Different Types of Translation Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Translation Genres, Types and Stylistic Classification

Translation services are essential for businesses and individuals who need to communicate across different languages. There are different types of translation services available, each with its own unique characteristics and requirements. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explain the different types of translation services and provide examples of each.

Thus, the stylistic classification of translation genres (depending on the nature of the texts being translated) and the psycholinguistic classification (depending on the nature of the translator’s activities in the translation process). According to the first, translation stylistic classification, translations exist:

Literary translation.
Informative translation.

1. Literary Translation

Literary translation involves translating creative works, such as books, poetry, and plays. This type of translation requires a deep understanding of the nuances of language and culture, as well as the ability to capture the author’s voice and style. Literary translators must be skilled writers in their own right, able to convey the original work’s message while also creating a natural and engaging translation.

Examples of literary translation include translations of classic works such as Shakespeare’s plays, as well as translations of contemporary literature from around the world. Literary translation is often used in the publishing industry, where publishers rely on high-quality translations to bring works to new audiences.

In the literary translation, neither omissions, nor additions, nor changes are allowed. If the work has flaws, they must be translated respectively. The purpose of such translations is to change, if possible, the source for those who cannot understand it due to lack of knowledge of the language, and to give them the means and opportunity to enjoy and estimate it.

2. Informative Translation

It is the translation of texts, the main purpose of which is to communicate information to the reader, and not to impact emotionally or aesthetically. This includes all information related to business, science, daily living, and social and political activities. By the way, the translation of detective stories, essays, travel notes and similar texts, which have informative rather than aesthetic impact, is also an informative translation.

This includes a translation of scientific and technical materials, journalistic, official and business, patent, political and feature materials, websites etc.

It is understood that in practice many texts combine the characteristics of literary and informative texts, that is, there is often no clear division. Some fragments are informative, and some are literary. The psycholinguistic classification of the translation takes into account the nature of the translator’s actions in the translation process, namely the way the source text is perceived and the way the target text is created, dividing the translation activity into:

3. Types of Oral Translation Named as Interpreting

The type of translation, which is performed in oral form, i.e. aurally. It is complicated by the fact that the interpreter has no right to make a mistake (a word spoken is past recalling). Everything must be translated correctly for the first time. Here we single out two sub-types of translation: simultaneous interpreting and consecutive interpreting.

Interpreting services involve translating spoken language in real-time, often in a face-to-face or telephone setting. Interpreting is commonly used in situations such as business meetings, conferences, legal proceedings, and medical consultations.

Interpreters must be fluent in both the source and target languages and have a deep understanding of the subject matter being discussed. They must also be able to think quickly and accurately convey the message in the target language.

Consecutive Interpreting

The interpreter interprets the speaker’s speech during pauses, that is, the speaker speaks several sentences, becomes silent, and the interpreter interprets everything that has been said. The size of speech fragments to be interpreted may vary greatly: A speaker may speak for a couple of minutes or more than 20-30 minutes. In the latter case, the interpreter makes written notes helping him to recall the entire speech because such a large amount of information is difficult to keep in mind.

Simultaneous Interpreting

It is performed by the interpreter almost simultaneously with the speaker (only 2-3 seconds slow). This type of translation is extremely complicated and requires special technical equipment: interpreters sit in separate booths, listening to the speaker through headphones while speaking into the microphone. At that, simultaneous interpreting is performed by at least two translators who substitute each other every 20-30 minutes.

Simultaneous interpreters are top professionals. Sometimes the simultaneous interpreters work without booths, sitting next to a receptor (i.e., for whom it is translated). As a rule, this occurs during small business meetings. In this case, such translation is called “whisper interpreting”, since the interpreter literally whispers the translation.

4. Written Translation

It is performed in writing, i.e. it is recorded in the form of texts. This type of translation is convenient in that the translator can come back to separate fragments of the text, make corrections in the course of translation, rethink individual paragraphs, etc. A classic example of such translation: the translator receives the text and must provide the customer with the translation into the required language in writing.

Subtypes of Written Translation

Written translation is classified according to the subject of the text. Basically, the following translation subtypes are distinguished:

Technical Translation

Technical translation involves translating documents that contain technical information, such as manuals, product specifications, and user guides. This type of translation requires a deep understanding of technical terminology and the ability to convey complex concepts in a clear and concise way.

Technical translators must be familiar with the subject matter they are translating and have a strong grasp of the industry-specific language used in the documents. They must also be able to adapt their writing style to suit the intended audience, whether it’s technical experts or laypeople.

