Mastering a language is just the first step in becoming a good interpreter.

The United Nations has six official languages which are the English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. The organization edits and publishes documents in all UN official languages, but generally uses English and French for internal communication. The other languages are used during discussions in the Regional Commissions. Mastering a language is just the first step in becoming a good interpreter. In a UN guide aimed at those looking to become linguistic experts, the job appears to be a mix of a diplomat, engineer, and traffic driver.
“A good translator knows the techniques for dealing with difficult situations, has nerves of steel, doesn't freak out, and can keep up with fast speakers”, says the guide.

In 1946, English and French were the only working languages. Due to the United Nations General Assembly all six official languages have become working languages too. The majority of speakers at the United Nations communicate in one of six official languages. The delegate or guest can also bring along a qualified interpreter to translate the message if he or she doesn’t speak or want to use any of these languages. Interpreters translate the interpretations using a relay system that allows mistakes and misunderstandings. That's why the UN only admits one intermediary language during its events. Interpreters and Translators who are native speakers or high-level speakers of Hindi, Bengali, Portuguese or Turkish, may find that there is a need for them at the conference interpreting level in the United Nations. These are the languages with the potential of becoming official UN languages in the future.