Do I need a certified and accredited language professional?

There is no doubt that certified and accredited language professionals are the most qualified interpreters in this business. They have to go through required training procedures, and pass oral and written examinations before receiving certification. In each state, certification requirements vary greatly. The availability of certification depends on the resources and funding situation of each state; some states have the resources to conduct such certification processes, some states do not.

In the United States, the American Translators Association (ATA) has an accreditation program which is recognized nationwide. In the state of Washington, the Department of Judiciary certifies interpreters for legal interpretation in many languages, and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) certifies interpreters and translators for both medical and social services. In Oregon, the Department of Judiciary certifies for legal interpretation only in Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese. Interpreters of other languages only can be court-listed interpreters. In Oregon, there is no certification requirement for interpreters for medical and social service appointments, although one is currently being developed at the State level.

Usually, the more "popular" the language is (e.g. Spanish), the more certified interpreters are available. As for the interpreters of "less popular" languages, you should not expect them to have certification. This is not necessarily because the interpreter cannot or does not want to become certified, but because the local government agencies do not certify the languages spoken by these interpreters. In this situation, the interpreter's experience and educational background become the key reference points.

Please also keep in mind that the service fee for a certified interpreter is normally higher than for the interpreter who does not have such certification. Service cost also increases depending on the difficulty level of the technical interpretation. We recommend that you give a clear and accurate description to the interpretation service provider about your needs so that an interpreter with the right experience and qualifications can be sent to you.

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What is consecutive interpretation?

For consecutive interpretation, the interpreter orally translates after the speaker has finished an entire sentence. Sometimes the speaker likes to complete more than one sentence at a time and then stop to give a chance for the interpreter to translate orally. This is the most popular interpretation method. We recommend that the interpreter should have a break of 15 minutes after every hour of interpretation. It is normal for the interpreter to ask the speaker to clarify or explain the meaning of certain expressions, slang, or terminology in order to provide the highest quality services possible.

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How to become a translator?

Operating as a translator at home is definitely a good way to go. I everyone should give a try. Here are some suggestions for you to consider:

Step One:

1. Get a good computer (most translators use PC, but when you get more business, you should have a Mac, because Mac computer works great with graphic work and foreign languages.)
2. Install Microsoft Office. Most translation agency or client want translation files created by MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
3. Be sure have a good Chinese input software program. The keyboards came with Windows 2000 and XP work great with Microsoft Office, but problems happen when you have other Chinese software programs installed.
4. Get an email service.
5. Get a laser printer, such as HP printer, 600 dpi.

Step Two:

1. Prepare a nice one-page long resume, and mail to the translation agencies you like to work for. The Blue Board in ProZ.com has information about many agencies. When you write your resume, be sure list your education and work experience. You do NOT have to have a degree in translation to be a translator. What counts is your work experience and translation works.
2. Increase your visibility and establish your credibility. You can join in a translators' website. ProZ.com is a good one to start with. You can participate in the activities in Kudoz and Chinese Forum at ProZ.com.
3. Translate something and place both the source text and the translation side by side. Save the file as PDF format. You can email it along with your resume. Or place them in your website as your SAMPLE translation. Your work can give people an idea about your translation skills. I normally do not agree to do free sample translations for anybody, because there are too many scams out there.
4. Constantly prepare yourself for better by reading the publications, especially in the fields you are good at. Watch TV programs from China and Taiwan, which can keep you updated the current events in those areas.
5. Start to bid jobs at ProZ.com. You can bid lower at the beginning. Bidding and marketing yourself is a cruel process. You can get used to it soon. Remember:
   You can sell yourself, but NOT your soul. Good luck with your endeavor!

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What is special about legal interpretation?

The interpreter should be specially trained to work with legal terminology in the court setting and with lawyers. The translation has to tightly match the words and sentences of the source language. Accuracy is strictly required and highly expected. The interpreter is required to provide consecutive, simultaneous and sight interpretation accordingly. Common legal procedures which require interpretation services include depositions, mediations, court trials, etc.

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What is phone Interpretation?

The interpreter performs interpretation via the phone. This method is more often adopted by lawyers, insurance companies and business firms. It usually requires a "conference" or "three way call" feature from your telephone service provider.

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What is sight Interpretation?

The interpreter orally translates from a written document (e.g. a letter, note, etc.) in the pace permitted by his/her reading comprehension. It is always a good idea to let the interpreter access the written document before the interpretation and have enough time to read through the entire document needing sight interpretation. This method is often used in court settings.

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What do you mean by Social Services?

This category is very broad, referring to most types of interpretation performed for government, health care, or non-profit organizations. Consecutive interpretation is always required in this category. The interpreter usually works with a case worker, and the subjects are often about benefits, policy issues, etc.

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What is simultaneous interpretation?

