UN Interpretation System

Key Points

• Big Earpieces at the UN: Used for real-time translations.
• Six Official Languages: Arabic, British English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.
  • Working Languages: English and French.

Interpretation Setup

• Earpieces and Buttons: Allow delegates to choose their language.
• Interpreter Booths: Visible from the audience, labeled by language.

Interpreter Standards

• Interpreters, Not Translators: Interpreters handle spoken language, translators handle written.
• Native Speakers: Interpreters are native speakers of their booth's language.
• Dual Role: Interpret into their native language.
• Multilingual Interpreters: Each booth typically covers at least three languages.

Relay System

• How It Works: When a language isn't covered in a booth, they use a middleman language.
• Common Practice: Often used for languages like Arabic and Chinese.
• Limitations: Only one middleman language allowed to avoid confusion.

Additional Language Speeches

• Speaker's Responsibility: Speakers must provide an interpreter for non-official languages.
• UN Coverage: UN interpreters translate into the remaining official languages.

Interpreter Careers

• Tough to Get: Competitive exams held every three years; require many qualifications.
• Freelancers: Called in as needed; earn $666/day.
• High Costs: In 1984-85, $78 million spent on interpretation ($235 million today).

Skill and Preparation

• Preparation: Advance information and documents provided.
• Accents: Trained to understand various accents.
• Delay Timing: Maintain perfect delay to ensure accuracy.

Challenges

• Neurological Effort: Uses multiple brain areas. Interpreters swap out every 20-30 minutes.
• Meeting Coverage: 7-8 meetings per week, each 3 hours long.
• Error Consequences: Errors corrected for the record; big errors not tolerated.

Conclusion

• UN Interpreters: Essential for diplomacy, work from the sidelines.

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