Translating is the transfer of a text from one language (source language) to another language (target language). Both the source language text and the target language text must be in written form.

Although translating is a very old activity, it developed into a profession only in this century. Translating is both craft and art—craft because there are some generally valid rules that should be observed by all translators and art because the quality of the translation depends to a large degree on the translator's personality, knowledge, and feeling for languages.