As leaders, old and new, gather for the United Nations annual General Assembly debate in New York City this week to outline their visions for the world, many will be listening to their words through the voices of interpreters. This can lead to some tricky — even comical — situations when issues of syntax, idioms, unknown words, accents and speed are at play.

This week will mark Interpreter Anne-Catherine Boudot’s ninth year covering the gathering, which she says is both an exciting and tense time for the UN’s interpreters. They stay on 24/7 standby and can be assigned to cover any number of events including the speeches by world leaders in the General Assembly hall, or one of the hundreds of meetings, side events and conferences that take place during this leaders’ week.

“You are aiming for 100 per cent accuracy all the time,” says the head of the UN’s interpretations service, Hossam Fahr. But, “all interpreters are human — and to err is human.” More.

See: CBC News

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