Community interpreting – a blanket term to refer to interpreting services provided in different settings in the community, as opposed to the provision of interpreting services at multilingual international conferences, also known as liaison interpreting, public service interpreting and dialogue interpreting. Community interpreting is usually conducted in the consecutive mode, though SI (usually chuchotage) and Sight Translation are sometimes used.

Subsets of community interpreting

Community interpreting can be further divided into different subsets depending on the settings in which interpreting services are provided. The two major subsets of community interpreting are:

Medical interpreting – interpreting services provided in healthcare settings, for example, at medical consultations or examinations where the medical personnel and the patient do not speak the same language.

Legal interpreting – interpreting services provided in legal settings such as courts, police stations, law firms and immigration offices.