subject: How Do United Nations Interpreters Cope With Runaway Speakers? [print this page] There are many possible nightmare scenarios in the life of an interpreter. Our interpreters at www.technical-translations.co.uk are supplied with an interpreting code of conduct to help them deal with some of the possible situations they might find themselves facing. Refusing bribes, conflicts of interest, confidentiality and impartiality are all in a day's work. But what do you do when the person you are interpreting for just can't stop talking?
Sometimes delegates at United Nations conferences speak well beyond the expected 15 minutes or so, with Cuba's Fidel Castro once delivering a four-hour speech and an Indian politician, VK Krishna Menon, managing a staggering eight hours on the podium. Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who uses a personal interpreter rather than taking advantage of a professional simultaneous interpreter, gave a 96 minute speech at last year's General Assembly that proved to be too much for Mr Fouad Zlitni.
The New York Times reported the interpreter as saying that he just couldn't take it any more. Angelo Macri, who is a simultaneous interpreter for the BBC World Service, witnessed what happened. "Some of us saw it here at the UN and it was very unfortunate for him," he said, "I think he was working under very difficult conditions."
Incidents like this only serve to show just how taxing simultaneous interpreting work can be at such high-profile events. Not only do simultaneous interpreters have to think very quickly and translate at the same pace as the natural speech of the person delivering the address, but they also have to be meticulous as to the accuracy of the content of their translation. Simultaneous interpreters say that the mental effort of this kind of work takes its toll on them physically and can be very exhausting, particularly when following a very long speech.
Interpreters get around the problem of dealing with longer addresses by working in pairs, with the rule of thumb being that they interpret simultaneously for half an hour each, after which time it becomes harder to concentrate and the translation may start to suffer in quality. Working for half an hour at a time with a half-hour break in between stints helps to keep interpreters fresh and focussed.
How Do United Nations Interpreters Cope With Runaway Speakers?
