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Poll: Which setting do you find most challenging when interpreting?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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May 6

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which setting do you find most challenging when interpreting?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 11:32
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other May 6

Some recent questions in the Quick Poll make me wonder whether Proz’s focus has shifted from translators to interpreters…

Michael Newton
Philip Lees
Jianrong Sun
 
Michael Newton
Michael Newton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:32
Japanese to English
+ ...
interpreting setting May 7

As a sidebar, today I received a request via proz.com for a Japanese-English medical interpretation project. They are
paying USD 12.00 an hour. No wonder people are not renewing their memberships. Proz.com is offering us digital slop.

Maria Laura Curzi
 
Daryo
Daryo
Local time: 11:32
Serbian to English
+ ...
Looking for new membership base? May 10

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:

Some recent questions in the Quick Poll make me wonder whether Proz’s focus has shifted from translators to interpreters…


AI is still **very far** from being even passably usable for interpreting so there is no ongoing mass exodus there. Not now nor for the foreseeable future. Protein-based devices are still badly needed in interpreting – silicon is of no use there.

So presumably there is in interpreting some potential for new members. But even without AI there is a small fly in the ointment: thanks to previous improvements (the outsourcing craze) the interpreting jobs really worth doing are few and far between.

See ridiculous 'offers' for remote (telephone) interpreting - and in UK you have the case of the 'free market' being at its best - in the form of the Government few years agoon purpose giving the monopoly on interpreting in courts to ONE company - with the intended result of squeezing interpreting rates to barely above minimum wage. IOW, AI or no AI, for the bulk of the 'interpreting market' it's only marginally better than in translating.
 
Rodolfo Abachi
Rodolfo Abachi
Brazil
Local time: 07:32
Member (May 2026)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Court interpreting is uniquely demanding May 12

While I'm primarily a translator rather than an interpreter, I occasionally do interpreting work in professional settings. From my experience, court and legal interpreting is by far the most demanding — the stakes are extremely high, the terminology is highly specialized, and any misinterpretation can have serious legal consequences for the person being interpreted.

Medical settings are a close second, particularly in mental health or emergency contexts. The emotional weight and t... See more
While I'm primarily a translator rather than an interpreter, I occasionally do interpreting work in professional settings. From my experience, court and legal interpreting is by far the most demanding — the stakes are extremely high, the terminology is highly specialized, and any misinterpretation can have serious legal consequences for the person being interpreted.

Medical settings are a close second, particularly in mental health or emergency contexts. The emotional weight and technical vocabulary make it especially challenging.

Daryo's point about the UK market is important — the monopoly model for court interpreting has significantly compressed rates while maintaining (or increasing) professional demands. This is a systemic problem that professional associations should continue to push back against. ▲ Collapse
 


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Poll: Which setting do you find most challenging when interpreting?






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