We are constantly talking about translation and interpretation; we even go as far as trying to find ways in which we can translate different languages in order to understand them better or communicate better where we come across the language barrier. Most of us even have google translate on our phones. People have this really interesting idea that translation and interpretation are solely based on understanding each other when there is the language barrier. As much as this is the main importance of translation, there very many other importance and benefits you stand to enjoy as an individual or a business.
In this article, we will look at some importance of language translation and interpretation.
What is translation? According to Wikipedia, Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by an equivalent target-language text. Translation can begin only after the appearance of writing within a language community.
What is Interpretation? – According to Wikipedia an interpretation is an assignment of meaning to the symbols of a formal language. Many formal languages used in mathematics, logic, and theoretical computer science are defined in solely syntactic terms and do not have any meaning until they are given some interpretation.
Now that we know what the two terms mean we will look at some benefits we stand to enjoy if we employ either of these processes in our day-to-day life.
Benefits Of Language Translation And Interpretation
1. Reach A Larger Audience
I don’t know where people got this idea that everyone in the world speaks the English language. Imagine it’s only 10% of the world’s population that actually speaks the English language and fluently too. As much as lots of people speak and understand the English language, it is important to know that not everyone speaks it. In such a case when translation is involved, the reach of particular information broadens because it offers inclusivity to the other language speakers. If you have a business and your aim is to grow to global heights, translation is a process that you should use tirelessly. If you are in America and trying to stretch your business out to France or Germany where the residents don’t really understand the English language which is the standard language for your company, you must translate your business products and services into a language that is understandable to people of these countries. In this case, you will translate to French for the France audience and to German for the German audience. The professional industries that would highly benefit from this are Medical, Finance & Banking, Information & Technology, Travel & Tourism and finally Legal Services.
2. Create A Common Understanding
As we mentioned earlier, the main importance of the translation process is common understanding where there is the language barrier. Now that we know that only 10% of individuals in the world speak the English language, we can only imagine the number of instances where the language barrier would be a case. For instance, if I was to travel to Portugal, a country that only speaks Portuguese and I happen not to know the language, translation would really come in handy in trying to assist me to fit in. I would either have to go with a translator who will do translations for me while there, or get myself software that will help in translating some important jargon and information that will make me travel worthwhile. In a business, instance translation would come in handy when the business is trying to appeal to a global audience who wouldn’t understand their business standard language. Translating to their languages would help them understand your business more.
3. Effective communication
Translation ensures that there is effective communication between people who don’t speak the same language. In this case, I’m talking about great and professional translators and not translation software that helps in translations. The reality of the matter is that translation software are not accurate with translations. They help in understanding the concept but they don’t fully translate a document accurately. A professional translator is in a position to offer effective communication with the quality of translations they do. If you are trying to pass a particular message to your employees or your audience, then translation will ensure that you do that effectively. Whether it is business meetings to reports and phone conversations translation ensures that the target audience receives the intended information the right way. Translation services are the most reliable way for effective communication between you and your international business partners. It ensures that all of you come to an agreement on important business decisions you have to make.
4. International reach
We all want our businesses to grow and reach international heights and since in the past, we had excuses why this was not possible, in 2020 those excuses have been replaced by the translation process and the emergence of the Internet. Back in the day, one would start a business and it would only operate locally because there were no translators who could localize the businesses and make them appealing to international markets. In 2020 with translation, localization, and interpretation businesses can grow and cross the borders to other countries with no hurdles. We are living in a time where the language barrier is not a problem anymore because there are simple ways to translate information from one language to another. You can use machine translators or human translators. Backed with the emergence of the Internet things are way easier and more efficient. Since the Internet gives information access to people in another country, I don’t see a reason a business wouldn’t use this to grow their businesses and reach International heights.
5. Highly accurate
As I mentioned before, using machine translators will cause you to get translations that are not accurate and this means they will not benefit you. Professional translators mean you will get incredibly accurate translations which will highly benefit you in whichever way that you intend to use them. Since they are certified translators, they understand your business needs and can communicate your desires to clients of all languages, nationalities, and cultures. You will be guaranteed great translation services that will work to the benefit of your business where information will be passed to your target concise and comprehensive way.
6. Meets global regulations and standards
Seeing that professional translators are certified translators; you are assured that they will offer the best possible translation services that are in line with global regulations and standards. These are translators who understand how important it is to offer translations that will help protect your business from false impersonation. They will help you in boosting your business to fit the standards need to work at an international level with international companies with ease as strict guidelines are in place to ensure proper conduct, behavior, and actions with your business.
7. Affordable
Imagine being able to expand your business greatly and enable it to stretch overseas effectively that guarantees you results at an affordable rate. This is exactly what happens when you bring on professional service providers for your translations. Translation services are able to offer you a wider global reach where there are no limitations on how far the impact can be. Your product and services can be presented to international markets and penetrate with so much ease because they will be accessible in any language you can think of. You’ll have the experience of a professional translator backing your company and you can rest easy knowing that you have an accurate translation of all your company material.
8. Share Ideas and find solutions
With professional translations, we can share ideas and come up with solutions on issues that affect us at a local level and at an international level. It goes without saying that you can only get new ideas and solutions to issues when you can talk them out and understand them fully. What better way to understand issues of another language without translation? It is impossible to do it without translation or interpretation. This is exactly why being able to use translation services when you are looking for solutions where people from other cultures can also help is important. Translation also allows sharing of ideas across the board with people of different cultures.
9. Improving the global experience for international travelers
Geographic borders fade for travelers when communication is possible with people who do not speak the same language. Whether someone is traveling for leisure purposes or to educate themselves about other cultures around the world, interpreting services make communication so much easier.
As you have noticed, not much has been mentioned about interpretation because it is not really as vast as translation is. It is important to note that both translation and interpretation have similar benefits and importance and work in the same way. The only difference is that translation is a written format while interpretation is an audio format. The benefits I have mentioned above are easily transferable with interpretation. Overall, we can conclude that translation and interpretation allow effective communication to take place between individuals throughout the world.
