What does translator mean?
Word: Translator
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Translator means a person whose job is to change written or spoken words from one language into another.
How do you spell translator?
Syllables: trans - la - tor
Tricky part: The ending is or, not er. So many job words take er that pupils write translater out of habit.
Watch out for: translater, translatur
Memory tip: Picture a translator at work beside an author and an editor: all three handle words, and all three end in or.
Translator in a sentence
Example 1: The translator turned my grandfather's Bengali poems into English for the school magazine.
Example 2: At the science conference, a translator helped the Japanese visitors talk to the students.
Example 3: Mum wants to work as a translator because she speaks Arabic, Spanish and French.
Fun Fact
The International Booker Prize, given each year in London, shares its prize money equally between the author and the translator of the winning book.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) interpretor
b) librarien
c) jurnalist
d) translator
Show answer
d) translator. A journalist writes for a journal, so the jour stays; interpreter takes er and librarian takes ian.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tnatlrasor
a) transistor
b) translator
c) transport
d) translation
Show answer
b) translator. The jumble has two r's but no i or p, which leaves just one option.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
tr_nsl_tor
a) a, a
b) e, a
c) a, e
d) u, a
Show answer
a) a, a. The first vowel is the short a of trans, and the second is the long a sound heard in late.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Our school hired a tranlator so that the parents from Korea could follow the annual play.
a) parents
b) tranlator
c) follow
d) annual
Show answer
b) tranlator. The word opens with trans, as in transfer, so an s comes before the l.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A translator would be most needed when ____.
a) a Spanish book is given a new cover
b) a school library buys more shelves
c) a Japanese novel is published in Spanish
d) a Japanese film needs a longer trailer
Show answer
c) a Japanese novel is published in Spanish
2. Which skill matters most in a translator's work?
a) typing with all ten fingers
b) drawing neat and careful maps
c) solving long sums very quickly
d) knowing two languages really well
Show answer
d) knowing two languages really well
