Cultural Competence

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Culture is a combination of characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people. These characteristics are defined by everything from language, traditions, and customs to religion, music, and art. The close relationship between humanity and language makes translation and editing the biggest tool for understanding each other around the world.

Cultural competence
We can define "cultural competence" as a consistent set of values, behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable a system, organization or people to work effectively in a particular cross-cultural situation.

Cultural competence involves full understanding and respect for culture, as well as knowing "what to say to whom, where and when" from a social and practical perspective. A full understanding of cultural differences …show more content…

They must do more than repeat the words of the source language in the target language, they must provide the meaning of these words in a logical way to the audience.

Culture can also have a significant impact on how we communicate and deal with time. For example, in North America, if you have a scheduled business meeting, the time you have to go depends largely on the situation of the person you meet. People who are in a lower condition are expected to arrive on time, if not early. High-ranking individuals can expect others to wait for them if they are late.

Conclusion
Translators and interpreters need to know more than language, they must know the culture. They need to be committed to an ongoing process of learning, so that they are aware of current events and can, therefore, work accordingly when dealing with cultures that may be sensitive to certain words, phrases or delivery

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