(From a business perspective)
By Eva Xu, Senior Interpreter and Translator (Mandarin Chinese and English)
The Chinese New Year 2021 is fast approaching. Happy Year of Ox everyone! Here is hoping the down-to-earth, hard-working ox will bring us some much needed return to normality in this pandemic ridden world.
With the Chinese New Year coming up, it’s been slightly quieter on the work front. Everyone at He & Partners has been making the best use of this quiet period by reading, reflecting and recharging. Recently, we have been discussing what changes should be made in order for the European market (and the divorced UK) to really gain its strength from a speedy, accurate and smooth communication. One obvious but sometimes neglected solution is to use professional interpreters only.
Amateurism is Costly
Let’s say you’ve got a trade mission from China coming to your company for an important visit. You’ve got a deal to reach with your Chinese partner so you can hit your quarterly target—the stake is high. But what’s stopping you from looking for a professional interpreter?
Cost. It can seem fairly costly using an interpreter and there is no apparent direct return. You are scratching your head now—how do I justify this in a tight budget? Here is how. Interpreters are professionals like accountants, solicitors and stockbrokers. Few accountants charge less than £50/hour. Just as an accountant saves a business money, interpreters do so if misunderstandings are avoided and time saved, and we make money for you if orders are generated with our help.
This was particularly true in a project one of our interpreters did in a glass factory. The company initially thought someone who speaks both Chinese and English would do, but the project was delayed by a month and the staffing cost doubled because of this. The bilingual person couldn’t handle the technical jargons and the pressure of switching between languages without wasting even a second. On top of the delay, there was also the loss of not being able to produce on schedule for their buyers. Finally the company contacted us. With one of our interpreters assigned to the project, work was back on schedule.
Why You Need a Pro?
Like this factory, many companies think their internal staff who speaks both languages would just be sufficient. Interpreting is a highly skilled job that takes professional training and years of experience. Non-professionals are not trained to effectively memorise long chunks of speech. They tend to summarise, leaving out important details such as dates and numbers. When important deals and contracts are at stake, accuracy is imperative and gaps in information can cost some astronomical figures. That’s not to mention situations like contract negotiation where neutrality is required and it is simply inappropriate to use internal staff to interpret.
With years of experience interpreting for businesses, professional interpreters understand how businesses work best in cross-cultural contexts. They can help businesses understand not just the language, but the culture, the market, business etiquettes and customs—all added value of using professional interpreters.
Where Can You Find One?
Another problem is finding interpreters. You’ve just googled Chinese translator and you got hundreds of pages of results. You throw your hands up—how are you supposed to choose out of so many results? If you are reading this blog to this point, you’ve already solved this puzzle. All interpreters at He and Partners are accredited by the UN or EU – a stamp of highest level of quality guaranteed. They have also worked across different industries for numerous businesses, with in-depth understanding of both the Chinese and European markets.
Get in touch with us. Whatever your Chinese language need may be, we have the right solution for you.
About the author:
Eva is a professionally trained interpreter and translator with over 10 years of cross-industry experience, supporting leading organisations that require effective language solutions. Passionate about cross-cultural communications she bridges Chinese-English engagements with both accuracy and impact.
Throughout her career Eva has worked with multiple political leaders and departments. She works across ministerial level meetings, European-Chinese bilateral trade negotiations and UK-Chinese relationship development engagements. Eva is also a freelance interpreter for several United Nations agencies.
With a degree in law herself, Eva regularly works with the supreme courts of China and the UK, interpreting for exchanges between chief justices of both countries. She has also interpreted in high profile arbitration cases with a number of top legal firms.
Eva also specialises in banking and finance topics, working for leading commercial organisations and interpreting for executive training courses at prestigious European business schools. She also has extensive experience in the automotive, retail, architecture, education and technology sectors amongst others.
Having worked as a programme director for an American NGO, Eva is particularly interested in assisting civil society organisations. She works with large NGOs and charities in the UK to achieve their visions in fields such as environmental protection, legal reform and rights campaigning.
Get in touch with Eva, Senior Translator and Interpreter (Mandarin Chinese and English), He and Partners at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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