questions?

These two words are often thought to be interchangeable. However, the activities they describe are quite different: a translator will translate the written word whilst an interpreter orally reproduces what a speaker says.

We can of course provide any language combination you require and interpreters for as many parallel sessions you wish to organize. Please bear in mind that certain times of the year are very popular for conferences and it may be difficult to find qualified interpreters based in the city you have chosen for your event. Interpreters can be booked weeks and months in advance. We recommend that you contact us as soon as you start planning your meeting to ensure we are able to provide as many local interpreters as possible and avoid the extra cost of bringing them from further afield.

All professional conference interpreters have a university degree and have vast knowledge in numerous fields such as science, economics and politics which enable them to quickly grasp specialized notions. VIVA VOCE always recruits interpreters with the greatest experience in the required field. To enable the interpreters to prepare thoroughly for the specific topic of your meeting it is important that they receive all the relevant documents well in advance.

Some language combinations are much rarer than others and can be in great demand. We do our utmost to always provide the requested service, although in some cases it may be quite difficult and/or more costly. It is very important to book the interpreter/s with the rarer language combination as early as possible.

Interpreters often have a “natural” specialization. However, it may not be possible to find interpreters with specific knowledge of Hegel's doctrine at the venue of your meeting, but since all interpreters devote a lot of time to preparation they will master any difficult topic. If the topic is that specialized, it might be worthwhile bringing the interpreter(s) with specific knowledge and experience from further afield in order to ensure a good result, even though this will entail higher costs.

Not quite, but the word well depicts the fact that in order to render a speech in another language it is necessary to interpret the meaning. And, as in the case of musicians, each interpretation will be unique and slightly different from any other.

This has to be negotiated directly with the interpreter(s) concerned due to the copyright attached to his/her interpretation. The interpreters are free to accept or decline. Acceptance by the interpreter(s) in any event entails the payment of additional remuneration.

The number of listeners has no bearing on the interpreters' work. Interpreters will offer top performance regardless of whether they work for 1 or for 1000 delegates. Thus the cost to you will not vary: you pay for their professional performance.

Maybe, but it has never been proven! It is true, though, that ever since mankind has evolved into separate groupings, "intermediaries" with knowledge of languages and customs of one or more other groups have been pivotal in enabling communication. Without going back to prehistoric times, this is what Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, an agent of a Florentine bankers' family wrote around 1340 in a guide for merchants traveling to Asia: "And at Tana you should furnish yourself with a dragoman (interpreter). And you must not try to save money in the matter of dragomen by taking a bad one instead of a good one. For the additional wages of the good one will not cost you so much as you will save by having him." (Quoted from "The Discoverers" by Daniel Boorstin, New York: Random House, 1983). Francesco certainly knew it all! 

Indeed, there are only a few thousand professional conference interpreters worldwide when you consider all the languages spoken, or rather, all the languages interpreted.