The United Nations is an influential international organization in the world. Interpreters have appeared since its inception (including the preparatory period before). It can be said that the outstanding performance of the United Nations is inseparable from the outstanding performance of interpreters. Without interpreters, all the work of the United Nations would be paralyzed. United Nations interpreters have devoted themselves silently for decades, but little is known to outsiders. A history of translation in the United Nations: a history. Samantha: University of Salamanca Medicine (2004. 18 1pp。 ), written by Jesús Baigorri-Jalón and translated by Anne Ban, is the first of its kind. The author named it "a history" instead of "history" because he thought that the research on it was still limited and could not reflect the whole history. The author makes a brief introduction to this book in order to draw lessons from the domestic interpretation industry.
This book is divided into introduction, chapter 1 "A Brief History of Multilingualism in the United Nations", chapter 2 "Interpreters in Early Years", chapter 3 "The Second Generation", chapter 4 "The New Generation" and conclusion. The first chapter expounds the reasons for the formation of the multilingual environment of the United Nations. 1945 One of the resolutions made at the Yalta Conference in February was the establishment of the United Nations after the war. 1On April 25th, 945, the San Francisco Conference adopted the Charter of the United Nations and established six main committees to realize its main purposes. According to the Charter, the official languages of the United Nations are Chinese, French, Russian, English and Spanish (1973 Arabic also becomes its official language), and the working languages are English and French (1948 Spanish, 1968 Russian, 1973 Chinese and Arabic also become. According to the Charter, all official languages have the same legal effect. This has created a multilingual environment for the United Nations.
The second chapter is about the first generation of translators in the United Nations. Guillermo A. Suro (Puerto Rican) is the director of the conference interpretation and translation office in San Francisco. His interpreters include Robert Confino (French, senior interpreter of the League of Nations,/Kloc-0 was born in Persia in 1930), Ernest Hediger (Swiss) and Jean Herbert (who worked in different international organizations during World War I and World War II and had affinity for young people. Excellent interpreter), Andre Kaminke (French, one of the interpreters in the 20th century, it is said that he can interpret for an hour without taking notes or making mistakes. He knows French, English, German and Spanish. His father is George Kaminke, a first-class interpreter. One of his sons is now an interpreter at the United Nations), George Mathieu (senior interpreter at the League of Nations and the United Nations), Herbert Thain (Mexican) and Alexis Tatishev (Russian), who are engaged in consecutive interpretation.
The simultaneous interpretation used in the Nuremberg trial was not only refreshing, but also greatly shortened the meeting time. This has a great impact on the translation work of the United Nations. At that time, there was a big debate within the United Nations about who was better than consecutive interpretation and who was worse than simultaneous interpretation. The two sides of the argument are George Matthew who supports continuous interpretation and Colonel doster who supports simultaneous interpretation. Matthew thinks that simultaneous interpretation has many shortcomings, so he refuses simultaneous interpretation. Doster believes that simultaneous interpretation can completely replace continuous interpretation. In fact, the real reason against simultaneous interpretation is that simultaneous interpretation has shaken the important position and image of consecutive interpretation in public. At work, consecutive interpreters "perform" directly in front of the audience, and the audience and the speaker are in the same prominent position, while simultaneous interpretation requires them to sit in a small workshop, wear headphones and work in obscurity, which greatly reduces their status. Doster organized simultaneous interpretation of the Nuremberg trial, knowing that this method greatly saved the time and cost of the meeting, and felt that it should be vigorously promoted. The party who refused simultaneous interpretation was supported by many international interpreters, while the party who agreed to simultaneous interpretation was supported by only a few interpreters in the Nuremberg trial. As the Nuremberg trial is not over yet, doster can only bring three interpreters to the United Nations to do this job. However, even if all the simultaneous interpreters are brought, it will not be enough to cope with the simultaneous interpretation task of the United Nations. So he had to select a group of potential personnel, train them with new methods for two or three months, and then enter the actual work. At that time, the selection criteria were not very clear, and the ideal candidates were of course those who naturally learned several languages for some reason. The first batch of students included Jeannette Streit, Mary Harin Jaquith and Nina Rubinstein (there was no suitable Chinese translator at that time). After testing, the advantages of simultaneous interpretation are fully demonstrated, because it takes three hours for a meeting to be held continuously and only one hour and twenty minutes for simultaneous interpretation.
