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How much is a fair price for simultaneous interpretation at home through internet?
Thread poster: jyuan_us
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:56
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Oct 24, 2014

A client just asked me to do simultaneous interpretation for an event from home. I will be connected to the session with an instant messenger.

Would you share your hourly rate or rate by minute for this kind of work? I'm with English-Chinese pair but I would appreciate your sharing the rate in your language pair. Of course you don't have to provide an exact number. A range will be OK.

Thank you in advance.
 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 20:56
Chinese to English
I wouldn't do it... Oct 24, 2014

I mean, I don't interpret any more, but even if I did, I wouldn't do it. It was one of the things we talked about when I did training: you have to be in the room to understand what's going on. Speakers point at things, they interact with their slide shows, they take questions... There are always problems that the interpreter hooked in remotely can't handle.

Rates for this should be no lower than rates for any simultaneous interpreting job. In fact, they should be higher, because you... See more
I mean, I don't interpret any more, but even if I did, I wouldn't do it. It was one of the things we talked about when I did training: you have to be in the room to understand what's going on. Speakers point at things, they interact with their slide shows, they take questions... There are always problems that the interpreter hooked in remotely can't handle.

Rates for this should be no lower than rates for any simultaneous interpreting job. In fact, they should be higher, because you're providing part of the equipment. I don't know what the market is like in the US, but here a decent simultaneous interpreter can command RMB 5000, and I think Europe is about the same (per day, so I'd be thinking about RMB 1000 per hour). If the organiser is trying to make savings, they save on not paying your transport costs. ▲ Collapse
 
LilianNekipelov
LilianNekipelov  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:56
Russian to English
+ ...
About $80-$120 per hour, 2 hrs minimum. Oct 24, 2014

I think that would be fair in the US
 
Andrea Halbritter
Andrea Halbritter  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:56
French to German
+ ...
85 € per hour Oct 25, 2014

I just had an agency with the same request and asked them for 70 € per hour. Their reaction was: Is that cheap! We would have expected to pay 85 €...

It certainly depends on languages, the country you live in and the client (direct or not) though...
 
Diana Coada (X)
Diana Coada (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:56
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Do not do it Oct 26, 2014

Unless you have a professional booth set up in your house (and a technician for that matter!), tell the client that this assignment can only be done by using the consecutive mode.
 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:56
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks to everyone for your valuable input Oct 26, 2014

With the help of all of you, I think I know how to reply to the request now.
 


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How much is a fair price for simultaneous interpretation at home through internet?







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