Does any bilingual person necessarily become a perfect interpreter and translator?
No, not necessarily. If someone is bilingual (with a “natural” way of L2A), but does not have enough practice or training in interpreting, the professional interpreter (with the “artificial” way of L2A) may do the same work considerably better and more precisely. The phenomenon consists of the different patterns kept in our brain (hemispheres) and in order to be a good interpreter we need to establish efficient inter-communication (inter-correspondence) between two or more languages. What is characteristic of an interpreter, as Josiane F.Hamers and Michel H.A.Blanc state (1989: 245), is not his or her bilinguality, which often includes native-like competence in several languages, as much as his or her ability to decode a message in the source language while simultaneously re-encoding it in the target language. This is a matter of some special training and also years of experience. BUT: fluent bilinguality is, indeed, a necessary pre-requisite for both professions: translator and interp
Related Questions
- Not all of our conference attendees will need an interpreter. Can Evoluz provide simultaneous interpreting equipment for those who do?
- What is the difference between a bilingual staff person and an interpreter or translator?
- Does any bilingual person necessarily become a perfect interpreter and translator?
