Interpreting is a relatively new area of research that is all too often sub sumed under the heading of translation. For example, many Translators’ Associations include Interpreters. Many books on translation will include a section on Interpreting. Of course there is an overlap between the two areas that are so alike and yet so different – many translators do some interpreting work and vice versa. All of this has led to a confusing situ ation where interpreting is still in the process of establishing itself as a discipline in its own right. The general public is confused about what exactly interpreting is. The very word interpreting is most unsatisfactory. If you do a search in an OPAC library catalogue on Interpreting you could find anything from interpreting statistics to interpreting Bach at the Keyboard. Similarly, an Internet search can turn up all kinds of results, from interpreting ancient manuscripts to interpreting the Irish Famine. My aim in this volume is to provide an overview of interpreting in the year 2000 to anyone interested in interpreting in general or indeed in becoming an interpreter. A number of specialist books have been pub lished in recent years, all on specific areas of interpreting. I would like to provide a fuller picture. To this end I set about collecting information about international and regional Organizations in particular. My starting point was a booklet published by AIIC, the International Association of Conference Interpreters in 1997. The booklet, Conseils aux étudiants souhai tant devenir interprète de conférence, contains a list of international organ izations around the world that employ interpreters. However, it does not contain any information on the numbers of interpreters employed or on the organizations themselves. I wanted to collect information on the num bers of interpreters employed around the world. Conference interpreting is the most prestigious type of interpreting and the best paid. I was quite surprised by some of the results of the questionnaire that many of the organizations kindly completed for me. Firstly, with the exceptions of the European Union and the United Nations, the actual numbers of inter preters employed by many organizations is quite small. Secondly, I have not found any support for the notion that interpreters suffer from burnout, that they work solidly for five years or so, earning quite a lot of money, and then disappear into the sunset. On the contrary, they con tinue to work as interpreters until retirement age and in some cases beyond it. Thirdly, English is the international language of business and is used in boardrooms and business meetings throughout the world. English is also the international language of science. In the 1960s and 1970s when foreign languages were not widely taught, international meetings of doctors or scientists needed interpreters. Nowadays most educated people learn foreign languages and as a result the need for inter preters at this type of meeting has diminished. However, the need for Community and Court interpreters has increased dramatically. There is far greater movement of people now than ever before. These include tourists, people living and working in foreign countries, illegal immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. The training and testing of Community and Court interpreters varies from none at all in some countries to well thought out programmes in others. The Internet has been a wonderful source of information. Of course, it must be said that many Web sites are poorly organized, out of date or just do not have the information one is looking for. All are unrelentingly positive regarding their achievements and rarely mention negative aspects. I have included Web site addresses for those readers who wish to update the information or to check out on employment possibilities quite a lot of Web sites include a vacancies section. When writing about the international organizations I have drawn heavily on such resources as information booklets and the Internet – in many cases these are the exact same. My aim has been to summarise the objectives and explain the management structure of each organization. I have also included information about interpreting staff and working languages gleaned from my questionnaire. This information is not given for a number of organ izations that did not respond to my request for information. Obviously, a great deal more could be written about many of the organizations but my aim here has been to provide essential information only. Any errors that appear in this volume are my own. A word of warn ing: it is the nature of this type of information to date quite quickly. For example, the next EU Treaty will bring substantial changes to the organ ization of the European Union. If enlargement goes ahead there will be changes in the numbers of members of the European Parliament from each member state. There will also be changes in the European Commission. The system of qualified majority voting in the Council of the European Union will have to be refined. On the other hand, I would expect the United Nations to continue without any major changes.
