Feb 10

Request for advice: English to Japanese phone translation rates?

Advice, Career, Translating/Interpreting Add Comment (1)

The question has been raised by a JET alum translator/interpreter:

“Does anybody have an idea what the going rate for telephone interpretation (E<>J) is?”

Please post any responses in the comment section.


one comment so far...

  • Adam Bigelow Said on February 13th, 2009 at 12:50 am:

    This depends entirely on the level of service that you are going to provide. Ask the following questions:

    1. Is there preparation time involved?
    If so, you will need a separate rate for this time.
    2. Will you be required to produce a summary of the conversation in either or both languages?
    Again, this is a time consuming task and you will need to determine pricing for it.
    3. What type of professional and technical experience do you have interpreting?
    Unexperienced interpreters should not charge high rates, period. Additionally, a humanities major should not charge high rates for technical interpretation.

    Given the above, a basic rate for interpretation over the phone should probably be between 2,500 to 5,000 yen per hour. It is also perfectly normal to establish a minimum charge for shorter phone calls as well. You could charge 5000 yen per page of summary, and 1500 yen per hour of preparation time.

    Good Luck!

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