Foreign Language Transcription vs. Audio Translation

There's a lot of confusion out there regarding the use of the terms Spanish transcription and Spanish translation (one may substitute any language for Spanish). It's important to state that there is a difference between Spanish translation and Spanish transcription. It's not just the clients of transcription services who make the error but also many of the transcription companies. Transcription is simply the making of a text copy of either a speech or text source. Most commonly, transcription is the conversion of speech from an audio/video source to a text format. However, papers such as passports, handwritten letters, and subpoenas also often find their way to a transcriptionist. The thing to remember is that transcription is always monolingual. Translation on the other hand, is bilingual.

Spanish transcription and Spanish translation shouldn't be used synonymously as they refer to separate services rendered by different professionals. For example, you will need Spanish transcription services if you have dictation from a Spanish speaking physician that needs to be transcribed as Spanish text. However, if you have Spanish language dictation that needs to be converted to English text, then you will need Spanish/English translation services.

Many companies are misleading when they state that they offer Spanish transcription services. Often, what they are actually offering is Spanish audio translation. Audio translation is like audio transcription in that someone listens to a speech recording and types it in a document format. However, converting speech to text isn't the definition of transcription. (Remember text to text transcription?) When someone listens to a Spanish recording and types what they hear in English, they are translating.