1 A Brief History of Interpreting

Comparatively little research has been done on Interpreting throughout history.

In part, this is because often there is no written record of the spoken word. There
may be very little evidence of the interpreter’s work. It may be clear from the
context that an interpreter was present but all too often the interpreter is not
specifically named or mentioned in historical documents. The interpreter may
have been a linguist or a diplo- mat who was asked or offered to interpret.

Interpreting has existed for a long time. Whenever people met who had no
common language they had to make do with sign language or find someone
who could speak both languages. Some people grew up in a bilingual
environment, because they lived in a border area or because their parents spoke
different languages. Others moved from one country to another and acquired a
second language.

At times in history groups of educated people have shared a common language

across borders. A prime example is Latin, which was the language of the
Catholic Church and was also used by scientists, writers and diplomats.

When Europeans began to move outside their own countries they had no
knowledge of the languages of the peoples of America, Africa or Asia. In the
process of colonisation of new continents language was important. The
indigenous peoples outnumbered the colonisers and communication was the
key to power and control. In their chapter titled Interpreters and the Making of
History which appeared in Translators Through History (1995), Margareta Bowen,
David Bowen, Francine Kaufmann and Ingrid Kurz provide a fascinating and
detailed account of interpreters down through the ages. Their examples include
the following: Christopher Columbus took six native Indians back to Spain with
him so that they could learn to speak Spanish and then be used as interpreters
once they returned to Central America. Other colonisers such as the French in
Canada repeated this pattern. Subsequently the colonisers imposed their own
language on the native people, thus reducing the need for interpreters. Some
Europeans became proficient in the native Indian languages after being
shipwrecked or captured. Missionary priests intent on spreading the Catholic
faith drew up glossaries and dictionaries of the native languages.

French was the international language of diplomacy until the peace

1
talks that took place in 1919 after the First World War. These were a turning point
because for the first time English was used as a working language. According to
historian David Thomson, most of the great powers were represented by their
Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers rather than by kings and queens.
President Woodrow Wilson of the United States and Prime Minister Lloyd
George of the United Kingdom did not speak French. This was the beginning of
conference interpreting. Consecutive interpreting was the order of the day with
some interpreters exhibiting an amazing ability to recall speeches lasting up to
fifty minutes.

Margareta Bowen et al. relate how in the 1920s another milestone was reached
with the invention of equipment for simultaneous interpreting by Edward Filene,
a businessman, Gordon Finlay, an electrical engineer and Thomas Watson, the
president of IBM. Simultaneous interpreting was first used at the International
Labour Organization Conference in Geneva in 1927. However, technical
difficulties meant that almost twenty years would elapse before simultaneous
interpreting was provided in English, French, German and Russian at the
Nuremberg Trials, which lasted from November 1945 to October 1946. Some of
the interpreters at the Trials went on to work as conference interpreters at the
United Nations. In his article, How Conference Interpretation Grew, Jean Herbert
related how, gradually, simultaneous interpreting began to be used in the United
Nations in particular, first in French and English and later in the other official UN
languages, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. The development of
simultaneous interpreting was to facilitate the growth of inter- national
organizations after the Second World War. The interpreter’s role also changed as
the interpreter moved from a very visible, high profile position as consecutive
interpreter to being a voice from a booth at the back of a venue.

Some of the first conference interpreters, such as Jean Herbert, wrote about their
experiences. Many of those who worked as consecutive interpreters were really
in the thick of things. However, although fascinating, these were personal
memoirs and more historical documents than research into what exactly is going
on when an interpreter is at work.

The first conference interpreters became interpreters by accident. They had one or
more foreign languages and found themselves in the right place at the right time.
As interpreting developed, universities began offering courses in the subject. This
helped interpreters attain professional status. The University of Geneva School of
Interpreting was founded in 1940 and the Vienna School of Interpreting in 1943.
Georgetown University Division of Interpreting and Translation was founded in
the United States in 1949. In 1952, Jean Herbert, a practising interpreter, wrote a
book called Manuel de l’Interprète which was followed in 1956 by Jean- François
Rozan’s book La prise de notes en Consécutive. Both books were published by
University of Geneva Press. AIIC, the International Association of Conference
Interpreters, was set up in 1953 and became a proponent of better conditions for
its members. Over the decades interpreting became a growth area. In 1957 two
schools of Interpreting were established in Paris, the Institut Supérieur
d’Interprétation et de Traducteurs (ISIT) and the École Supérieure d’Interprètes et
de Traducteurs (ESIT). In 1965 Westminster was established, in 1967 Zurich and
in 1968 Monterey Graduate School of Translation and Interpreting. More and
more interpreting schools and courses were established around the developed
world until interpreter training became the norm.

