Frequently Asked Questions

You can use our online booking system, call us on 01273 473986 or email info@vandu.co.uk

It varies depending on which organisation you’re contacting us from, but we’ll definitely need the language, time, date and duration, location of the appointment and your email, telephone number and invoice address, as well as the name of the client. Any other information, such as Hospital ID numbers or P.O numbers can be added as well.

Once we’ve received your request, you will get an email informing you that it’s on our booking system. we’ll then go through our database and contact the nearest interpreter to your appointment location, working down the list until an interpreter is found (we’ll let you know if the interpreter is a considerable distance away before we confirm it). Once the interpreter is assigned, you’ll get a confirmation email with a job number and the details of the appointment for your records.

Of course. We’ll try our absolute best if you have a specific preference, whether it's gender, religion or you’ve worked with particular interpreters before, and if we can’t fulfil your specific need we’ll let you know about any alternatives we might have.

This is highly dependent on the language you’re requesting. Core languages, such as Arabic, Polish and Portuguese can be arranged quickly, but we’ll likely need more than a weeks’ notice for rare languages such as Vietnamese. This is due to smaller pools of interpreters, so they’re often booked up in advance. Generally speaking, the more notice you can give the more likely we can confirm your booking.

We have a 24-hour cancellation policy at Vandu. Cancellations within the 24-hour period are only charged for the interpreting time, but if the booking is cancelled and the interpreter is already on their way, the full invoice (including travel time and travel expenses) will be charged. A similar policy is in place for our remote interpreting. If you cancel for any reason within 24 hours of the booking start time, you will be charged for the duration of the appointment. Our cancellation policy aims to be fair to both customers and interpreters. While we appreciate schedules can change very quicky for our customers, interpreters put aside their time and reject other jobs to be available for you and we are responsible for making sure they are not impacted by any losses when it comes to late cancellations.

There are three ways we can set up telephone interpreting. You can use our Interpreting Management System which has an inbuilt caller function - this is also the only way to access our On Demand service, where you can call through straight to an interpreter and bypass the office. Otherwise, you can give us the call details and we can set up the call in the office, or should the interpreter give us permission, we can give you their telephone number and you set up the conference call.

Professional interpreters are hugely important if you want to have an accurate, honest and smooth conversation with someone who doesn't speak the same language as you. All of our interpreters are Level 3 Community Interpreting qualified as a base level, with many having further qualifications and specialisations. When you rely on family member of your end user, or a colleague who speaks another language you run the risk of culturally sensitive information not being communicated or important words being mistranslated. These problems are eliminated when you work with a Vandu Languages interpreter.

Vandu Languages offer Face to face, video and telephone interpreting. Face to face involves having an interpreter arrive to a location and provide their services onsite, telephone interpreting is a call over the phone or via our remote interpreting systems and finally, video interpreting involves providing a link to Vandu so that our interpreters can join you on a video call, on any platform you might require as well as our own inbuilt system.

You can request a translation directly through our website, vandu.co.uk/account/login or by emailing translations@vandu.co.uk. You can also call us on 01273 473 986.

As a rule of thumb, a translator can work through 2,000-3,000 words of text per day, depending on document type and complexity. Technical or specialist documents and documents with complex formatting will normally take a little longer to translate; and please note that if proofreading is required, this will usually lengthen the turnaround time as well.

Our standard rate is £140 per 1,000 words of text for most documents. For proofreading, we typically charge £15 per 1,000 words (with a minimum of £15). For the translation of certificates, we charge £55 per page; the cost of proofreading certificate translations varies and will depend on the specific document in question as well as the language. We will agree a fixed quote with you before proceeding with your translation so you know exactly what the cost will be before the work begins. Please note that the above prices are exclusive of VAT. For pricing details relating to audio and video transcription/translation, please email us using the email address above. If you’re part of an organisation with whom we have an existing relationship, or if you work in the public sector, we will invoice your organisation approximately 1 month after we’ve completed and returned your translation. If you’re a new private or commercial customer, we will usually require full or partial payment to be made before we start work on your translation. Our Translations Co-ordinator will advise you on the details of invoicing and payment. NB: The above rate of £140/1,000 words applies to documents that contain more than 400 words. For documents of 400 words or fewer, our prices – excluding VAT – are as follows: 1-100 words/£25 101-200 words/£35 201-300 words/£45 301-400 words/£55

Your translation will be completed by a qualified, experienced linguist with translation-specific training and qualifications.

Yes. Your document will only be seen by our Translations Co-ordinator and the linguists who work on the document. Your document will be stored securely and will not be shared with third parties.

Vandu Languages offer Face to face, video and telephone interpreting. Face to face involves having an interpreter arrive to a location and provide their services onsite, telephone interpreting is a call over the phone or via our remote interpreting systems and finally, video interpreting involves providing a link to Vandu so that our interpreters can join you on a video call, on any platform you might require as well as our own inbuilt system.

We can translate all types of documents, including reports, assessments, certificates, contracts, letters, brochures, and flyers. Once your translation is completed, we can have it proofread by a second linguist to ensure that it’s as accurate as possible. We can work with a range of file types, although most of our customers supply us with Word or PDF documents. We also offer a translation certification service: this means that once your translation has been completed and proofread, we will stamp, sign, and attach a cover page to it to attest that it’s a true and accurate translation of the source document. Should you require audio or video content to be transcribed and translated, we can also assist with this.

A bilingual advocate allows people who can’t yet understand English to make informed decisions about their health and social care. Our fully qualified bilingual advocates will act on their behalf, helping communicate their needs and expressing their concerns, briding the language and cultural gap.

In society today, we often use the word advocate in relation to many issues where we’re seeking to address inequalities. For example, someone could be support advocacy for gender equality— but it can be unclear what the role of an advocate actually is and what is isn’t. So why is advocacy necessary and in what kinds of situations do clients need this service? The primary goal of a bilingual advocate is to help level the playing field and bridge any cultural gaps when it comes to the inequality of power between the end-user and the organization they need to communicate with.

Typically, advocacy services are used in situations where the client is unable to have their needs fully understood due to barriers such as language or difference in cultures, in the case of bilingual advocacy. Language and culture aren't the only factor that needs to be taken into account, however, the client also needs to understand the information, services, and options available so they can make informed choices.