic novel indeed is exotic to watch.

The work has been produced into ten video chapters. To give you a glimpse of our translation work, among what has been published: Chapter 3 has the most translation voices so far. The significant amount of Mandarin presented among English voices indeed makes the graphic novel stand out as a unique and interesting entertainment piece!

Monterey Language Services took extra time to polish the translations into Simplified Chinese to ensure not only accuracy, but an enjoyable and colloquial read for native speakers. Some of the challenges for this project were derived from cultural differences in how to translate certain phrases created specifically for the graphic novel.

For example, we have the “golden doom,” which refers to a specific event in the story. Because the event transports people similarly to the Christian idea of the rapture, our translation was “极乐升天,” which means “bliss ascension” in Chinese language.

One more example of the cultural challenge is rooted in English homonyms. The sentence: “They follow the standard of Lord Kang and swear on his eyes.” In this sentence, what does “standard” mean? If we suggested “average or normal requirement,” it actually would be incorrect! “Standard” in this instance means a battle flag—something ancient soldiers would follow on the battlefield.

Another difficulty was dealing with the ambiguity of written words. In spoken English, a person’s tone can very easily denote sincerity or sarcasm — consider the phrase “good job” being spoken sincerely and being spoken sarcastically, and their meanings become very different. While the context and illustrations in graphic novels can alleviate this confusion in text, sometimes the tone could be just missed. One such problem occurred in our initial translation of “What a stunt,” a line which our translator took be said in admiration, when in actuality, it was an insult. Through our editing/reviewing process we discovered the issue, and the translation was changed from “真是好身手” (really good) to “真有一套,” which has a similar meaning in a more sarcastic tone.

We are incredibly proud of the work we were able to provide for this project, and would like to add more viewing pleasure and excitement by sharing the above behind-the-scenes glimpses to our translation work. We wish all the success to the audience and contributors to the graphic novel. The chapters will be published in video format weekly on YouTube until the tenth and final one is uploaded.