A good translator is by definition bilingual. The opposite is not (1) true, however. A born and bred bilingual will still need two (2) to become a translator: first, the skills and experience necessary for (3) ; second, knowledge of the field in which he or she will (4) . The skills and experience for translation include the ability to write (5) in the target language, the ability to read and understand the (6) language material thoroughly, and the ability to work with the latest (7) and communication hardware and software.
Does a born and bred bilingual (8) a better translator than someone who learned language B later in (9) There is no definite answer, but the following issues are important. (10) , a born and bred bilingual often suffers from not truly knowing (11) language well enough to translate, with some even suffering from what (12) known as a lingua-ism, a state in which a person lacks (13) full, fluent command of any language. Second, born and bred bilinguals (14) don’t know the culture of the target language well enough to (15) top-quality translations, or cannot recognize what aspects of the source language (16) its culture need to be treated with particular care, as they (17) in a sense too close to the language. And last, they often (18) the analytical linguistic skills to work through a sticky text.
On (19) other hand, the acquired bilingual may not have the sam0e in-depth (20) of colloquialisms, slang, and dialect that the born bilingual has. Also, the acquired bilingual will not be able to translate as readily in both directions (from B to language A and A to language B). Finally, born bilinguals often have a greater appreciation of the subtleties and nuances of both their languages than someone who learns their B language later in life can ever hope to have.
