Translations and interpretation : building connections for a changing world

Abstract

The technological revolution which accelerated so rapidly with the advent of the Internet, combined the increased mobility of populations, has brought about great changes in international communication. This has led to an increasing demand for translation and for greater intercultural understanding, which in turn has resulted in a proliferation of translator-training programmes. Translators and interpreters are needed to facilitate international exchanges, both commercial and political, and at the same time ever more sophisticated machine-translation programmes are being developed to cope with the growing body of material that requires translation. Unquestionably the role of the translator is changing and the confusion around the terminology of translation reflects growing discomfort with the traditional concept of translation as interlingual transfer.