International Translation Day

This International Translation Day , we ask: what does the future hold for human translators? Rather than disappearing, their role is changing — from producing text to protecting meaning, quality, and ethics in ways machines cannot. In the @unescocourier , Joss Moorkens explored whether translators are an endangered species. Today, the question feels even more pressing, as the profession continues to change.

The United Nations uses simultaneous interpreting to make easier communication during meetings and events. The interpreters don’t have any breaks during the speech. They have to juggle, listen, translate, and talk at the same time. They must travel and be objective when translating arguments that they don't agree with and they often work under extreme stress. These professionals need years of training to accumulate the skills needed to interpret during meetings and conferences .

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document. It exists in more than 500 languages . The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals . There are six official languages of the UN - Arabic Language , Chinese Language , English Language , French Language , Russian Language and Spanish Language . A delegate may speak in any official UN language. The speech is interpreted simultaneously into the other official languages of the UN .