Conference Interpretation at the United Nations 

  “Simultaneous interpretation is like driving a car that has a steering wheel but no breaks and no reverse.”

                 Pyotr Avaliani, former Chief of the Russian Interpretation Service

At United Nations meetings and conferences, participants may speak in any of the six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

United Nations conference interpreters must render simultaneously a speech or a statement from one of the official United Nations languages into their main, or “target” language. On occasion, interpreters are expected to travel to service meetings held away from United Nations Headquarters.

A wide-ranging knowledge of world affairs and United Nations activities is essential for all interpreters, as well as knowledge of the relevant subject matter and related technical terms. Upon entering a technological age, the Organization and its bodies cover increasingly broader range of subjects. Interpreters must stay abreast of language changes dictated by evolution of words and terms emerging from new fields and subjects covered by United Nations agencies. Moreover, United Nations interpreters must master so called ‘UN-ese,’ the specific vocabulary of the Organization shared and understood by most delegates.

That some delegates may not necessarily speak in their main language poses a special additional challenge. Interpreters must be able to comprehend every imaginable accent, and cope with issues of speed and style.

As longtime United Nations interpreter and trainer Lynn Visson stated in "Simultaneous Interpretation: Language and Cultural Difference," interpreters must have the ability to condense and "edit" orally to keep from falling too far behind or omitting important segments." Ms. Visson emphasizes that interpreters must both cope with the language problems and find proper cultural equivalents, seeking a middle ground while "trying to convey the speaker's meaning through rendering that takes cultural context into account." Thus, according to Ms. Visson, it is only with the help of "a thorough knowledge of both language and culture, with experience gained over time and through trial and error," that "a sparkling reflection rather than a warped distortion of the meaning" behind the words of a speaker can be provided.

See Lynn Visson, "Simultaneous Interpretation: Language and Cultural Difference" in Nation, Language, and the Ethics of Translation, Ed. by Sandra Bermann and Michael Wood (Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2005), 51 - 64.

To hear how a UN interpreter rendered an original speech in Arabic.