The language instinct

Fact file

Hiring interpreters: The lowdown

If you're planning on holding a conference or addressing a multilingual event, you should consider how your message will come across in other languages. Here are some tips based on our experiences:

Speak at a reasonable pace. Interpreters are not machines; they are human beings.

Speak into the microphone - we have to hear what you are saying.

Speaking without notes is better than reading from a text. This ensures that the translator can see your lips move.

Enunciate figures clearly.

Explain acronyms.

Make sure the interpreters have a copy of your text or presentation.

Making multilingual conferences work for you

Remember: Your message may not come across accurately if you read from a set text. Try to speak without notes or use brief notes to jog your memory.

Preferably, the interpreters should receive all speeches, technical documents and PowerPoint presentations in advance to ensure thorough preparation of the topics and technical terminology to be used in the various conference languages. All documents will be treated in the utmost confidence.

Please contact the interpreters if you have any questions or wish to suggest the correct specialist terms. Feedback is always greatly appreciated.

What are the costs involved?

When you hire interpreters, you should factor in the following cost elements:

Daily interpretation fee: Surveys of past market figures indicate a range of $600 to $1,200 per day.

Travel allowance - variable, depending on location.

Daily subsistence allowance - variable, depending on location.

Airfares and other transport costs to the location of the conference - variable, depending on location.

Ground allowance - This covers train, taxi or bus fares from the interpreter's hotel to the airport of departure, from the arrival airport to the conference hotel and the same on the return journey.

Visas - variable, depending on location.

Example:

A five-day conference in Bangkok.

An individual participant's costs from another Asian country would come to about $2,000, allowing $750 for airfare, $150 per day for hotel accommodation, meals and incidentals and $500 for registration. Dividing this by five, a typical participant would spend about $400 per day to attend the conference.

The collective costs of organizing the conference - such as rental of meeting rooms, tea or coffee breaks, documents, field trips, audio-visual and simultaneous interpretation equipment - are usually financed by the delegates' registration fees and by sponsorship. The registration fee for a typical conference might be $500 per participant, and will include translation into three languages.

When spread out over the number of participants, the cost of simultaneous translation is not excessive compared with the daily cost incurred by each participant.

Sources: Calliope Interpreters and the International Association of Conference Interpreters

Contact the writer at zhangyuchen@chinadaily.com.cn