orion Senior Member United States Joined 6816 days ago 622 posts - 678 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian
| Message 1 of 26 05 October 2005 at 9:22am | IP Logged |
Is anyone familiar with the training and certification required to become an interpreter with the UN? I am utterly amazed by the simultaneous translations that they do. This skill level seems far beyond normal conversation in another language.
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GC Newbie Canada Joined 6824 days ago 7 posts - 8 votes
| Message 2 of 26 06 October 2005 at 10:17pm | IP Logged |
The interpreter must speak three of the six offical languages of the UN, which are english, french, russian, arabic, chinese, Spanish. Also they have to have a university degree and lots of classes in translation, not just in languages. Plus pass an exam both written and oral. I am guessing it would be very difficult!
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GC Newbie Canada Joined 6824 days ago 7 posts - 8 votes
| Message 3 of 26 06 October 2005 at 10:18pm | IP Logged |
Why do you ask? Are you thinking about a future in the UN?
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dadafeig Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6781 days ago 82 posts - 83 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Dutch
| Message 4 of 26 10 October 2005 at 9:31am | IP Logged |
They can do it so fast because that is their job, and as GC said they have to through rigorous tests to be certified.
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orion Senior Member United States Joined 6816 days ago 622 posts - 678 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian
| Message 5 of 26 10 October 2005 at 5:21pm | IP Logged |
GC wrote:
Why do you ask? Are you thinking about a future in the UN? |
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No not really, I just think it is cool that someone can change mental gears that fast. I have also wondered how spies can master a language so well that they have no trace of their own accent. Seems like a monumental accomplishment.
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orion Senior Member United States Joined 6816 days ago 622 posts - 678 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian
| Message 6 of 26 10 October 2005 at 5:25pm | IP Logged |
dadafeig wrote:
They can do it so fast because that is their job, and as GC said they have to through rigorous tests to be certified. |
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Yes I understand that. I am curious what that training and testing entails.
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Nick Newbie United States Joined 6942 days ago 23 posts - 23 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French
| Message 7 of 26 10 October 2005 at 9:49pm | IP Logged |
http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm/article399
There is some information at the above job listing. I read some more detailed information a few days ago but can't seem to locate it at the moment. I'll post more details if I can find them.
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lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6479 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German
| Message 8 of 26 16 October 2006 at 9:44pm | IP Logged |
I was reading a forum populated by professional translators, and one of the things that struck me was that they generally translated in one direction only - from their learned language to their native language. I imagine if anyone would be expected to have an FSI 4+ proficiency, it would be these people.
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