Examples of technical translation include translations of engineering reports, software manuals, and scientific research papers. Technical translation is often used in industries such as engineering, software development, and manufacturing.

Legal Translation

Legal translation involves translating legal documents, such as contracts, patents, and court transcripts. This type of translation requires a deep understanding of legal terminology and the ability to accurately convey the meaning of complex legal concepts.

Legal translators must have a strong knowledge of the legal systems of both the source and target languages and be familiar with the specific terminology used in the legal documents they are translating. They must also be able to accurately convey the tone and intent of the original document.

Examples of legal translation include translations of contracts for international business deals, patent applications, and court documents for legal proceedings. Legal translation is often used in the legal and financial industries.

Medical Translation

Medical translation involves translating documents related to the healthcare industry, such as medical records, clinical trial results, and patient information leaflets. This type of translation requires a deep understanding of medical terminology and the ability to accurately convey complex medical concepts.

Medical translators must be familiar with the medical systems of both the source and target languages and have a strong grasp of the technical language used in medical documents. They must also be able to convey the information clearly and accurately, as mistakes in medical translation can have serious consequences.

Examples of medical translation include translations of clinical trial reports, medical device instructions, and patient information leaflets for pharmaceutical companies. Medical translation is often used in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

5. Video and Audio Translation

Video and audio translation involves translating content that is spoken or presented in a video or audio format. This type of translation requires a deep understanding of the cultural nuances of the target audience, as well as the ability to accurately convey the tone and intent of the original content.

Video and audio translators must have experience in video or audio editing to ensure that the translated content syncs correctly with the original. They must also be able to adapt the translation to the length of the video or audio content.

Examples of video and audio translation include translations of movies, TV shows, and documentaries for international distribution, as well as translations of corporate training videos and webinars.

There are the Following Translation Directions:

Monolingual translation.
Bilingual translation.

Examples of monolingual translation are oral and written translations performed in one direction only, from one language to any other language. An example of bilingual translation is an oral consecutive translation of the conversation performed from one language to another and vice versa. The criterion of human participation in the translation process determines the division of types of translation into:

Machine translation.
Traditional translation, i.e translation performed by a human.

6. Traditional Translation

Can be performed by a translator who is not the author of the source text, can be performed by the author of the source text (author’s translation or automatic translation), and can be performed by a translator and tested by the author of the source text (authorized translation). The following division of the types of translation occurs according to the completeness features, as well as the method of conveying the meaning and content of the original work.

There is a complete (continuous) and incomplete translation. The first one conveys the semantic content of the original text without omissions and shortages, the second one allows omissions and shortages.

Incomplete translation, in turn, is divided into short translation (communication of the semantic content of the original text in a cut form), fragmentary translation (translation of a fragment or fragments of the original text), aspect translation (translation of a part of the text in accordance with any given selection feature), annotation translation (main theme, subject and purpose of the text being translated) and abstract translation (translation, which contains relatively detailed information about the document being reviewed – its purpose, subject, research methods, the results obtained).

7. Machine translation

It is an automatic translation from one natural language into another using computer programs. Machine translation can be classified according to several criteria: the degree of involvement of the human translator; the type of translation – general or specialized; system architecture being used.

An independent (fully automated) machine translation means that the device translates texts without any involvement of operators. Translation with participation is usually divided into machine translation with human involvement and translation by the human using a computer. Automated translation becomes an increasingly popular form of translation performed by the human using the computer. Automated translation systems still only facilitate and can adequately decode and translate only simple syntactic and lexical constructions of the text.

The systems are still bad in the ambiguity, any and all allusions and omissions inherent to the majority of non-adapted texts. Existing vocabularies and termbases also cannot help them, since they describe only a modicum of the vocabulary of modern living languages. If you need to understand the approximate topic of a message in Japanese or some other language you do not know at all, then the on-line translation of pages visited on the Internet can really be of service. But offering these tools for professional use in translation activities without subsequent thorough improvement of the raw translation results is very irresponsibly.

Conclusion

Nevertheless, some translators manage to use similar machine blanks in order “not to type the text manually and not to search for the terms”, as they say. Of course, some machine programs and CAT tools (Computer-aided translation tools) became more clever.

They can help and assist translators to make a bigger amount of the translated text, keep the same translation terminology, keep the same file format and many other features. For us, such work as the “only machine technique” is just a waste of time and an unjustified risk to the professional reputation built by long years of hard work.

Remember, these are just some examples of the different types and subtypes of translation services. Each kind requires specialized skills and expertise to ensure accurate and effective communication across languages and cultures.

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7 Different Types of Translation Services