Interpreting Services FAQ

We have answered some of the most commonly asked questions in relation to our Interpreting Services for your convenience, but if you would like to know more or you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to contact us and one of our friendly team will be happy to help.

What Interpreting Services do we offer?

Translation.ie provides the highest quality interpreting services for any setting. Our highly experienced and qualified interpreters will assist you to communicate in any language using Simultaneous Interpreting, Conference InterpretingConsecutive Interpreting, Community and Social Interpreting, Liaison Interpreting, Business and consultation meetings (Medical, Legal, Business),  Telephone Interpreting, and Sign Language Interpreting  and Video Remote Interpreting. Each field is specialist in its own way, you will need to let us know what your requirement is so that we can get you the best person available fro your needs and to match your budget. 

Do we provide interpreters for private appointments, eg. a doctor’s appointment?

Yes. We have professional interpreters to suit any of your needs. Whether that be in a highly confidential setting such as is the case in medical appointments or for legal consultations; we have discreet translators who are sensitive to the delicate nature of such situations. We can also attend other events, eg. Business Meetings, Community Interpreting (HSE, Social Welfare Offices, etc), Health & Safety Training, Civil Registration/Marriage Ceremony, and many more.

What information do we need at the time of booking an interpreter?

When booking an interpreter, you will need to provide us with the following information:

  • The nature of the assignment, whether it is Simultaneous Interpreting,  Consecutive Interpreting, Telephone Interpreting, or Sign Language Interpreting. (If you are unsure of which service best suits your needs, we can help you to decide if you let us know the setting of the event, ie. a doctor’s appointment or a small business meeting with some non-English speakers)
  • The number of interpreters required.
  • Date, time and location where the interpreter(s) need to attend.
  • Contact details of the client
  • Any specific requirements regarding the interpreter, eg. male or female, country of origin where the interpreter is from, any dialect involved, etc.

How much do we charge for our services?

How we charge varies depending on the service required:

For Simultaneous Interpreting roles such as conference interpreting, there are a various array of considerations , not least of which is the setting and the preparation required. We usually charge a daily rate, depending on the availability of the interpreter, and any special skill sets, languages or domain specific requirements or if equipment such as headsets or audio booths and technicians need to be provided.

For consecutive interpreting roles, we charge on a per-hour basis. Also, based on the language and the location of the assignment, some travelling cost may apply. Please feel free contact our office for more details and to obtain a personalised quotation for your needs. Contract clients can avail of a 24 hours, 7 days a week, all year round, direct point of contact for emergency or ad-hoc arrangements. It is always best to give plenty of advance notice fro bookings to secure and schedule the best available interpreter for your needs.  

How much notice do we need in order to provide an interpreter?

Translation.ie. is proud to be able to provide interpreters for urgent same-day requests for the most commonly spoken languages throughout Ireland. However, as demand can naturally fluctuate, we suggest that for non-urgent assignments, get in touch to book your interpreter in as far as advance as possible, this is especially true for conference interpreting due to the preparations required and to schedule resources, because several types of events can occur at the same time, are seasonal and usually planned well in advance which is the norm. For less difficult settings and non urgent appointments requiring consecutive interpreting skills, for frequently encountered languages we have a team of 8 interpreting scheduling managers to manage appointments so at least 1-2 days prior notice is very prudent so we can shuffle things around, the more notice the better. For contract clients we operate a 24/7/365 ad-hoc service. Private clients will need to ensure they have allowed sufficient time to ensure we can set up your accounts before we can assign interpreters.

Our state of the art interpreter booking system sends audit and confirmation emails at each step of the process for all your appointments so you can be sure that things are running smoothly.

What’s the difference between Consecutive Interpreting and Simultaneous Interpreting?

Consecutive Interpretation requires the speaker to stop after a few sentences and let the interpreter interpret the speaker’s statement. In Simultaneous Interpretation, the interpreter, who normally uses interpreting equipment and usually working in pairs in a soundproof booth, listens to the speaker’s speech in one language and simultaneously converts it into another language, interpreting language and cultural references into the target language on the fly, without waiting for the speaker to finish his or her statement. Simultaneous Interpreting is an extremely highly skilled area that requires immense personal ability, specialist training, education as well as superb linguistic talent, this type of interpreting is used for high-level conferences, while Consecutive Interpreting is used mostly for client meetings and depositions.

What languages can our interpreters offer?

A lot! Translation.ie provides interpreting services for more than 220 languages and dialects spoken in Ireland. Chances are that we can accommodate your language needs, just get in touch and we’ll be glad to help.

How many interpreters are we currently working with?

At present, we are proud to have more than 3900 interpreters from almost every language and cultural background on our team, they are located throughout the country in different areas so it is always prudent to schedule because as demands varies enormously depending on seasonal factors and skills available in different specialities and localities.

If you have any further questions about interpreting, you can always contact us. We are available 24 hours.