The interpreter orally translates about 5-10 seconds behind the speaker. This interpretation method is often adopted in conference or court settings. Because of the "instantaneous" interpretation requirement, normally 90-95% accuracy is considered excellent. Each interpreter should not work longer than 45 minutes before a 15-minute break, and each shift should not exceed two hours. Only a small number of interpreters can provide such service because it requires special training and a high degree of expertise.

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What is considered "technical" interpretation?

Such interpretation requires that the linguist has background education or knowledge about the subject matter. The interpreter should have sufficient time to prepare for the subject with as much background information and brochures as are available. Subjects classified as "technical" may include medical, computer, machinery, etc. Most technical interpretation only requires the interpreter to provide consecutive interpretation.

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What services are offered by a tour guide interpreter?

Such a job requires the interpreter to have a good knowledge of the people, history, and local customs of the area to be visited. It is a plus to have a friendly, outgoing personality so that the group can be entertained as well as informed.

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How to convert the Simplified Chinese characters into Traditional Chinese characters?

As we all know, it had been a pain in the neck for long time to convert Simplified Chinese characters (GB code) to Traditional Chinese characters (Big5 code), or vice versa. However, this is not a problem anymore, especially for the PC users who have Windows 2000 or XP and also use MS Office 2000 or XP.

Microsoft developed 2 software packages to handle such conversion job. One is called "Microsoft Proofreading Tool", the other is "Multilanguage User's Interface." You only need one of them to get such job done. You can find more information about these two software programs in Microsoft's website.

After one of these programs is installed, you can open a Chinese Word file, say in GB code, then go to "Tools" in the menu bar, rollover "Language" and select "Chinese translation", then a popup window appears, asking you the conversion direction, select the radio button you want. Before the blink of your eyes, the job is done! These two programs work with MS Word seamlessly, and made the Chinese conversion in a breeze. I have been using them for over five months now, and never have had a problem. I am so pleased with them, and wish you all should have it.

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How to setup Chinese keyboard for PC?

I use the Chinese keyboards came with the Windows XP (Windows 200 also have them). They works very smooth with MS Office. No computer freeze and compatibility problems anymore, but I do feel sorry about all those Chinese language vendors losing this business to Microsoft. I did have to buy a Chinese font package to increase my Chinese font selections, because the Windows only give 2 fonts for the SCH characters and 2 fonts for the TCH characters.

When you want to type Chinese characters in Windows 2000 or XP, you have to decide to Type Chinese Traditional characters (Big5 code) or Simplified Characters (GB code). They are different keyboard and have to be set up separately.

Both Windows 2000 and XP come with those two keyboards. This is what you need to do:

1. Click "Start" button and select "Control Panel"
2. Find the icon "Regional and Language Options", click it open.
3. Click the "Language" tab
4. Then in "Language" page, click "Details..." button.
5. At the middle section on the right side, there is a button named "Add...", click it.
6. In the new popup window, in the "Input Language" box, click the down arrow, the pull-down menu appears.
7. Select and click "Chinese (PRC)"(This is for Simplified Chinese Characters. Otherwise, select 'Chinese (Taiwan)' for Traditional Characters), then click "Apply", then click "OK".
8. In the next window, click "Apply", then click "OK" to exit the Control Panel.
9. Now, at the bottom tool bar on your desktop, you should see the language button, click on it, the pull-down menu should show all the languages there, select "Chinese GB" or "Chinese Big5" to type Chinese. If you need type English, switch the keyboard to "English".

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Is Taiwanese and Mandarin same?

It is confusing. Sorry about that! I will try my best to explain it to you, and try to keep it short, too.

The quick answer to your question is "No." Taiwanese and Mandarin are two different things.

Taiwanese is a usage that nowadays is getting more popular. By the word itself, I think it meant ONLY the people who are born and/or live in Taiwan, or even from Taiwan. It should NOT be used to refer to a written or spoken language that is used by the people in Taiwan. This is because that, in the reality, the written language used in Taiwan is the Chinese language written in Traditional Characters. It is used daily in most of the publications and mass media in Taiwan.

As for spoken language, it is also a far fetch to label anything that is uniquely Taiwan. Mandarin from the mainland China is popularly used in the local government, TV, Radio, school and universities, and can be considered as the official spoken language. In the recent years, especially after the shift of its political power to the new party, the regional dialects, such as Min-nan-hua, a dialect from Fujian Province, China, became more popularly used in the circumstances that usually Mandarin has been used. There is another popular regional dialect called Hakka, which is also from China. There are several spoken languages used by the mountain people or tribes, but they are never in the mainstream. As a matter fact, those spoken languages of the minorities in the mountain areas are struggling for survival. In such a situation, I wonder who can pinpoint which written or spoken language can be labeled as Taiwanese?

Just for your information, Chinese in Simplified Characters is used as written language in the mainland China, and the official spoken language there is Mandarin. With my explanation above, I guess you can certainly help your clients narrow down the exact targeted readers or audiences that they are trying to communicate with. Personally, I think to call Taiwanese a language is confusing and misleading.

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