Juggling a cacophony of tongues, UN interpreters avert linguistic disaster
Highly skilled interpreters perform a vital service at UN meetings, where delegates come together to present their views in one of the six official languages or in their own tongue. A UN Interpreter, at work in a booth over looking a meeting room. (1965) UN Photo Feature: UN News Centre 22 September 2014 Out of potential linguistic chaos, a corps of over 100 United Nations interpreters brings order and comprehension as speaker after speaker from around the world takes the podium of the General Assembly to give their annual speeches at the General Debate, discusses war and peace in the Security Council, or delves into arcane details of administrative and budgetary affairs in one of the Assembly’s six specialized committees.