Despite this, the two sides are still entangled. The United Nations finally decided to merge consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation into one department. As a compromise, Georges Robinovitch is the director of the interpretation department (his Russian father was born in Germany, grew up in Russia and Switzerland, and knows Russian, German, French and English). Although both interpretation methods are in use, the number of simultaneous interpretation has increased significantly. Therefore, George Robinovich decided to balance their relationship. After a period of running-in, 80% of the interpreters have the qualification of continuous interpretation and simultaneous interpretation. This transformation is carried out in practice.
At that time, interpreters were all put on the magic veil, because people thought interpreters were extremely talented people, and there were very few such people, and people lacked understanding of the translation process mechanism of interpretation, which further strengthened the magic color of interpreters.
The third chapter discusses the second generation of UN translation in the twenty years from 1960 to 1980. This period is a crucial period to promote conference translation to become a profession. Translators who entered the United Nations during this period were not as accidental as the old translators (because of the multilingual background formed by special environment). They specialize in learning languages and receive training from special schools. This chapter also tells about the strike of interpreters caused by poor working conditions in 1974, which also proves from one side that interpretation has stepped off the magical altar and become a fixed profession.
During this period, when Robinovich was the director, the total number of interpreters at United Nations Headquarters was 64, when Hogg was the director, it was 50, when Meksin was the director, it was 60, and when Clay Bouhmik was the director, it was 90. Among them, from 1970 to 1980, the increase is relatively large, for two reasons: First, the workload of translation has increased, especially the number of translators' workshops in China (1972 1,1973 65438)/kloc. Second, the simultaneous interpreters who entered the United Nations after the 654338 strike were very young, while the older interpreters (mostly continuous interpreters) either reached retirement age or worked in other departments, so there was a vacancy for interpreters. During this period, the supplementary translators were Edith Macheres (France), Javier Laraz (Spain), Paul Galle (Argentina), David McRae (England) and Stephen Pearl (England). They volunteered to enter this industry for other reasons, or because they studied language courses at school. Interestingly, out of concern about the Cold War and World War III, the British army strengthened its "enemy language" towards its soldiers. Pearl, McRae and V. pinches learned Russian in this way during their service.
In the meantime, the process of selecting interpreters requires examinations and other requirements. The test requirements are: being able to speak your mother tongue (such as French) accurately and fully understand two or more other languages (such as English and Spanish); The content of the test is to play six audio recordings (such as three English and three Spanish) of speeches made by representatives of United Nations conferences on complex topics through headphones worn on candidates' heads. Candidates are required to translate what they have heard into their mother tongue (such as French) immediately, and record the translator's voice for comparison with the original text. Other requirements include: excellent memory, high concentration, good educational background and extensive knowledge of politics, economy and history.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, translators trained by specialized schools appeared. Generally speaking, early interpreters were not trained by special schools, but there were exceptions, such as Marie-France Skuncke, who worked as an interpreter in Nuremberg, and Irene Landry, who entered the United Nations as an interpreter for the first time, studied in Geneva schools. Edith. Macheres later joined the United Nations as an interpreter, and she took an interpretation course at a higher business school. The founders and tutors of these schools are translators from the League of Nations, Nuremberg and the post-war period. For example, Antoine Velleman founded the Geneva School in 194 1. After doster left the United Nations, he greatly promoted the study of Georgetown School's interpretation. Graduates from these schools are slow to enter the United Nations, including Argentine Sylvia Porzio and Cuban Elena Howard who graduated from Georgetown School, Colombian Nora Weiss who graduated from Geneva School and socorro botero who graduated from London Institute of Technology.
With the increase in the number of conferences and the demand for interpreters from more institutions, the United Nations has set up an interpreter training program, which is headed by Gó mez de Silva. Its purpose is to train translators, teachers and school graduates who have never been interpreters into real interpreters. At this time, the selection criteria are different from those in the past, and some people with professional and language backgrounds should be selected. The project has achieved remarkable results.
