Often, bilingual people find themselves filling the role of impromptu interpreter, whether they be children of immigrant parents or adult members of two language communities. Yet bilingualism encompasses a wide range of language proficiencies, and even a person who is a native speaker in two languages is likely to have different strengths in each. Some bilinguals have what is called passive competence in one of their languages; passive competence is the ability to understand but difficulty producing a language. Even having mild levels of passive competence is not an option for professional interpreters.
Professional interpretation requires an equal level of fluency in both the source and the target language, as well as the ability to translate into and out of both languages. Because of this, it is a long leap from casual interpreting between friends and colleagues and professional interpreting.
One of the single most important skills for a professional interpreter to have is the ability to perform simultaneous interpretation. Listening to one language while speaking simultaneously in another is a complex cognitive process that requires years of training to perfect. The ability to listen and speak at the same time—challenging enough in a single language—is called dual tasking and is one of the most fascinating processes that the interpreter’s brain is capable of. To complete this task, the interpreter must activate both languages at the same time. Most bilingual people, though they may switch between languages, only activate one language at a time, allowing them to step into and out their languages. Interpreters do not have this luxury. Even as they activate both languages, they must learn to turn off the production aspect of the source language to avoid simply repeating the speaker’s words in the source language as sometimes occurs to fatigued interpreters.
Once an interpreter perfects all these mental processes, they must build equal vocabulary in whatever domain they are working in. A courtroom interpreter, for example, must be fluent in legal terminology in both the target and source language. Coupled with this specific knowledge, interpreters often draw on personal experience for cultural knowledge. Competent interpreters, be they native speakers or language learners, have social and professional experience in both their languages to create an understanding of both cultural and linguistic differences.
While many bilingual people who interpret casually for their friends and family show an impressive degree of intelligence and creativity, those bilinguals who have the ability naturally often choose to pursue the necessary skills for professional interpreting to cultivate very specific and far more specialized abilities.
What do you consider to be the most important difference between someone who is bilingual and an interpreter? Let us know in the comments!
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You may also be interested in the following:
Ebook: Top Ten Tips for Interpreters and Translators
Article: Cleaning up mistranslated signs – What a cool idea
Article: The World’s Ten Most Translated Authors
Article: Simultaneous Interpretation Series Part 1 of 6: Introduction to Simultaneous Interpretation
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