What Do People Ask Us?

Working with an interpreter for the first time will usually cause someone to bring up multiple questions. While every client has their own obstacles to navigate, we at 7C Lingo have noticed some emerging patterns when it comes to the questions asked, so we decided to answer three of the most common directly.

How is the Price Tag Determined?

Of course, the price for hiring an interpreter is always the first question on people’s minds. The answer is complicated, unfortunately. Every agency will use its own guidelines to determine a price point for the job, but here are some universal considerations you should keep in mind.

  • Language: Some languages have more interpreters available than others. A client should expect to pay more to have someone interpret in Nepali or Korean when compared to the price tag for interpreting Spanish or French.
  • Discipline: The level of technical understanding needed for interpreting certain requests usually comes with certain certifications involved, which can increase the price of an interpreter.
  • Distance: Most interpreters and language service agencies factor in travel time when deciding on a price point. If in-person interpretation is not needed, consider video or over the phone interpretation. You can read more about the pros and cons of both of these methods in our blog post here.

What’s the Difference Between Certifications and Certificates?

When reviewing the credentials for an interpreter, their resume will usually be appended by a list of certifications and certificates. It’s important to note that these two terms are not interchangeable. A certification is awarded by an accredited organization and is usually a sign that the interpreter is allowed to work either with government organizations or with certain languages that see heavy government regulation, like American Sign Language. Certification is usually not required to interpret for private meetings, such as company gatherings and events, but it does serve as a stamp of quality no matter the case. Don’t discount interpreters that are lacking certifications, however, as the availability for certifications grows slimmer as the language becomes less common.

Certificates are usually awarded by private organizations, such as language service providers, and are usually given for developing workplace skills rather than certifying someone’s proficiency with a given language. Many language service agencies offer certificates after they have completed an offered course. While they are not accredited, they do show a sign of commitment to the industry, and can be the first step towards someone earning a certification, as many certifications require a certain number of hours spent on career development before someone can commit to certification.

When do You Need Multiple Interpreters?

Certain jobs may require multiple interpreters on site in order to complete. There is no magic rule for when to expect to hire multiple people, but here are a few guidelines:

  • Length of Appointment: If you expect your appointment to run longer than an hour, it is a real possibility that you will have to hire multiple interpreters for the job. The likelihood of this is usually up to the interpreter and how comfortable they are.
  • ASL Interpreters: Because American Sign Language is such a physical language, interpreting it for long periods of time can be exhausting. For interpretation appointments over an hour, usually two interpreters will work in conjunction, switching whenever one needs a break.
  • Consecutive vs. Simultaneous interpretation: Consecutive interpretation is when the first party speaks, finishes speaking, and then the interpreter interprets to the second party, who then speaks, finishes speaking, and then the interpreter interprets for them. Usually, this is the gold standard, but can be extremely slow. If time is important to you may want to consider simultaneous interpretation, which is where one person interprets as the client is speaking, reducing the time needed. This saves on time, but is much more complicated, and due to that complexity, and due to that, usually requires a second person to interpret.