A client in Britain wants me to perform consecutive interpreting via Skype (Eng|Rus). Rates?
Thread poster: Artyom Timeyev
Artyom Timeyev
Artyom Timeyev  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 04:31
Russian to English
+ ...
Jan 20, 2021

Hi! I'm a translator in Russia, and I don't know what the current rates are in Britain for this kind of work. A client in Britain wants me to translate her conversation with a Russian person. I will be performing consecutive interpreting.

What are the usual rates charged for this kind of service in Britain?


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 00:31
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Charge your regular hourly interpreting rate, plus minimum fee. Jan 20, 2021

Charge whatever you charge for interpreting in person, incl. the minimum fee.

Is this a business meeting, are expert topics included? Many things influence the rate.


 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Depends on the client Jan 20, 2021

If this is a real, paying client, as much as $100/hr, possibly more if it is an expensive specialist firm (legal, engineering, etc.).

If this is someone who collects random people on the likes of Upwork, they are probably expecting to pay $20 and willing to pay $30 if they know/like you.

If it is assisting a patient-doctor interaction, the rates jobs are often posted at in the west is ~$35 (for rather random unqualified people).

[Edited at 2021-01-20 22:06 GMT]<
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If this is a real, paying client, as much as $100/hr, possibly more if it is an expensive specialist firm (legal, engineering, etc.).

If this is someone who collects random people on the likes of Upwork, they are probably expecting to pay $20 and willing to pay $30 if they know/like you.

If it is assisting a patient-doctor interaction, the rates jobs are often posted at in the west is ~$35 (for rather random unqualified people).

[Edited at 2021-01-20 22:06 GMT]

[Edited at 2021-01-20 22:08 GMT]
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Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 00:31
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Problem with remote online interpreting. Jan 20, 2021

I don't think serious interpreters do this because this tends to turn into a per minute payment. For instance, in the OP's case, if this person completes their conversation in 15 minutes, they will expect to pay for 15 minutes. If this were in real life/in person interpreting, standard minimum fee is 4 hours or 8 hours (4 hrs at least), and they would have to pay for 4 hours even though it took only 15 minutes. Same goes for cancellations.

I had these silly offers: what is your per
... See more
I don't think serious interpreters do this because this tends to turn into a per minute payment. For instance, in the OP's case, if this person completes their conversation in 15 minutes, they will expect to pay for 15 minutes. If this were in real life/in person interpreting, standard minimum fee is 4 hours or 8 hours (4 hrs at least), and they would have to pay for 4 hours even though it took only 15 minutes. Same goes for cancellations.

I had these silly offers: what is your per minute interpreting rate? I always reply: I don't work on per minute basis and my minimum fee is 4 hours/half day. Of course, I never hear back from them and I don't need to. I'll do just fine without their per minute peanuts.

OP: I don't have links to official statistics, but I noticed a trend of quite low rates for interpreting by British clients and in GB (something like 10 GBP/hr). I would advise you not to base your rate on location as you are acting as a bridge between two parties from different countries (regardless of their location at the moment of interpreting), think about your service, preparation time, technical glitches, technical tests, etc. to estimate your rate.


[Edited at 2021-01-20 22:42 GMT]
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Vadim Kadyrov
 
Liviu-Lee Roth
Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 19:31
Romanian to English
+ ...
Not quite so Jan 20, 2021

Lingua 5B wrote:

I don't think serious interpreters do this because this tends to turn into a per minute payment. For instance, in the OP's case, if this person completes their conversation in 15 minutes, they will expect to pay for 15 minutes. If this were in real life/in person interpreting, standard minimum fee is 4 hours or 8 hours (4 hrs at least), and they would have to pay for 4 hours even though it took only 15 minutes. Same goes for cancellations.

I had these silly offers: what is your per minute interpreting rate? I always reply: I don't work on per minute basis and my minimum fee is 4 hours/half day. Of course, I never hear back from them and I don't need to. I'll do just fine without their per minute peanuts.

OP: I don't have links to official statistics, but I noticed a trend of quite low rates for interpreting by British clients and in GB (something like 10 GBP/hr). I would advise you not to base your rate on location as you are acting as a bridge between two parties from different countries (regardless of their location at the moment of interpreting), think about your service, preparation time, technical glitches, technical tests, etc. to estimate your rate.


[Edited at 2021-01-20 22:42 GMT]


I am a very serious interpreter working for over 25 years in the legal (criminal) field, and due to the Covid-19 I started doing a lot of telephonic and remote (Zoom, Bluejeans, Microsoft Teams, etc). At least here in the US, in my language pair, remote interp. is scheduled for at least 2 hrs (even if it lasts 10 min), scheduled telephonic, the same. At $1.00/min. for telephonic, I do not think it is a bad deal.

best,
lee


Adieu
IrinaN
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
10 gbp???? Jan 21, 2021

Sounds like the "juvenile-nephew-assisted communication" rate, not interpreting by a language professional.

Even charging a 4hr minimum won't help here.

AFAIK, the half day rate is a thing for court interpreters and the like, who are paid mostly for loitering on standby, with a rather brief interval of actual active working within that time.

For ACTIVE interpreting, the old $100 rate is a lot more realistic, albeit a bit wistful thinking for remote work in
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Sounds like the "juvenile-nephew-assisted communication" rate, not interpreting by a language professional.

Even charging a 4hr minimum won't help here.

AFAIK, the half day rate is a thing for court interpreters and the like, who are paid mostly for loitering on standby, with a rather brief interval of actual active working within that time.

For ACTIVE interpreting, the old $100 rate is a lot more realistic, albeit a bit wistful thinking for remote work in our troubled times.

Still, $50-70/hr sounds far closer to reasonable, call it a discount for not having to go on location or wear pants.

IMHO, rates should be ~3x higher than what you can make as a translator per hour, on account of your voice being a finite resource. If you've ever had to talk fast for 4 hours straight in a day (like simultaneous interpreting on a lively group discussion), most people will find that barely doable...but certainly not repeatable the next day.
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IrinaN
IrinaN
United States
Local time: 18:31
English to Russian
+ ...
Unfortunately Jan 21, 2021

There is a good chance that British client chose you counting on very low rates; you know, savage Russia is so poor that every single democratic pound is a generous blessing

You don't need to figure out British rates, you need to charge Russian rates paid to serious professional interpreters. There were times when euro was worth 1.30/1.45 to dollar, and Moscow interpreters considered US interpreters dumpers...
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There is a good chance that British client chose you counting on very low rates; you know, savage Russia is so poor that every single democratic pound is a generous blessing

You don't need to figure out British rates, you need to charge Russian rates paid to serious professional interpreters. There were times when euro was worth 1.30/1.45 to dollar, and Moscow interpreters considered US interpreters dumpers - they wouldn't leave home for less that 650 euro/day while we here worked for $500 Our only excuse was that dollar purchasing power in the US was much higher than that of euro in Europe. Maybe it still is.

Make sure that you charge an equivalent of at least $50/hr and let him know that this is already discounted, 2 hours min, or decline. Or remind them that the cost of living in many Russian cities is much higher than in Mud Lick, Al or Crooked Shovel, MN, and very close to many big and mid-size European cities.

Hold your price and yourself high!
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Adieu
Vladimir Filipenko
 


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A client in Britain wants me to perform consecutive interpreting via Skype (Eng|Rus). Rates?







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