2.3 Guidelines for Translating Phone Messages

You may sometimes be asked to translate a phone message from Spanish to English. This activity is a hybrid of interpretation (rendering an oral message in the SL to the TL) and translation (rendering a written message in the SL to the TL). Here you will be transforming an oral message in the SL into a written message in the TL.

a) Transcribing phone messages

You may be tempted to translate the message directly after listening to it, but this can lead to inconsistencies and errors. Even in the translation of a simple or short message, it is best to follow a basic methodology to ensure the highest quality result. To translate a phone message you should first write down the phone message as you hear it in Spanish. This process is called transcription. After you transcribe the message, you can proceed to translating the written message as you would any other source text.

b) Translating the transcribed phone message

In your translation you should note the name of the client, name of the person or department the message was left for, and date the message was left. As in the case for translating forms, if there is any confusion or you are unsure of the content of the message, you can explain this in a translator’s note at the bottom of your translation. An example of a translation of a phone message:

Example 2.7

Transcribed Source Text

Translation