Once university courses were established, academics began to do research into

interpreting. Some early research was not very scientific, being based more on
personal judgement than on verifiable results. In the 60s research was done on
Ear–Voice Span, i.e. the time lapse between what the speaker says and when the
interpreter speaks. In the 70s Danica Seleskovitch of ESIT in Paris wrote about her
‘théorie du sens’. Studies were carried out on interpreting errors and their causes.
In the 80s and 90s research began on what happens in the brain while a subject is
inter- preting. Daniel Gile has provided a comprehensive account of conference
interpreting research in his book Regards sur la Recherche en Interprétation de
Conférence. Some researchers unearthed references to interpreters throughout
history. Others studied interpretation from the point of view of discourse
analysis. Gradually, interest grew in other types of interpreting. A considerable
body of work was carried out on court interpreting in the United States. At the
end of the 90s some researchers became concerned about community interpreting
and used their research to reveal problems associated with this type of
interpreting.

All universities which offer courses in interpreting have stringent entrance tests
whereby candidates are tested on their knowledge of languages and current
affairs and in some cases their ability to cope when being bombarded with
information. Despite this rigorous selection procedure many schools find that a
considerable number of students drop out or fail interpreting exams. Nowadays a
university qualification in interpreting is a prerequisite to a career as an
interpreter. Depending on the course, would be interpreters may either study
interpreting as part of an undergraduate degree or add an interpreting
qualification on to an existing degree. Most courses cover two foreign languages
and students usually work into their mother tongue. The primary degree does
not have to be in languages. Indeed, in the past the EU preferred to take on peo-
ple with a background in law or economics or other specialised areas plus
knowledge of languages and train them in the skills of interpreting.

Even those who successfully complete an interpreting course may not find
employment as interpreters. Finding work can demand a great deal of
persistence. It takes time to become an established interpreter. Typically, after
qualification as an interpreter, people apply for work to organizations near where
they live or move abroad to work. They also apply to agencies for work.
Interpreters have to build up experience and often there is a temptation for new
interpreters to cut prices in order to be able to work. This is not really a good idea
in the long term. Freelance interpreters should always make sure that a contract is
drawn up specifying details of their assignment and pay.

A lot depends on where the interpreter lives and the need for interpreting in a
particular area. Some organizations prefer to recruit locally rather than cover
transport and accommodation costs. There is a great deal of competition for
posts in the international organizations. The United Nations has been engaged in
cost cutting exercises over a num- ber of years and does not present much hope
for would be interpreters. Of course conferences take place all the time on a huge
variety of topics and are a useful source of work for freelance interpreters.

Conference interpreting continues to play an important role around the world

today both at an international level and on a regional level. It has facilitated the
growth of international organizations around the world. The following chart
contains the numbers of interpreters employed at the larger international
organizations in 1999:
Pool of freelance
Staff interpreters
interpreters
European Commission (SCIC/JICS) European 1,700
Parliament 1,000
European Court of Justice 150
530 180 40 110 84
United Nations Office in New York UN Office in 350
13
Geneva 30–40 per week 60 at peak
42 1,000
times 100
UN Office in Vienna NATO
Total 3,400
Table 1 Numbers of interpreters employed at major international organizations

The remaining international organizations employ very few or no staff

interpreters and take on freelance interpreters as needed.

Conference interpreters will need an excellent knowledge of at least two foreign

languages. In the case of the European Parliament, four languages are required
and a fifth is desirable. Most mainstream languages such as English, French,
German, Italian and Spanish are well covered by existing interpreters. In the
future within the EU the need will be for Eastern European languages such as
Romanian, Turkish, Czech and so on. Of course, knowledge of languages must
be accompanied by knowledge of the culture.

Intellectual curiosity is essential for conference interpreters in particular. As

conferences can be on any topic interpreters need to be well informed as regards
current affairs. EU interpreters would also benefit from a thorough
understanding of how the EU is organized and how it works.

Interpreting is a demanding job in that when an interpreter is work- ing he or

she cannot afford to have a bad day. One bad interpreter can ruin a conference.
The interpreter needs a good short-term memory to retain what he or she has
just heard and a good long-term memory to

put the information into context. Ability to concentrate is a factor as is the ability
to analyse and process what is heard.

Whether an interpreter is working at a conference or in a court or in a hospital,

preparation is the key. The first task is to find out as much information as possible
about the context. Then the interpreter will set about organizing a terminology
glossary that corresponds to the assignment and reading around the subject area.
This is when access to up to date dictionaries is essential.

Other forms of interpreting have also become important. Court interpreting is

one. Another is community interpreting. As multiculturalism became a feature of
life in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States, people gradually realised
that they could not just expect foreigners to become proficient in the language of
the country in which they found themselves. In some countries there is no
training for would be interpreters. If they speak two languages and are willing to
interpret, they will find work. This is partly because some governments have no
policy on community interpreting and partly because the people who need this
type of interpreting speak lesser-used languages in the countries where they are
resident. Furthermore, language needs constantly change as new groups move
from one country to another. This makes it difficult to find interpreters with new
languages.

Community interpreting will be the next growth area. There is a wide- spread
need for community interpreting to be recognised, for courses to be set up at
university level and for community interpreters to gain recognition.