How to find your suitable interpreter in China

An interpreter is very important when you are having a business or relaxing trip or formal meetings in China. With their accompany, you can totally focus on your own business. Due to the convenience of the internet, you can always easily find one through google or some other social networks. There are too many interpreters online or in a web of translation companies, because of different experiences in different aspects, their daily rate also varies, but do you really know whether you really need one or how to choose a suitable one?


TRAVEL

If you come to China only for traveling, then the most important thing is to make yourself enjoy the most at the local place. So you’d better find a local interpreter who actually knows the city or the place that attracts you. An English touring interpreter normally has no special requires on their capability as long as they can communicate with you fluently. The daily rate of this type normally is the cheapest. It’s unnecessary to pay too much on a high qualified interpreter unless you don’t care about your cost. If your budget is limited, you can always go with the lowest price offer. While a very talkative, positive, passionate interpreter can make your trip fruitful enough.


FACTORY CHECKING OR LOCAL MARKET VISITING

If you are the first time to China for the purchasing. Always remember an experienced interpreter is the most important point for you. Don’t save your budget on it unless you have another local friend as a business guide for you. Normally an experienced interpreter will charge 2-3 times or even more than the new ones. However they can help you not only with pure interpretation, but also teach you how to find your good suppliers, how to negotiate with those factories or which market to go, even to save money on your trip, etc. They collect bad experiences from other clients and offer you the best of the best. While you’d better don’t count everything on them, you should always be the one to take the lead when you meet suppliers. To verify a real experienced interpreter you can always post him/her your doubts about the trip, or just make a call to them, see whether you can solve out your problem right away or not.


HAVING MEETINGS WITH SUPPLIERS

If you have come to China many times and you still need an interpreter to make sure everything goes well and makes sure your work here efficient. You may also need to find an experienced one and the ones who know about your industry. The technical parts of the products are not a familiar field for all interpreters.


ATTENDING TRADE SHOWS

If you come to attend the fairs, mostly the sales of the exhibitors can speak English. You can book a hotel nearby, they have all the signs on the day of fair. So the interpreters is not a must for you unless you have the intention to chat with the ones who don’t speak English at all, or unless you just want a person to arrange everything for you like a secretary. The normal fair charge free for the entry, but for canton fair, only the entry of an interpreter can be 45USD/day. It’s a really high cost. You need to reserve in advance.


BUSINESS FOLLOWING UP

If you need a person who can always help when you are in need here in China. An interpreter with a good knowledge of international trade will be super cool. They may have experiences of sales and buyers at the same time. They have a good sense of business stuff, and they know exactly what you need. They can be your connecting person in China, follow up your orders with suppliers, verify your suppliers, arrange your shipments, collect your goods from various suppliers, etc.


CONFERENCE

If you are having formal meetings such as news conference or new products release, an simultaneous or consecutive interpreter is needed. Different from the business interpreter, simultaneous or consecutive interpreter accept more professional language interpretation training. The good ones make a living of their pure language skills.
In conclusion, most of the interpreters are really responsible in China. They always try their best to make their services valuable to you. Some can even be very good friends or have a long term business relationship. The taboo for clients is never ever pissing off your interpreter, always treat them nicely, consider them as part of your member during your visit in China, believe me, they will always pay you back more.

More China Travel Tips:
Accommodation
Bargaining Tips
Clothing
Embassy
Dealing With Emergency
Etiquette
Chinese Food
Money Issues
Shopping in China
Tipping Practice
Transportation
Visa Application
Business Culture
Negotiations
Business Meeting
Making Contact