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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

We will be pleased to address your questions or concerns, and guide you through the translation process. But before you ask for a quote, please go through the following useful questions and answers.

What is the difference between translation and interpretation?
Although both professions have much in common, they require different skills and competences.

Translation: Consists in the faithful written rendition of a text from one language to another. Practitioners are called translators. There are two types of translation: direct, i.e. from a foreign language to the translator’s mother language) and reverse translation, in the opposite direction.

Interpretation: Is the oral transmission of the message from one language to another. No written text is required, but the oral discourse. Practitioners are called interpreters. There are mainly three types of interpretation: simultaneous (the listener hears the speech using electronic devices as the speaker talks uninterrupted), consecutive interpretation (the speaker and the interpreter take turns to speak) and, finally, whispering interpreting, directly in low voice typically for only one or very few listeners.

It is a common error to talk about simultaneous translation rather than correctly simultaneous interpretation.

What is the difference between official translation and certified translation?

An Official Translation is prepared by a public sworn translator (known in Peru as a TPJ) who affixes his/her signature and certification seal. Prior to this, the original document must be duly legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or bear an apostille (e.g. birth/death certificates, divorce’ decrees, etc.). An Official Translation must be accompanied by the original document. They cannot be separated and must be submitted as handed in by the translator; otherwise, the institution receiving the documents will not approve them.

A Certified Translation is carried out by a licensed translator or a certified translator who affixes his/her signature and seal; this certifies the faithfulness of the translation, but not that of the original document (e.g. documents for tenders, different types of contract, etc.). Unlike Official Translations, Certified Translations do not require previously legalized original documents. However, the Certified Translation must be also accompanied by the original document when submitted.

Licensed translators are registered at the Colegio de Traductores del Perú or Peruvian Association of Translators (CTP) while certified translators belong to the Asociación de Traductores Profesionales del Perú or Peruvian Association of Professional Translators (ATPP). Both institutions have been operating for more than twenty years.

Quoting a translation

In Peru, most translators quote based on 180-translated-word standard pages For example, an original document 1800 words long is equivalent to 10 standard pages.

REMEMBER...

Many think that knowing a language suffices to translate, a perception that crops up almost daily in our field. Our organization expects to change this mistaken perception, Translating not only requires a thorough knowledge of both the mother and target languages. It also requires specialized knowledge in a broad range of fields of knowledge.

Acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge to translate takes several years (at least ten) of reading, studying and, finally, translating and copy editing in some of the above mentioned fields.

THEREFORE, an English student, however advanced, or a resident in the United States or France (to give two examples) will hardly be able to provide a proper specialized translation. Their rendering will most likely be incorrect or incomplete. Being a native speaker is not a profession. Being a translator is.


  • “Los escritores hacen la literatura nacional y los traductores hacen la literatura universal.”

    José Saramago
  • “Without translation, we would be living in provinces bordering on silence.”

    George Steiner
  • “Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.”

    Anthony Burgess
  • “Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes”

    Günter Grass
  • “Translation is like a woman: if she is faithful, she is not beautiful; if she is beautiful, she is not faithful.”

    Russian Proverb
  • “Los traductores son las mulas de carga de la cultura.”

    Aleksandr Sergheevici Puşkin
  • A proprement parler, il n' existe pas de texte original; tout mythe est, par nature, une traduction, il a son origine dans un autre mythe provenant d' une population voisine.

    Claude Lévi-Strauss
  • Le traducteur ne doit pas succomber à l'appel des sirènes, il ne doit pas faire beau, il doit faire juste.

    Albert Bensoussan