During this period, it is worth mentioning that Moscow Institute trained translators for the United Nations. During the Cold War, the relationship between the West and the Soviet Union was characterized by ideological conflicts, and the United States was extremely sensitive to the Soviet Union's reaction. The importance of Russian as an international communication language has also been emphasized. However, it is difficult for the United Nations to recruit suitable candidates to replace the older generation of interpreters through formal channels (university graduates, civil servants and freelancers), and the Soviet Union also believes that its nationals should be interpreters to ensure their loyalty to the country. In this way, the project of training translators by cooperation between the United Nations and Moscow Language Institute was officially implemented in the spring of 1962. Every year, the college trains 5 to 7 simultaneous interpreters (from Russia to foreign countries and from foreign countries to Russia) to work in various departments under the United Nations. Its effect is very good for two reasons: first, the admission requirements are high and the selection procedure is strict, and the admission ratio is1%; Secondly, the training of 10 month is completely based on UN documents, and the training process also includes some basic courses of interpretation. Igor Korchilov is one of the translators trained by our school and working in the United Nations.
The most noteworthy thing in this period is the strike of interpreters in 1974. The working conditions of interpreters who entered the United Nations in the early days were very poor: the equipment was poor and the interpreters could hardly leave the workshop. Even if the meeting time is longer, they will stick to it from beginning to end, and there is no substitute translator. But they never complained, perhaps because they just came out of the war and wanted to contribute to the establishment of the United Nations. However, the interpreters who entered the United Nations in 1960s and 1970s had different experiences from the early interpreters. They are faced with a serious career and a bureaucratic and corrupt United Nations. After receiving strict language and translation training at school, they entered the United Nations. Therefore, they demanded higher working conditions, and their professional consciousness prompted them to hold a strike in 1974 that their predecessors never dreamed of. Reason for strike: 1) Simultaneous interpretation is the main way of interpretation; 2) The number of professional meetings has increased, and the workload has increased. Sometimes the meeting time is very long (1960, sometimes the meeting lasts for five, six or even eight hours; 1967 during the middle east war, the weekly workload of an interpreter reached 96 hours at the meeting of the security Council); 3) The workshop is dimly lit and not ventilated; 4) Some interpreters feel that they are completely invisible and sound. Two medical reports (1957 and 1969) both hold that interpreters are in a state of extreme tension, and their workload is too heavy and their morale is low, which will affect their work quality. This strike is a milestone for interpreters to move from "magic" to "profession". This strike is not for wages, but for improving working conditions. The strike (1) prompted the United Nations to stipulate a specific working environment, which stipulated that seven meetings should be held every week, and each meeting should not exceed three hours; 2) New professional associations have been established to ensure their working conditions, and special schools and publications have been produced to make them more attractive in markets unrelated to international organizations.
The fourth chapter discusses a new generation of translators, that is, translators from 1980 to 1990. The total number of interpreters at United Nations Headquarters in new york increased from 65,438+965,438+0 in 1980 to 65,438+05 in 1998, because Arabic became the working language of the United Nations. Now let's observe the changes in the number of interpreters from 1980 to 1998: Chinese decreased from 2 1 to 20, English remained the original 20, French increased from 18 to 19, and Russian increased from 15 to. Arabic increased from 0 to 17. It should be noted that the number of interpreters in the United Nations tends to be feminized, with female interpreters increasing from 2 1% of 195 1 to 36% and 35% of 1970, reaching1970. As high as 69% in 1998, the reasons for the feminization of interpretation career may be: 1) More women leave home, and the proportion of men and women attending academic training tends to be balanced gradually; 2) This profession is attractive to women, because women are more suitable for studying liberal arts and specific languages; 3) The decline of social status also makes some men unwilling to take this job.
During this period, about 60% of interpreters graduated from interpretation and translation schools and became the main source of interpreters for the United Nations: 65,438+000% Russian interpreters, 45% English translators, 68% French translators, 65% Chinese translators, 60% Arabic translators and 57% Spanish translators. Here, we should especially mention the cooperation project between the United Nations and Beijing Foreign Studies University to train United Nations translators. Representatives of the new China spoke at the United Nations, not in English as the old representatives did in the past, but in Chinese. On the one hand, it is difficult for the United Nations to find a suitable interpreter who understands the expression habits of contemporary China, and on the other hand, the China government wants to ensure the interpreter's loyalty to the country, so it signed the project in May 1979. This project mainly trains simultaneous interpretation (simultaneous interpretation 1440 hours, continuous interpretation for 360 hours), taking into account visual translation. After training 200 translators in 12 class, the project was suspended. During this period, there are many international schools that train translators. These include Moscow and Beijing College, Geneva Institute of Translation and Interpretation, London Institute of Technology, Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., Arsun University, Paris Institute of Interpretation and Translation, Mexico City Institute of Advanced Interpretation and Translation, Paris Institute of Advanced Interpretation and Translation (ISIT), Bath College in Britain, Mons in Belgium and Clooney Central University in Madrid.
