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The real status of official languages in the UN
May 05, 2004
The Languages of the UN
While we're on the subject of international languages, the choice of languages at the United Nations is interesting. The original official languages were English, Chinese, French, and Russian, not coincidentally the languages of the permanent members of the Security Council. The choice was largely political. English had perhaps the strongest case. Not only was it already widely used as an international language, it was the dominant language of the United States, which had emerged as the greatest military and economic power. Chinese too was the language of a major power, as well as the most widely spoken language. Russian was the language of one of the major powers though not particularly widely spoken outside of the Soviet Union. French was chosen because it was still widely considered the international language of diplomacy. Spanish and Arabic were added in 1973, in both cases because they are the languages of a score of nations.
Although in theory all six languages have equal status, some languages are more equal than others. English, and French are the working languages of the General Assembly; English and French are the working languages of the Security Council. Public information is often not translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese. This led to a protest in 2001 by the representatives of the Spanish-speaking countries.
Some people think that the UN spends too much money and effort on translation and interpretation and that it should adopt a single official language. Here is the proposal of the Transnational Radical Party and Esperanto International Federation that the United Nations adopt Esperanto as its official language. Others want to add official languages. There is pressure to add Hindi. This site advocates the adoption of Hindi as an official language of the UN. And here is a speech by the Indian Ambassador to the UN.
The irony in all this is that it appears to be purely symbolic. The sort of people likely to end up as diplomats or staff at the United Nations almost all speak English. When the UN surveyed its member nations as to which of the official languages they would prefer to receive correspondence in, 130 opted for English, 36 chose French and 19 Spanish. Not a single country preferred Arabic, Chinese, or Russian.
Posted by Bill Poser at May 5, 2004 01:01 AM
May 05, 2004
The Languages of the UN
While we're on the subject of international languages, the choice of languages at the United Nations is interesting. The original official languages were English, Chinese, French, and Russian, not coincidentally the languages of the permanent members of the Security Council. The choice was largely political. English had perhaps the strongest case. Not only was it already widely used as an international language, it was the dominant language of the United States, which had emerged as the greatest military and economic power. Chinese too was the language of a major power, as well as the most widely spoken language. Russian was the language of one of the major powers though not particularly widely spoken outside of the Soviet Union. French was chosen because it was still widely considered the international language of diplomacy. Spanish and Arabic were added in 1973, in both cases because they are the languages of a score of nations.
Although in theory all six languages have equal status, some languages are more equal than others. English, French and Spanish are the working languages of the General Assembly; English and French are the working languages of the Security Council. Public information is often not translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese. This led to a protest in 2001 by the representatives of the Spanish-speaking countries.
Some people think that the UN spends too much money and effort on translation and interpretation and that it should adopt a single official language. Here is the proposal of the Transnational Radical Party and Esperanto International Federation that the United Nations adopt Esperanto as its official language. Others want to add official languages. There is pressure to add Hindi. This site advocates the adoption of Hindi as an official language of the UN. And here is a speech by the Indian Ambassador to the UN.
The irony in all this is that it appears to be purely symbolic. The sort of people likely to end up as diplomats or staff at the United Nations almost all speak English. When the UN surveyed its member nations as to which of the official languages they would prefer to receive correspondence in, 130 opted for English, 36 chose French and 19 Spanish. Not a single country preferred Arabic, Chinese, or Russian.
Posted by Bill Poser at May 5, 2004 01:01 AM
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000854.html
<< 130 opted for English, 36 chose French and 19 Spanish. Not a single country preferred Arabic, Chinese, or Russian. >>
36 for French? I thought there were just 29 as what the hispanic fanatics put in Wikipedia.
On the other hand, isn't it 20 for Spanish? Oh I get it, Equatorial Guinea chose French over Spanish.
<< he original official languages were English, Chinese, French, and Russian, not coincidentally the languages of the permanent members of the Security Council........Spanish and Arabic were added in 1973, in both cases because they are the languages of a score of nations.>>
So, Spanish just appeared from nowhere.
<< Public information is often not translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese. This led to a protest in 2001 by the representatives of the Spanish-speaking countries. >>
Another big blow for Spanish.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Visitor or Mr. Bwahahahahahaha, you are always lying.
At this moment, all of them are official and working languages. Chinese, Russian, Arabic, English, Spanish and French.
