What is the difference between translation and interpreting?

Translation and interpreting are both about helping people understand each other, but they work in different ways.

Translation is like when you write a letter from one language to another. Imagine your friend speaks Spanish, but you only speak English. You can write down what they say so you can read it later, that’s translation. It's like leaving a message in a bottle that someone else can read when they're ready.

Interpreting is more like having a conversation with a friend who speaks another language. Imagine you and your friend are talking, but one of you doesn’t understand the other language. A person in the middle listens to what one of you says and then repeats it in the other language, that’s interpreting. It's like being a translator for a live chat.

So, translation is for written messages, and interpreting is for spoken conversations. Both help people understand each other, just in different ways!