Crosswords0 min ago
How many Interpreters needed?
With the EU comprised of 27 members speaking in 20 different languages how many interpreters are needed so that each country can understand and reply to all the legislation in the EU parliament at Strasburg?
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Thanks I didn't expect such a comprehensive report. It mind boggling to see how many staff are involved in the process, not to mention the cost.
The reason why I posted this question in science was to calculate the minimum figure using a mathematical formula. Of course there will be duplications and shift patterns to consider. As the number of languages has jumped to 23 the number of translators and interpeters required is mind blowing. And to think the government cut back on foreign language learning in schools.
The reason why I posted this question in science was to calculate the minimum figure using a mathematical formula. Of course there will be duplications and shift patterns to consider. As the number of languages has jumped to 23 the number of translators and interpeters required is mind blowing. And to think the government cut back on foreign language learning in schools.
I think you're missing the point a bit.
Without the EU, the French still have diplomatic and trade links with the Bulgarians, the Spanish with the Italians the Irish with the Portugese. etc. etc.
Multi-linguicity is a European issue not an EU one.
Informally a lot of what goes on is probably conducted in 3 or 4 languages.
Still think of India, there are 18 official languages there and that's one country
Imagine the situation in the UN!
Still one things for sure the cost of talking to each other is way less than the cost of not talking to each other!
Without the EU, the French still have diplomatic and trade links with the Bulgarians, the Spanish with the Italians the Irish with the Portugese. etc. etc.
Multi-linguicity is a European issue not an EU one.
Informally a lot of what goes on is probably conducted in 3 or 4 languages.
Still think of India, there are 18 official languages there and that's one country
Imagine the situation in the UN!
Still one things for sure the cost of talking to each other is way less than the cost of not talking to each other!
Well you have to remember that a language is not just a way of speaking but a way of thinking and is bound up with cultural heritage too.
Look at things from a French perspective and you'll see that a creeping Anglification of the language could get to the point where French School children would have as much difficulty reading works by Moliere as English school kids would reading Chaucer.
If you lose your language to a large extent you lose you culture - a lot of people think that's worth fighting for.
Look how many people here kick up just about the mis-use of punctuation !
Also learning a language you learn a lot about other people and their way of thinking and of life.
I skip through the on-line version of Le Monde most days, it helps my French, and I learn a lot about things going on in the world that the British Press don't cover and in doing so I learn a lot about what the French see as important.
That sort of mutual understanding is important and it's pretty shameful how bad we are in Britain at it.
Look at things from a French perspective and you'll see that a creeping Anglification of the language could get to the point where French School children would have as much difficulty reading works by Moliere as English school kids would reading Chaucer.
If you lose your language to a large extent you lose you culture - a lot of people think that's worth fighting for.
Look how many people here kick up just about the mis-use of punctuation !
Also learning a language you learn a lot about other people and their way of thinking and of life.
I skip through the on-line version of Le Monde most days, it helps my French, and I learn a lot about things going on in the world that the British Press don't cover and in doing so I learn a lot about what the French see as important.
That sort of mutual understanding is important and it's pretty shameful how bad we are in Britain at it.
Good idea Jake to see how other countries handle problems and to get a different slant on things.
Another method rather than reading newspapers is to skim through the news channels on Sky. There you can find a Euro channel, a French, Chinese, a US, a Russian and some others,all in English by the way. You can get a broader picture of the world this way and not rely on your daily propaganda of English news.
Another method rather than reading newspapers is to skim through the news channels on Sky. There you can find a Euro channel, a French, Chinese, a US, a Russian and some others,all in English by the way. You can get a broader picture of the world this way and not rely on your daily propaganda of English news.
There is some evidence that English and French and to a lesser extent German are used as 'conversion' languages in informal meetings (of which there are many).
My favourite story of the perils of simultaneous interpreting was the (supposedly true) story of a German speaker at the EU. Part way through his prolonged oration the English language feed stopped abruptly. Most of the people taking this feed assumed there was something wrong with their headsets and started tapping their earphones. As this failed to produce any improvement they started looking around and noticed they weren't alone. At this point they swivelled round to look at the interpreters' booth to see one interpreter going very red in the face. They assumed that they were seeing a medical emergency when suddenly he blurted out "For ****'s sake man, get to the ******** verb!"
My favourite story of the perils of simultaneous interpreting was the (supposedly true) story of a German speaker at the EU. Part way through his prolonged oration the English language feed stopped abruptly. Most of the people taking this feed assumed there was something wrong with their headsets and started tapping their earphones. As this failed to produce any improvement they started looking around and noticed they weren't alone. At this point they swivelled round to look at the interpreters' booth to see one interpreter going very red in the face. They assumed that they were seeing a medical emergency when suddenly he blurted out "For ****'s sake man, get to the ******** verb!"
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