Frequently Asked Questions

At its most essential, translators work with written content, while interpreters work with the spoken word. Translators and interpreters have similar skills but work in a very different way.

At CCA, we have a proven 3-step process that provides our clients with the most accurate and precise results, every time. This consists of:

• Translation: a first translator handles the first draft of your translation;
• Editing: a second translator checks the meaning, style, grammar, punctuation, and ensures the translation is accurate and complete.
• Proofreading: a third linguist conducts a final check, resolving any formatting issues and any last typos.

Read A Closer Look at a Translator’s Job for information on how exactly a translator works, including with glossaries and style guides.

CCA has some of the strictest criteria for translators who wish to join our team. Read What Qualifications Should I Look for in a Translator or Interpreter? for more details.

Machine translation like Google Translate is fine for quick help, not for your carefully thought-of marketing, legal, medical, and technical documents, which may be full of technical terms, humor, play on words or cultural nuances, which automated translation would certainly miss.

There are many translation schools, but only a handful of them offer the industry’s sough-after programs.

Simply put, because only native speakers of the target language can ensure the accuracy of your document by immediately detecting the nuances, including the cultural ones, of the original text and conveying them faithfully in the target language.

A quality translation is defined as accurate and complete, but quality services from your service provider should be much more than just that. Read about reliable indicators of a quality translation here.

• Translation,
• Transcription,
• Transliteration, and
• Transcreation.

More details are available here, along with more translation terminology here.

CCA has very strict vetting criteria for an interpreter to join our team; they should be highly professional experts, and have a wide range of experience. Read What Qualifications Should I Look for in a Translator or Interpreter? for more details.

Simultaneous interpreters use very specific equipment to do their work, and failure to have the correct working equipment could jeopardize the success of your event. CCA offers rental equipment, from soundproof booths to microphones and portable headsets, so feel free to contact us for more information.

Also called Distance Interpreting or Teleconferencing Services, Remote Simultaneous Interpretation allows interpreters to interpret from anywhere in the world, for instance on Zoom, without having to be physically at the site of your multilingual event. RSI is a way for clients to get access to simultaneous interpretation from the comfort – and safety – of their home office. It represents both challenges and opportunities for interpreters.

Making sure that everyone knows their way around your virtual meeting platform and that interpreters have early access to your meeting materials are just a few our pointers on how to ensure the success of your RSI event. Contact CCA for more information.

Conference interpreters have specific skills and formal education – as well as rigorous training and selection criteria that community interpreters may often lack; both types are also not interchangeable. More information is available here.

Interpreters work in teams to ensure quality and prevent interpreter fatigue.

• Escort/liaison,
• Consecutive, and
• Simultaneous

Here are our tips on which to use for your event.

Please also see our pages on consecutive and simultaneous interpretation along with a detailed explanation on the difference between each mode.

They are synonymous with simultaneous interpretation. More information on the birth of “simul” can be found here.

The path to becoming an interpreter is outlined here on our website, along with more information on conference interpretation in general.

Community interpreters include interpreters working for social services, hospitals, and courts. Conference interpreters are a league of their own; CCA always recommends using conference interpreters for your conference.

By understanding how to work with interpreters, providing them with as much information on your event and your organization as you can, and sharing your materials with them. Also read about an interpreter’s wish list, and our tips on how to ensure a successful virtual meeting with interpretation.

Excellent International Sign Language Interpreters are few and highly specialized. Contact CCA for more information.

Accents are crucial if you want to target – and avoid offending – a specific audience, especially for languages such as Chinese, Spanish, and French.

For all its translation projects, CCA always focuses on a very specific process that has enabled us to ensure the highest quality so your content doesn’t get lost in translation. Professional interpreters leverage the power of languages to facilitate diplomacy, enhance the effectiveness of housing an international delegation, and optimize the potential of executive briefing centers.

A, B, and C languages define an interpreter’s working languages. Read our article on this subject for more detailed information regarding native, active, and passive languages.

• Proficient means that you can hold a conversation – you can make yourself understood.
• Fluent means you’re comfortable speaking another language.
• Native level is what it takes a linguist for CCA to use them. Some linguists are bilingual, very few are trilingual.
• More information is also available here.

The interpreter’s code of ethics covers essential things like confidentiality, dress code, and etiquette.

Read about a translator and an interpreter’s wish lists here and about common misconceptions about translators here.

Because CCA is owned and managed by translators and interpreters who know the ins-and-outs of the industry and have demonstrated years of consistent quality. Based on our criteria to select your language provider, you’ll soon realize that with CCA, your translation project and your interpretation event are in good hands.

With legal language experts on staff, CCA is specialized in legal translation and interpretation. We can help with expert witnesses for legal services, including for international arbitration matters. In general, you should only trust professional language experts to handle your legal translation and interpretation projects.

The Chinese language has several dialects so you should make sure that you use the right linguists in order to avoid any diplomatic faux-pas, especially considering that the demand for Chinese language services has been on the rise.

Absolutely. Latin American Spanish and Castilian (Peninsular) Spanish can be quite different. You should use the right one based on your target audience.

It might come to you as a surprise to hear that French is one of the most important yet diverse languages in the world, and Paris is often considered the capital of the interpretation world. As one of the languages of the future, French has a wide range of accents – just any French interpreter won’t do!