United Nations Interpretation Service

The United Nations Interpretation Service is a part of the [http://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/functions_impd.htm Meetings and Publishing Division] ( [http://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/functions_impd.htm MPD] ) of the UN's [http://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/index.html Department for General Assembly and Conference Management] ( [http://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/functions_impd.htm DGACM] ). Its core function is to provide interpretation from and into Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish for meetings held at UN Headquarters, and those at other locations which the department is responsible for servicing. Interpretation is essential to the inter-governmental bodies for the proper conduct and smooth functioning of their deliberations.Abud-Krafft, Salome and Elena Howard. United Nations Interpretation Service: Information for Incoming Headquarters Staff. (Publisher: United Nations Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, New York:2000), 02 May 2000, 15 pages.] [http://un-interpreters.org/index.html Interpreters of the United Nations, UN-Interpreters.org] , retrieved on: 08 June 2007]

History and evolution

The creation of the conference interpreting service – and the interpreting profession itself – at the United Nations has a direct connection with the evolution of international diplomatic relations, the League of Nations, the Nuremberg Trials, the founding of the United Nations, and the birth of multilingualism within the United Nations itself. [http://webeus.usal.es Baigorri-Jalón, Jesús. Barr, Anne (English Translation from Spanish). Interpreters at the United Nations: A History. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca:2004, page 106.] - ISBN 84-7800-643-5.]

Early days of the interpreting profession

Most of the early interpreters of the United Nations were natural polyglots who were uprooted by wars and revolutions. For years, the only criterion used to select potential interpreters was the knowledge of two international languages the interpreters had to communicate in. Polyglots were found mainly in privileged social groups, government employees and professionals in colonial empires, in militarily and diplomatically powerful nations, in political or ideological exiles, in those who leave their countries temporarily for academic purposes, and in children of couples who speak different languages.

After the 1960s, there was change in the sociological make-up of UN interpreters. The United Nations began recruiting and training potential interpreters who were monolingual from birth but had learned and specialized in languages. This generation of interpreters did not come from privileged groups or complex migratory backgrounds.

In contrast with the early beginnings of the profession, there was also a progressive addition of women in the field of conference interpreting.

Modern-day conference interpreting

At the League of Nations and during the San Francisco Conference before the formal founding of the United Nations, the interpreters played a vital and visible role in meetings. In consecutive interpretation, conference interpreters spoke from the same dais as the original speakers, and the speaker stops periodically so that the interpreter can orally translate what has just been said while the participants in the meeting viewed and listened to the consecutive interpreter. The conference interpreters were often exposed to selected or large audiences and the media. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n3_v28/ai_11547959/print Endrst, Elsa B. Interpreters: Inside the Glass Booth, The UN Chronicle, United Nations Publications (1991), Gale Group (2004)] , date retrieved: 28 May 2007.] In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, United Nations officials introduced simultaneous interpretation as a preferred method for the majority of UN meetings because it saved time and improved the quality of the output. Simultaneous interpreting – a mode that confined the interpreters in glass-encased booths aided with earpieces and microphones – had its origins from the post-WW2 Nazi war crime trials held in Nuremberg, Germany.

UN Duty Stations with interpretation or language service offices

* United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ), New York, USA
* United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), Switzerland
* United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Austria
* United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), Kenya
* United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa
* United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Bangkok, Thailand
* United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), Beirut, Lebanon
* United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Santiago, Chile

Organigramme

The U.N. Interpretation Service is composed of the following staff:.Abud-Krafft, Salome and Elena Howard. United Nations Interpretation Service: Information for Incoming Headquarters Staff. (Publisher: United Nations Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, New York:2000), 02 May 2000, 15 pages.] [http://un-interpreters.org/index.html Interpreters of the United Nations, UN-Interpreters.org] , retrieved on: 08 June 2007]
* Chief of Service (Chief Interpreter) (1)
* Administrative Staff (Secretaries or Meeting Services Assistants)
* Chiefs of Sections (Heads of Booths or Heads of Sections) (6)
* Interpreters (permanents and freelancers)

Interpretation Service Sections

The U.N. Interpretation Service is divided into the following sections:.Abud-Krafft, Salome and Elena Howard. United Nations Interpretation Service: Information for Incoming Headquarters Staff. (Publisher: United Nations Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, New York:2000), 02 May 2000, 15 pages.] [http://un-interpreters.org/index.html Interpreters of the United Nations, UN-Interpreters.org] , retrieved on: 08 June 2007] [http://un-interpreters.org/directories.html Section Chiefs, New York, UN-Interpreters.org] , retrieved on: 08 June 2007]
* Arabic Section
* Chinese Section
* English Section
* French Section
* Russian Section
* Spanish Section

