Essential qualities of an interpreter

Oct 04, 2022, Sukanya Pant

What is interpretation?

The act of explaining, reframing, or otherwise demonstrating your own understanding of something is known as interpretation. An interpreter is someone who translates one language into another and explains what someone is saying to the other person who does not understand. Interpretation requires you to first fully grasp the piece of music, text, language, or idea before explaining it.
We frequently imagine language being interpreted face to face, such as in a courtroom, school, or medical facility. However, remote interpreting can also be accomplished through telephonic or video remote interpreting.
The interpreter must have excellent language proficiency, analyse and transfer messages between languages quickly, and adhere to professional ethics and standards of practice, regardless of the format.

Applications of interpretation:

1. Conferencing interpretation

2. Interpreting for the government

3. Interpretation in sign language

4. Interpretation during market research globally


You will never be successful in countries where the people do not speak your language unless you connect with them on a personal level. It is something that every company seeking to dominate new markets must recognise. As a result, if you want to dominate new markets, the first step aside from market research, is interpretation.


Market research focus groups and depth interviews require simultaneous translation where the interpreter can interpret the ongoing discussion in the local language in real-time for the listeners.

Good simultaneous translators are usually hard to find. Finding a bad quality interpreter or translator can be costly. A bad interpreter can spoil the otherwise well-organised market research interview or focus groups. A good quality simultaneous interpreter or translator will ensure that the other investment done in Depth Interviews and Focus groups is fruitful. Before you hire any interpreter for your research activity ensure you judge them on the following five qualities:


Qualities of an interpreter:

1. Language skills:


First and foremost, interpreters must be fluent in the language for which they interpret. This may seem obvious, but it isn't always the case. When working in the field, an interpreter is unlikely to have time to consult an encyclopedia or dictionary. A large vocabulary, as well as excellent written and verbal communication skills, are required.

2. English fluency:


You need to check the language capabilities of both languages. A lot of interpretation requirements are from a particular language to English. In this case, an Interpreter should be fluent in English. At the end of it, you will need to ensure you communicate well with each other for a set duration of your conference or market research interview.

3. Ability to listen and recall:


There are two types of interpreting: consecutive interpreting and simultaneous interpreting. Consecutive interpreting necessitates waiting for a speaker to pause before interpreting. Because the speaker may speak for several minutes before pausing, this modality necessitates intense active listening, memory recall, and note-taking to produce an accurate interpretation.

At the same time, a simultaneous interpreter requires acute processing abilities and abundant understanding of both languages to talk and listen at the same time for almost 1.5 hours. (Beyond 1 hour we recommend hiring two interpreters for the same job. MyTranscriptionplace has talented interpreters who can do 1.5 hours at stretch)

4. Knowledge of culture:


Being bicultural is just as important as being bilingual for qualified interpreters. Bicultural people have absorbed the sensibilities and nuances of two cultures and have the innate ability to mediate between them.

5. Subject knowledge:


It is critical for an interpreter to understand the subject matter of the conversation they are interpreting. For instance, if your market research subject is the healthcare of pharma, you need an interpreter with knowledge of common medical terminology, problems, and procedures are required in a medical setting. A lack of subject knowledge may cause an interpreter to struggle to understand what is being said and relay it back to observers.

myTranscriptionPlace offers human interpretation at honest and affordable prices to help qualitative research practitioners most out of their market research conversations. flourish. We can arrange interpreters at a notice of 48 hours for most languages. Each and every interpreter is pre-vetted by our quality assurance teams through an elaborate vetting process. Please reach out to [email protected] to learn more about our interpretation services.


Sukanya Pant
(Content Writer & SEO Manager)

Norbert (he/him) is a seasoned professional in the insights space. A creative at heart, his passion for brand strategy coincides with his knack for creative storytelling and it’s at that intersection where strategy & creative shop Rodeo13 was born.

Posted on: Oct 04, 2022
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