Question by samurai: When you go on a business trip to China, do you hire an interpreter? How do you find an interpreter?
I am an English-Chinese interpreter/translator in Hangzhou,China so I think your answer can help me do a better job. Thank you!
I want to expand my business.
Before I become an interpreter, I also work in several international trade companies so I can say I have experiences in many industries. So far I have accompanied my clients to companies and factories in medical apparatus, fabrics, bicycles, camera,plastic machinery,etc. No problem so far.
Best answer:
Answer by Cultural Insight
Interpreters are for tour groups and foreigners on shopping sprees. Business people need much more than an ordinary interpreter.
Conducting business overseas requires multilingual personnel with specialized industry, technical, and/or legal expertise. An ordinary interpreter is useless in negotiating a technically complex contract or explaining engineering specifications for advanced electronics.
It is important to understand the limitations of your skills. Being a translator doesn’t make you qualified to work in a business environment. Focus your marketing efforts where they will do you some good. I suggest that you contact travel agencies serving the Hangzhou area and see if you could work for them. Forget about working for a Fortune 500 company because you don’t have the diverse and complex skills they are looking for. Sorry, but you need to understand the reality of the business world.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Yes, if your work need it. But if you just want to travel around the city, you can hire a tour guide. It will be cheaper to hire a tour guide for you.
Usually, most companies in China have their own “foreign” accounts specialists who can accommodate foreign inquiries and such. They would usually exchange and answer emails in English.
There are many individual interpreters (you can make a search online) with specific industry specialization e.g. clothing/garments, electrical, chemical, mechanical/machineries, construction, etc. The industry specialization is important because there are some technical terms wherein they have the experience and knowledge to relay the key information to you. They usually post their names, email, contact information, and brief description of their interpretation experience. You may email them regarding their location, and availability, as well as price.
In my opinion, interpreters / translators must have experience in a particular industry with many foreign buyers / traders to gain technical knowledge.
The best place and cheapest is a private school that teaches English. When I taught in China many people came to our school to get help with translator.