The entrance requirements of general schools are: having a college diploma and taking the entrance language exam. School teachers or supervisors are interpreters, who train simultaneous interpretation and continuous interpretation at the same time (although continuous interpretation is rarely used) to simulate real venues for actual combat drills. The teaching effect of such schools has not been studied.
During this period, the requirements for the United Nations to select interpreters (taking English interpreters as an example) are: proficiency in English and French, as well as Russian and Spanish. As for basic knowledge and professional knowledge, it is generally required to have a diploma from an English-taught school or a diploma from an official interpretation and translation school. The selection examination is divided into two parts: 1) Candidates translate four French recordings into English (5 to 10 minutes each) and four Russian or Spanish recordings into English (5 to 10 minutes each); 2) Interview, that is, a special committee evaluates the applicant's overall interest, personality, work experience, understanding of the United Nations and the current situation, whether he can adapt to working in the United Nations department, whether he can adapt to the working conditions in the English workplace, and especially the ability to work as a team.
Now people no longer think that interpreters are strange people, but that they, like ordinary people, can find jobs as long as they have high quality and receive special training. They are people, not machines, and they will be at a loss.
Here we also talk about freelance translators. It is still impossible to find out their exact number. Hiring freelance translators generally depends on two factors: the workload at a specific time and the conference cost. Generally speaking, there are enough interpreters at United Nations Headquarters in new york, and freelancers are hired only when the General Assembly is in session, while there are fewer interpreters in Geneva, so freelancers are often hired. Some UN departments do not have interpreters, and they are totally dependent on external employment. During the period from 1960 to 1980, the membership of the United Nations increased dramatically, and its budget also increased significantly. The increase in conferences in the 1990s also stimulated the industry. This is in sharp contrast to the limited budget of the United Nations today. The working conditions and benefits of freelance translators shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of AIIC. However, in recent years, the United Nations has cut its budget, which has forced freelance translators to accept stricter conditions. Monique Fongwu1951Accidentally entered the profession, 1965 worked as a freelance interpreter in the United Nations. Now she is over 70 years old and sometimes works in the United Nations. Her experience illustrates the instability of this profession. Moreover, freelance translators who only work for the United Nations can hardly make ends meet, and they must have another job security.
English is the only official language of the United Nations, and the working language of some special meetings and conferences is English. Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian are only used by delegates at formal meetings. But English is also facing challenges, and pure English is impacted by regional English. Sometimes translators will find that the English they hear depends not only on language skills, but also on guessing skills.
At present, most of the interpretation work in the United Nations is simultaneous interpretation, except Chinese and Arabic, which is generally translated into the national language, and it is two-way. From the number of people in each interpreter's workshop, we can see the size of his workload: English, French, Spanish and Russian, and Chinese and Arabic.
At present, the mainstream of the world situation has moved from conflict to dialogue. Although there are many meetings and many member countries, the debates are held in groups (such as a regional organization) to reduce meeting time. Although today's interpreters have a fixed schedule and can rotate every half hour, they also face the following problems: 1) Due to the compression of meeting time, the speaker's speech speed is accelerated, and 2) The terminology of professional meetings, because it is impossible for one person to understand all majors. The layman feels that his work is very comfortable and the working environment is good, but only the expert knows the hardships. In addition, this profession also faces challenges brought by information technology: remote interpretation and machine translation. Although machine translation can do some translation work to a certain extent and reduce the burden on translators, it cannot replace the work of translators. However, translators should learn to use all kinds of new technologies to make machines a good helper for translators. Remote interpretation is still in its infancy and immature. But since simultaneous interpretation can beat continuous interpretation in time, remote interpretation will also beat simultaneous interpretation in space. Therefore, we believe that translators should keep pace with the times, study hard, study hard and strive to master this skill as soon as possible; Translation schools should also be equipped with corresponding facilities and carry out corresponding training to ensure that their own translations are all-weather. However, no matter how advanced the technology is, interpretation, the oldest second occupation of mankind, will remain basically unchanged and will always act as an intermediary between different languages and cultures.
The History of United Nations Interpreters is the first monograph on interpreters and foreign interpreters that the author has seen. I feel its weight in the translation field, so I will briefly introduce it here, hoping to play a certain reference role in the improvement and development of interpretation in China. At the end of this article, the slogan I want to shout most is: translation is still sacred!