I explain the status of Spanish language in United Nations:
El estatus del español en Naciones Unidas:
Los reglamentos de la Asamblea General, el Consejo de Seguridad y el
Consejo Económico y Social de Naciones Unidas establecen que “el árabe, el chino, el español, el francés, el inglés y el ruso son a la vez los idiomas
oficiales y los idiomas de trabajo de la Asamblea General, sus comisiones y sus subcomisiones” ,así como también del Consejo de Seguridad .
También a nivel reglamentario está establecido que el
arabe, el chino, el español, el francés, el inglés y el ruso son los idiomas
oficiales; y el español, el francés y el inglés los idiomas
de trabajo, del Consejo Económico y Social .
http://www.spainun.org/pages/viewfull.cfm?ElementID=2273
PD. When a language is in free fall, the Fanatic French people want to believe that French language is not almost dead thanks to dubious SURVEYS made to someone, not REAL LIFE.
You should think in number of speakers, number of students, number of total speakers, and countries where REALLY is spoken French, not surveys...
Keep your big mouth shut that's full of lies.
I have already told you that never post a link made by a hispanic because it's either leaning towards Spanish or it's full of lies just like your head full of lice.
The one that is posted by Homme Fatal is far more credible and valid than yours.
Who the fucking hell is gonna upload a link stating that Spanish is one of the working languages of the UN? Only the hispanic fanatics like you.
PS. When a language is in disintegration, the Hyper Hispanics want to believe that Spanish language is not almost extinct thanks to dubious OPINIONS and LINKS from other countries using their host computer, domain, and the local language such as Die Welt to spread to the whole world that Spanish is making a great stride when it reality it's inutil, not REAL LIFE.
You should think in number of speakers, number of students, number of total speakers, and countries where REALLY is spoken Spanish, not baseless opinions...
Lost in TranslationHow does interpretation work at the United Nations?
By Christopher BeamPosted Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, at 2:07 PM ET
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi delivered a rambling address to the United Nations in New York City on Wednesday morning, calling Barack Obama "our son" and railing against the U.N. Security Council. He spoke not in Arabic, Libya's official language, but a local Libyan dialect. Does the United Nations have an interpreter for every dialect in the world?
No. Speakers at the United Nations are supposed to deliver their speeches in one of the organization's six official languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. U.N. interpreters then translate the lecture into the other five languages. If the speaker doesn't use an official language—either as a political statement or because he doesn't know one—the speaker has to bring along his own interpreter. That interpreter then translates into one of the official languages—usually English or French—and the other interpreters translate from that interpretation. (Qaddafi brought his own interpreter.) Alternatively, the speaker can provide a written translation of his speech in one of the official languages, as long as he doesn't deviate from the text in his remarks.
The United Nations uses simultaneous interpretation, which means translating on the fly without breaks (as opposed to consecutive interpretation, in which the speaker and translator alternate). At any given moment, the U.N. Interpretation Service has a dozen interpreters working six booths—one for every official language. The pair of interpreters in the English booth translates into English, the French booth translates into French, and so on. Attendees can then listen to the interpretations on headphones, clicking across channels for different languages. The job is exhausting, so interpreters will usually switch off every 20 minutes or so. They can also take breaks when the speech is in their language, since no translation is necessary.
U.N. interpreters don't need to know every official language. Rather, the U.N. hires interpreters who can translate into their native language from at least two other languages. A Russian interpreter, for example, might also know English and French. But he might not know Chinese. In that case, if the speaker is Chinese, the interpreters will use what's called a "relay system." The interpreters in the Chinese booth will translate the original speech into English or French, and the rest of the interpreters will translate that version into their own languages. Under the relay system, the final interpretation is thus translated twice from the original speech. This method does lead to inaccuracies, which is why someone must review the interpretations afterward and correct them for the official record. It's also why the United Nations allows only one intermediary language in the relay system—any more and there's too much room for error.
The United Nations hires about 120 interpreters—not to be confused with translators, who translate text—who are considered the best in their profession. No education is required, but roughly 70 percent of the members of the American Translators Association have college degrees. Interpreters slot the languages they know into three categories: A, B, and C. Your so-called "A language" is your native language, which you speak perfectly. A "B language" is one that you've mastered—from living in the native country, say—but which you can't speak with total fluency. A "C language" is one you merely know well, perhaps from studying or travel. Interpreters can translate into and from all of their languages with varying levels of proficiency. But the United Nations will hire interpreters only to translate into their A language, and then only at the highest level.
Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer.
Explainer thanks Hossam Fahr of the U.N. Interpretation Service, Steven Mines of the Austin Area Translators and Interpreters Association, and Jiri Stejskal of the American Translators Association.
http://www.slate.com/id/2229514
They should add GERMAN to the list
My Frog mate, you are always lying. You can see that Spanish is official and working language in the ECOSOC, United Nations too.
In the Economic and Social Council, as of 1992, there are six official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) of which three are working languages (English, French, and Spanish).
http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/about/pdf/rules.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_languages_of_the_United_Nations
PD. I have no time to explain all your lies, but it is extremely easy to show to everybody that you are always lying.
Anyway, we should focus on the most important. French is official in almost all the World organizations because French WAS an important language 100 years ago.
But we need to know if French is important NOWADAYS. If we compare the 6 official languages of the United Nations, French is the LESS spoken of them considering mother tongue speakers or total speakers. It shows that it IS NOW the weakest of them.
Besides, all other languages represent every Continent:
English is the most spoken language of North America.
Spanish is the most spoken language of Latin America.
Russian is the most spoken language of Europe.
Arabic is the most spoken language of Africa.
Chinese is the most spoken language of Asia-Pacific.
And French?
French IS NOWADAYS the most spoken language NOWHERE and out of the top ten languages. It IS NOW hardly spoken by 75 million people...
<<They should add GERMAN to the list >>
Yes,of course. German has greatest number of speakers in Europe.German is very important language of science and culture.
<<But we need to know if French is important NOWADAYS. If we compare the 6 official languages of the United Nations, French is the LESS spoken of them considering mother tongue speakers or total speakers. It shows that it IS NOW the weakest of them.
Besides, all other languages represent every Continent:
English is the most spoken language of North America.
Spanish is the most spoken language of Latin America.
Russian is the most spoken language of Europe.
Arabic is the most spoken language of Africa.
Chinese is the most spoken language of Asia-Pacific.
And French?
French IS NOWADAYS the most spoken language NOWHERE and out of the top ten languages. It IS NOW hardly spoken by 75 million people...>>
Wow! Good point! It shows that French is really in free fall!
My Fly mate, you are always full of lies just like your head full of lies. You CANNOT see that Spanish is not official and working language in the ECOSOC because your blinded by your false belief. Click the link, Stupid!
In the Economic and Social Council, as of 2007, there are three three are working languages (English, French, and Russian).
http://unjobs.org/topics/organizational-questions/international-civil-service/working-languages
Let me remind you that before you use, make sure that it has not altered by hispanics.
PD. I have no time to answering yourhallucinations, but it is extremely easy to show to everybody that you are always you're not only lying but does not know how to read properly even simple text.
Anyway, we should focus on the most important. Spanish will never be offiicial in almost all the World organizations because Spanish WAS/IS NOT and WILL NEVER BE an important language FOREVER.
But we need to know if Spanish is not important NOWADAYS. If we compare the 6 official languages of the United Nations, Spanish is the LESS spoken of them considering non-native speakers or total speakers. It shows that it IS NOW the weakest and most INUTILE of them all.
Besides, all other languages represent every Continent:
English is the most spoken language of North America.
French is the most spoken language of Africa.
Portuguese is the most spoken language of South America.
Russian is the most spoken language of Europe.
Chinese is the most spoken language of Asia-Pacific.
And Spanish?
French IS NOWADAYS the most spoken language Casiltilia and Antioquia, Colombia because Asturian, Aragonese, and Leonese are now recognized as separate languages and Leonese will soon follow. It IS NOW hardly spoken by 20 million people...
Besides, all other languages represent every Continent:
English is the most spoken language of North America.
French is the most spoken language of Africa.
Portuguese is the most spoken language of South America.
Russian is the most spoken language of Europe.
Chinese is the most spoken language of Asia-Pacific.
And Spanish?
Spanish IS NOWADAYS the most spoken language Casiltilia and Antioquia, Colombia because Asturian, Aragonese, and Leonese are now recognized as separate languages and Leonese will soon follow. It IS NOW hardly spoken by 20 million people...
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