Note: For the purposes of this 'How To' interpreting refers to verbal languages, other non-verbal languages including British Sign Language (BSL) can be accessed in the 'How to book a BSL Interpreter or translation' section.
An interpreter is someone who is (at least) bilingual and has the ability and training to be able to work between two languages and facilitate communication between people. They are able to convert information from one language into another, for example, from English into another language or dialect. Interpreting can be face-to-face, remote video or by telephone.
Translating is converting a written language to another written language so that it can be easily understood by the reader.
When organising a meeting or event, it should be standard practice to promote the availability of alternative formats or languages. See the How To Promote Alternative Formats and Languages section for more information.
Once a need has been identified you should contact a potential supplier outlining the service you are looking for, the language required and a proposed timeline to ask for a quote.
Things to consider when requesting an interpreter or translation
Suggested request templates available at end of this section
If an individual requirement is less than £10,000, it can be sourced at the discretion of the individual. For anything between that and £50,000 it would be a request to Corporate Procurement Unit (CPU) for a quick quote. Guidance for this is available on the CPU intranet pages here.
Responsibility for providing an interpreter or translation is with the council family and not the Service User. Interpreting and translation services should be paid from responsible programme or Service budgets. Steps should be taken by budget holders to make sure that appropriate funding is available for these services.
It should be noted that this is not a definitive list of suppliers and represents the first and second preference as identified through the Scottish Government Language Framework. Alternative suppliers can be contacted.
Organisation | Interpreting Enquiries | Translation Enquiries |
Global Connections (Scotland) Limited | Email: interpreting@globalconnects.com | Email: translations@globalconnects.com |
Global Language Services | Email: mail@globalglasgow.com | Email: translations@globalglasgow.com |
Interpreter:
Format of meeting |
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Number of participants |
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Content of meeting |
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Language required |
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Translation:
Type of document |
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Content of document |
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Format required |
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Language required |
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