The interpretation system sequence

* 1. The speaker talks to a "microphone discussion system" connected to a central system.
* 2. The central control system distributes the signal to the audience that do not need interpretation and to the simultaneous interpreter.
* 3. Audio consoles are placed in the interpretation booths. Interpreters receive the signal, and are still able to capture the environment of the meeting.
* 4. The interpreter talks to his or her transmitter and the signal goes back to the central console. [ [http://www.nyc24.org/2001/issue05/story07/graph.html How The Translation System Works Arnone, Michael and Javier Ruiz. Speaking at Babel, The Art of Diplomacy, NYC24.com, 2001] , retrieved on 01-06-2007.]

UN Interpreters and filmography

Cinema

* "The Interpreter", a film by Sydney Pollack, 2005
* "The Art of War", Amen Ra Films, 2000
* "Charade", Universal Pictures, 1963

Books about interpreters and interpreting

Career-related

* [http://webeus.usal.es Interpreters at the United Nations: A History by Jesús Baigorri-Jalón] ISBN 84-7800-643-5
* [http://www.comares.com La interpretación de conferencias: el nacimiento de una profesión, de Paris a Nuremberg by Jesús Baigorri-Jalón] ISBN 84-8444-055-9
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875010954 From Russian into English: An Introduction to Simultaneous Interpretation by Lynn Visson, UN Interpreter] ISBN 0-87501-095-4
* [http://www.bradford.ac.uk/staff/pkkornakov/meta2001.htm A Brief Guide to "From Russian into English: An Introduction to Simultaneous Interpretation" by Lynn Visson, UN Interpreter] ISBN 0-87501-095-4
* [http://www.multilingual-matters.com/multi/results.asp?sf_01=series&st_01=Professional+Interpreting&sort=sort_date/d&TAG=&CID=... Interpretation: Techniques and Exercises by James Nolan, UN Interpreter] Hardbound ISBN 1-85359-791-0, Paperback ISBN 1-85359-790-2, Ebook ISBN 1-85359-792-9
* [http://www.multilingual-matters.com More Publications about Interpreting and Translation]

Fiction

* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312422245/"The Interpreter: A Novel", by Suki Kim, Picador; Reprint edition, January 1, 2004, 464 pages] - ISBN 0312422245; ISBN 978-0312422240
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OVLNGU/ "The Interpreter" by Alice Kaplan, Fiction, Free Press, August 30, 2005, 256 pages] – ISBN 0743254244
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0345450248/"The Interpreter" by Suzanne Glass, Fiction, Ballantine Reader's Circle, Ballantine, Reprint edition, June 17, 2003, 336 pages] , ISBN 0345450248; ISBN 978-0345450241

Related links and further readings

* [http://un-interpreters.org/index.html United Nations Interpretation Service Website (New York)] , retrieved on 28-05-2007
* [http://csd.unog.ch/interp/ United Nations Office at Geneva Interpretation Service, Conference Services Division] , retrieved on: 08 June 2007
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n3_v28/ai_11547959/print Interpreters: Inside the Glass Booth by Elsa B. Endrst, The UN Chronicle, United Nations Publications (1991), Gale Group (2004), date retrieved: 28 May 2007]
* [http://www.un.org United Nations Headquarters in New York (UNHQ) Official Website]
* [http://www.unog.ch/80256EE60057F2B7/(httpHomepages)/5562355D4417A43F80256F04007174DB?OpenDocument United Nations Office at Geneva] (UNOG), Switzerland
* [http://www.unvienna.org/unov/index.html United Nations Office at Vienna] (UNOV), Austria
* [http://www.unon.org/ United Nations Office at Nairobi] (UNON), Kenya
* [http://www.aiic.net International Association of Conference Interpreters AIIC]
* [http://www.TAALS.net The American Association of Language Specialists TAALS]
* [http://www.miis.edu/gsti-about-dean.html Monterey Institute of International Studies Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation] at Monterey, California, United States, retrieved on 01-06-2007
* [http://scic.cec.eu.int/europa/display.jsp?id=j_9 Directorate General for Interpretation of the European Commission] at Brussels, Belgium, retrieved on01-06-2007
* [http://www.ciap.net/webpages/about_ciap.html Conference Interpreters Asia Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand] , retrieved on: June 16, 2007

References

ee also

* United Nations System
* UN General Assembly
* UN Security Council
* UN Trusteeship Council
* UN Secretariat
* International Court of Justice