初心者 and 素人: Beginning to learn and lacking expertise
Compare a beginner at cooking with a layperson in repairs, then read who the tools and illustrated instructions are intended for. The two descriptions can overlap.
Content intended for someone starting to learn
初心者 means a beginner or novice. 「この講座は料理の初心者でも参加できる。」 says beginners at cooking can join the course. Permission or possibility does not state completed participation.
「初心者向けの道具を店員に選んでもらった。」 has the supplied translation “I asked the clerk to select tools suitable for a novice.” The Japanese 選んでもらった presents the clerk selecting the tools for the speaker. It does not add a completed purchase or use of the tools.
Specialist knowledge in the relevant field
素人 can mean a layperson or beginner. 「私は修理には素人なので、専門家に任せました。」 says the speaker is a layperson in repairs and left the work to a professional. The stated field is repairs, not every area of ability.
「素人でも分かるように手順を図で示した。」 describes illustrating a procedure so that even beginners could understand it. It identifies the intended audience and purpose, not a result in which every reader has already understood.
The overlap in the word beginner
初心者 emphasizes starting to learn, while 素人 emphasizes limited specialist knowledge or experience in a field. 素人 is also translated as beginner in the procedure example, so the words do not divide people into mutually exclusive groups.
Read the intended audience of the course, tools, and illustrated procedure. Being a layperson in one field does not establish a complete lack of skills or expertise in every other field.
If the audience in 素人でも分かるように is translated as beginners, is it correct to treat 初心者 and 素人 as completely separate groups?
Show the answer and why
No. Beginning to learn and lacking specialist experience are different focuses, but their audience and the translation beginner can overlap. The illustrated-procedure example preserves that overlap.