When it is spoken
On-site interpreting
One interpreter in the room, taking turns with the speaker.
By the hour, two-hour minimum.
When it is spoken
Simultaneous and conference interpreting
Two interpreters in a booth, working in twenty-minute turns.
Simultaneous interpreting happens at the same time as the speech, through headsets, and it cannot be sustained by one person beyond about twenty minutes without the quality falling away. So it is always two interpreters and that is not a way of charging twice — a supplier who offers one interpreter for a three-hour conference is selling you the third hour of a tired person. Equipment is quoted separately because a room either has it or it does not.
Where the figures come from. Every figure on this site comes from the rate card, and the estimator shows its arithmetic rather than only its answer. What it cannot know is how many words are actually on your document, which is why a quote follows a reading and an estimate does not.
The two lists
What you are buying, and what you are not
The second column is the more useful of the two. Most of what goes wrong in this trade is somebody paying for a thing they believed they were getting and were never told they were not.
What this includes
- Two interpreters, always, working in turns
- The programme, the slides and the speakers' names in advance — a speaker reading a written paper at speed is the hardest thing in this profession
- Equipment hire and a technician quoted separately, or working with what the venue has
- A terminology list agreed with the organiser before the day
What this is not
- A booking of one interpreter for simultaneous work, which we will not take
- Recording or broadcasting the interpreted audio without the interpreters agreeing in advance
- Court proceedings, as above
What it costs
By the hour, per interpreter, three-hour minimum.
Simultaneous and conference interpreting is quoted by the hour, with a minimum of three hours. All three modes are on the one table below rather than only this one, because for anything short or anything urgent the cheaper mode is frequently the right one, and you should be able to see that without ringing to ask.
| Mode | What it is | Rate | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| On site, consecutive One interpreter, in the room, taking turns with the speaker. |
A meeting, a clinic appointment, a closing, a deposition where the parties are instructing us rather than the court. Two hours is the minimum because a booking shorter than that costs an interpreter the same half-day. | $115 the hour | two hours, $230 |
| Remote, video or telephone The same work down a line, in half-hour blocks. |
Often available the same day, and the right answer for anything short. What it is not good for is a room with more than about four people in it, because the turn-taking stops working and everybody talks over the interpreter. | $65 the half-hour | one half-hour, $65 |
| Simultaneous, with equipment Two interpreters in a booth, working in twenty-minute turns. |
Two, always, and this is not a way of charging twice: simultaneous interpreting cannot be sustained alone beyond about twenty minutes without the quality falling away, and a supplier who offers you one interpreter for a three-hour conference is selling you the third hour of a tired person. | $190 the hour | three hours, $570 |
Simultaneous work is always two interpreters, so the smallest real booking is $1,140 rather than $570. A supplier quoting the smaller figure is quoting one tired person.
Straight talk
Where this is bounded
This straight answer bears directly on the work above: Court interpreting is not ours to offer. The rest of the ten are below — they are one argument in ten parts and each links to the others.
When it is spoken
The rest of this half of the office
Sorted by who is going to read the result, which is the only question that changes what the work has to be.
When it is spoken
Remote interpreting
Video or telephone, in half-hour blocks, often the same day.
By the half hour, one block minimum.
Tell us about the room
The preparation is most of the job: the names, the documents, the subject and the purpose, sent in advance. Ring to talk it through, or work the figure out first.