Interpretation for guided tours

Interpretation for guided tours

A guided tour enables a person or group to discover a place while being accompanied by a specialised guide who can offer a detailed presentation of its history, composition, functioning, all depending on the type of place. The guide is also useful to satisfy the visitors’ curiosity, answering any questions that could arise during the tour, and being able to add more information and detail. These visits are often related to a cultural heritage, tangible or intangible, indoors or outdoors, in places open to the public, i.e. tourist sites, or private properties, for occasional or exceptional visits, or even to show a company’s premises to an associate. Some examples include historical sites, famous monuments, museums, protected areas etc.

Regarding visits in foreign countries where you don’t speak the language, having an interpreter becomes essential to ensure you can enjoy every aspect of your trip.
However, many places welcoming visitors from all around the world lend audio guides. Among the most famous tourist sites are the Buckingham Palace or the British Museum. This enables visitors to listen to a pre-recorded presentation in their own language and according to their wishes, while taking the time they need to follow the itinerary. Nevertheless, many do not provide this type of equipment, because guided tours are not only limited to the tourism industry, they can also take place in private or professional places that don’t invest in the equipment.
An interpreter may be necessary in order to translate the guide’s presentation to the group or person. To relay the speech, interpreters can use different interpreting methods.
Firstly, they can use consecutive interpretation, which consists of relaying the speech once it has ended or when the speaker pauses. The guide would need to be informed of the interpreter’s presence for a portion of the group in order to plan pauses in the speech and enable a translation period.
The second option is chuchotage, which consists of translating the speech simultaneously to one person or a small group of people, in a low voice to avoid disturbing the rest of the audience.
Another possibility would be for the interpreter to act as a mediator to relay questions from the public in their own language and thus enable visitors to actively participate in the event without any difficulty.

Therefore, interpretation for guided tours is fundamental to ensure that culture and information can be available for all, in any place. This is all the more important since, in recent years, tourism has considerably increased, reaching exceptionally high numbers. The interpreter is therefore key to creating a bridge in between different languages and to overcome the language barrier.

 

HOW CAN LINGUATRANS HELP YOU?

 

At LinguaTrans, we know the difficulties this type of translation involves. As a matter of fact, an interpreter must show a flawless knowledge of both languages, the place they are presenting, and its culture while offering a quick and flexible translation of the guide’s speech. Furthermore, the interpreter must also research the information beforehand in order to become more familiar with the subject, seek information about what will be covered during the visit will help him be more prepared and avoid any surprise or feeling lost during the tour. That is why we have the most qualified experts in interpretation, in order to ensure the best quality service.
Feel free to contact us if you need any information. You can also check our rates or ask for a free quote without obligation.