IN ALL TONGUES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 401, 9 July 1928, Page 13

IN ALL TONGUES

GENEVA ENDS CURSE OF BABLE SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATIONS WHILE the International Labour Conference is in session at Geneva, some live or six hundred delegates, members of the Press, and interested visitors, will enjoy the unique experience of being able to choose individually, from among' three or four different languages, the one in which they prefer to be addressed, and to receive each speech in this language simultaneously with its actual delivery and quite independent of the mother tongue of the orator.

This seeming miracle —one' that promises to revolutionise the conduct of international gatherings and save much of the time which is now lost through tedious repetitions, first in this language and then in that, is the outcome of special research which has been taking place at Geneva for a number bf months past, says the London •’Observer.” The International Labour Office possesses a special laboratory for this purpose, equipped at the personal expense of an American philanthropist, Mr. E. H. Filene, and directed by a Scotsman, Professor Gordon Finlay. Each day at specified times expert interpreters arrive to receive instruction in the use of the latest devices, and to accustom themselves to the new routine. Instantaneous Translation The process, as it will be applied in the Batiment Electoral is as follows: Around the rostrum, within sight and earshot of the speaker, will sit a number of interpreters, each speaking a language different from the orator’s and his neighbours’. Each interpreter will be provided with a light microphone, encased in rubber sponge, so as to be free from unnecessary vibration, and so “damped” that it will be sensitive only to the subdued voice of its user, and not to that of the orator proper or the noises of the Conference Hall. Coupled to these microphones will he amplifiers and distributing circuits leading to the various tables, where electrically-operated diaphragms will supply the headpieces with a reproduction of the interpreters’ voices.

The task of the intepreter is to provide a running translation in the language in which he specialises. At first it was thought that this would impose a great strain, but experience has shown that it is not so. The process of immediate interpretation where the translation is never more than a sentence behind the speech being translated, appears to be far less fatiguing and less prone to error, than an interpretation from memory or shorthand notes. As an example of the human power of concentration the process stands high, but there are no reasons for believing that the performances which are now a daily affair in this unusual laboratory, are in any way exceptional, and therefore unlikely to be repeated elsewhere. What the Listener Does The listener has admittedly the simpler task. Taking his seat at a table in the Conference Hall, he places over his ears the stethoscopic earpieces, which weigh only two and ahalf ounces, turns a switch until the indicator points to the language in which the listener is interested, and then, by means of the only other visible knob, controls the strength of the speech. All other manipulations are in the hands of the interpreters, and they are confined to lifting the microphone from, or to, a hook which in reality is a master switch. The details have been most carefully thought out. The design of the headpieces is such that they will adapt themselves to heads of all shapes and sizes without putting undue pressure on the ears. They are well ventilated and will be sterilised by a routine process. One can wear them in comfort and sit quite close to an orator and yet receive, without, noticeable interruptoin, not the voice of the orator himself, but the translation of a chosen interpreter. Last year, when the process was tried for the first time, only two variants from the language of the speaker were possible. This year three will be made available, so that in the event of a delegate from the East or from a country not employing English, French or German, wishing to make a speech in his own language, he can do so, and his fellowcountrymen and those tmderstanding English, French and German will be able to hear also and understand without waiting, as is usually the case in international for a translation. Saving of Time By the use of such a process a conference at present occupying three weeks should be easily reduced to one of two weeks —provided, of course, the increased facilities for speech do not loosen the tongues of those who under the old regime would have preferred to remain silent. This saving of time where there are two or three hundred delegates—men of standing in tlieir respective spheres—-is a matter of considerable importance, quite apart from the general higher effi-

ciency which may be expected from a conference where thought flows without interruption. The new ‘‘telephonic interpretation system’’ is not likely to be confined solely to the ‘‘wiping out” of the longtolerated language difficulty at international gatherings. Arrangements are being made to test at the forthcoming conference here a combination of this system with one for making permanent records of the speeches delivered, records which can be transported easily to the International Labour Office for transcription by the normal staff, and can be kept, if necessary, as a check in case of dispute. It is also probable that at a latiV meeting a short-wave wireless telephone relay between the Conference Hall and the permanent staff of the “Palace of Labour” may be developed to save even the time which would bo lost in transporting permanent speech records over a distance of about two and a-half miles. Those who have taken seriously the romantic stories of life in the great international organisations here may be agreeably surprised to find such enterprise in the direction of time-saving and efficiency. Actually it is but one of many efforts having the same object. If it succeeds a very valuable contribution will have been made to the process of establishing a more intense goodwill between the classes and the nations.