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UN interpreters | ||
Tags: Interpreting | Career | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Languages & Work |  | |
| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6651 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 9 of 26 16 October 2006 at 10:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I wouldn't want to do that kind of work. Seems like the kind of job that demands too much responsibility and doesn't give nearly enough credit in return.
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| unlocked87 Groupie United States Joined 6415 days ago 42 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 10 of 26 17 October 2006 at 3:19am | IP Logged | |||||
If I had to guess I would say that they hand pick people that were bilingual since a young age. That way they would have no accent and they wouldn't have to go through the rigorous, time wasting, and resource wasting process that would be training a spy to be completely fluent. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6563 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 11 of 26 17 October 2006 at 4:38am | IP Logged | |||||
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I believe the KGB was well-known for training agents to speak other languages without accents. I suspect near-perfection is possible in all areas of language, including accent, if you're willing to go the distance.
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| alexptrans Pentaglot Senior Member Israel Joined 6560 days ago 208 posts - 236 votes Speaks: English, Modern Hebrew, Russian*, French, Arabic (Written) Studies: Icelandic | Message 12 of 26 17 October 2006 at 4:48am | IP Logged | |||||
President Putin, a former KGB agent, speaks perfect German. Some say it's better than his Russian. There are Israeli army units that train their soldiers to be indistinguishable from native Arabic speakers. Their lives depend on that, which is quite a strong motivating factor. Edited by alexptrans on 17 October 2006 at 4:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 6685 days ago 909 posts - 942 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 13 of 26 17 October 2006 at 4:51am | IP Logged | |||||
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I expect that spies would undergo some sort of accent training, maybe not that dissimilar to the methods that actors use.
Back on topic...UN interpreters have to undergo a heck of a lot of training before they are recruited. Courses in simultaneous interpretation are more or less compulsory from what I've heard and it could take years of training (and stress!) before you'd be recruited in such a high-level position. Just imagine the pressure that those interpreters at the Security Council must be under. One slight misinterpretation and you could end up with a serious problem, maybe even help trigger a war. A bit extreme, perhaps, but I would imagine that accuracy is absolutely vital. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6454 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 14 of 26 17 October 2006 at 8:23am | IP Logged | |||||
I would guess that because Hebrew and Arabic are fairly closely related, it would be comparatively easy for Israelis--at least Israelis who are native speakers of Hebrew--to pick up a good Arabic accent. At the very least, it would be easier for them than for me. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| alexptrans Pentaglot Senior Member Israel Joined 6560 days ago 208 posts - 236 votes Speaks: English, Modern Hebrew, Russian*, French, Arabic (Written) Studies: Icelandic | Message 15 of 26 17 October 2006 at 8:37am | IP Logged | |||||
I don't know about that. There are many strange sounds in Arabic that do not (or no longer) exist in Hebrew. Arabic and Hebrew sound nothing alike when spoken. On the other hand, most Israelis have had at least some exposure to Arabic and its pronunciation pecularities, which may indeed make it easier for them to acquire a natural-sounding accent. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6479 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German | Message 16 of 26 17 October 2006 at 10:17am | IP Logged | |||||
I fully believe this. An accent is simply intonation, over and over and over and over again. Training in music, training in acting, lots and lots of listening, and/or hundreds of hours of dedicated practice are good ways to develop this. When one also considers that what qualifies as a native 'accent' can vary widely within a language, it becomes more of a matter of deciding *which* accent one wishes to become proficient in, and not simply developing a generalized native accent. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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