Endless demand for words

We know millions of words and everyday use hundreds or thousands of them. Normally, people do not consciously consider the size of their vocabulary but for linguists, it is very necessary to reflect over the vocabulary size. It is not a cup of tea to retain and remember infinite words not only in their own language but in foreign languages too because, a lot of linguists speak three or more foreign languages and are highly dependent on words. Now, the question that arises is how do the linguists; the translators and interpreters, manage to remember all these words.

The translators and the interpreters have some types of differences in their work. Therefore, the ways in which they manage to know and remember as much words as possible are different too.

Translators, generally are fortunate, as they do not need to remember a large number of words that form a foreign language. They often use a tool known as Translation Memory – which is a feature in the computer program they use to carry out their translations. This translation memory offers possible translations by analyzing the extent of similarity between the part of the source text translators are working on and any other part of text that they have previously translated in projects of the same field or from the same client. If the memory finds a part of text from past translations with a significant extent of similarity, the program makes a comparison between them, and assists the translator in deciding how he should translate that part. But, the translators have to use their own intelligence when coming to terms with the final translation of that part of the source text. Besides this, the term base, a list of source-language terms along with their translations in the target language, directly guide the translators regarding the words or phrases to use. Term bases can prove to be extremely useful in highly technical translations.

But, the situation is entirely different in the case of interpreters. They rarely have the same affluence of information on their desk. The pressure of work on interpreters is much more than that on translators for they tend to formulate the best they can before an interpreting session. The rapid pace in which interpreters have to produce for audience’s consumption levies its restraints on interpreters’ capabilities. They usually have just few seconds to formulate their best translations of the most complex terminologies, with the only help of their knowledge and memory.

Though, there are several differences between the tasks of translators and interpreters, the need for the absorption and application of huge number of words to successfully express the intricacies of the world we live in is what unites their work.(TRANSLATION SERVICES IN NEW YORK)