通訳 and 翻訳: communication tasks and the interpreter
Read interpreting work, the interpreter, and translated novels or manuals by their roles without imposing an exclusive speech-versus-writing division.
Interpreting work at a meeting
「会議では彼女が日本語と韓国語の通訳を担当した。」 says that she handled interpreting between Japanese and Korean at the meeting. 通訳 names the communication task in this sentence.
In 「通訳が話し終わるまで参加者は静かに待った。」, 通訳 is the interpreter who finishes speaking. The same form can name a task or its performer, so read its role as subject together with the verb.
The material translated and read
「海外の小説を日本語に翻訳する仕事をしている。」 describes work translating overseas novels into Japanese. The novels are the material being translated, and Japanese is the language of the result.
「説明書の翻訳を読み、機械の設定を変更した。」 describes reading a translated manual and changing the machine settings. Reading the translation does not identify that reader as the person who translated it.
Identify the communication role
These examples contrast interpreting at a meeting with translating a novel or manual. They show representative tasks without establishing that every spoken delivery is interpreting or every written delivery is translation.
Identify who handles the interpreting or finishes speaking, and what is translated or read in translation. The focus is the task, performer, and material rather than translation strategy or the direction between source and translated texts.
Does 通訳 in 「通訳が話し終わるまで参加者は静かに待った。」 name a person or material, and what does 翻訳 name in 「説明書の翻訳を読み、機械の設定を変更した。」?
Show the answer and why
通訳 names the interpreter whose speech the participants waited for. 翻訳 names the translated manual or its content that was read before the settings were changed. Reading that material does not establish that the reader translated it.