The role of translation and interpretation in the diplomatic communication

Tamas Baranyai
Abstract: Present short study is dealing with the languages used for diplomatic
purposes throughout the history and at present, and concentrates on the different ways
for solving the question of language-related understanding between the actors of
diplomacy. Since one of the most commonly used methods is the employment of
translators and interpreters, this writing is mainly dedicated to the issues concerning
translation and interpretation in diplomatic context.
Keywords: diplomatic language, translation, interpretation, heteronymous translator,
autonomous translator, linguistic and cultural awareness

Introduction
Diplomacy whose presence in the history of mankind from the very beginning of
civilization has been proved by the archeologists is a formal way of communication between
the states. Since in most of the cases the various states use different language or even
languages in their internal exchanges, the interstate communication usually meets the
challenge of having a common language in order to avoid misunderstandings. This common
language used for diplomatic purposes is sometimes called diplomatic language. Although
most of the diplomatic lexicons and dictionaries mention and explain the notion of diplomatic
language, legally, there has never existed such a language. We should accept the explanation
of Pitti-Ferrand according to which a diplomatic language is practically the language used by
the parties concerned during the actual international negotiations and during the wording of
the actual international legal acts (treaties, conventions, agreements etc.). The parties
involved have to come to an agreement concerning this language on the basis of their equality.
(Pitti-Ferrand 2003: 3)

Languages commonly used for diplomatic exchanges throughout the history

Even though one single diplomatic language de jure whose usage had been universally
and explicitly accepted by every state has never existed, nevertheless, throughout history,
there have been languages whose use even though limited in time and space have been
preferred in the interstate diplomatic exchanges.
The first peace treaty that is known from history had been concluded back in the 12th
century B.C. between Ramses II, pharaoh of Egypt and Hattusili III, king of the Hittites.
According to the careful analysis of this peace treatys text that was preserved both in the
Acadian and in the Egyptian language, scientists found proof that the original was written in
Acadian, while the Egyptian is just a translation. Also texts from later years give accounts of
the Acadian being the first known dominant language of diplomatic interactions in the
ancient Near East. Its supremacy began sometimes in the first half of the 2nd millennium B.C.
and lasted for about a thousand years, when this dominance was put to an end by the
Aramean language which became the lingua franca for one millennium and a half in the
Fertile Crescent.

The conquests of Alexander, the Great, however, increased the importance of the
Greek language during the interactions of different empires, and gradually, Greek had been
used along with Aramean for diplomatic communication, too. Nevertheless, the descendants
of Alexander started to force other peoples to use Greek for official purposes and forbade
them the use of any other language. Also the Roman emperors knew, and used the Greek
language; however, the spread of Latin was obviously unavoidable. Soon, all the provinces of
the huge Empire used Latin for communicating both with each other and with the peoples
beyond the borders. This wide-spread use of the language made it possible that it could play a
significant role in the diplomatic culture even centuries after the fall of the Empire.
Some other factors that helped to maintain Latins importance in diplomacy are as
follows: In the Middle Age, the diplomatic envoys usually come from the educated layer of
the clergy, and also the language of the Church was Latin. Also, being a dead language, the
official use of this language in diplomatic interaction didnt hurt the pride of any nation, as
it didnt indicate a difference in rank. Since Latin had been used for diplomatic purposes for
centuries, it used to have its proper linguistic register for nearly all situations that could occur
in diplomacy of those times, and in case any of the decision makers couldnt speak Latin, the
exact interpretation of the diplomatic texts was rather easy.
Nevertheless, Latin gradually lost its significance in Western Europe following the
age of Renaissance and Humanism. The multitude of modern terms, coming from the fields
of jurisdiction, administration, politics, economy etc., which appear in these decades, had no
equivalents in Latin. Due to the invention of the printing press, the members of the clergy
couldnt maintain their monopoly of reading and writing; whats more, many of the new
books had been published not in Latin anymore, but in the vernacular languages which was
understood by the simple people, too. More and more diplomats had no ties with the Church,
and these people couldnt speak Latin well, or even couldnt speak Latin at all.
In the 1670s, France was at the height of its power, the Sun King was victorious on
the battlefields, as well. Yet, the diplomatic negotiations following his wars had been still
mostly concluded in Latin, although there was one treaty between Holland and France which
was written in French and there was another bilingual, Spanish-French treaty, as well.
However, the reign of the descendants of Louis XIV brought along a political decline for
France as a European power. As Charles Cogan explains,
under Louis XIVs successor, Louis XV, French diplomacy became less
effective, as in the unnecessary renunciation of French gains in the northeast and in
Savoy in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession
(1740-48). In this and the next conflict, the Seven Years War (1756-63), the principal
beneficiaries were England, supreme on the seas, and Prussia, now emerging as a
powerful land-army state under Frederick II. In the Seven Years War, France lost two
hundred thousand men fighting in a change of alliances with Austria against
Prussia while losing its colonies in America and India to England for want of men to
defend them. From that point until the French Revolution in 1789, France did not play a
very active role in European power politics. (Cogan, 2004: 64)

Despite its political and military decline, France seems to exercise an intellectual
hegemony in Europe, and this also contributed to the fact that French soon became the main
means of diplomatic communication.
Although the French lost a war against the Holy Roman Empire, the treaty concluded
in Rastadt in the year 1714, similarly to the afore-mentioned cases, was formulated in the

language of the losing country but this time, this language was French. The reason why
Latin has been completely neglected this time was a rational one. The French general, Villars
couldnt speak Latin, while the commander of the Habsburg Empires army, Prince Eugene
of Savoy who was born in Paris could speak French very well. Thus, the treaty had been
concluded in French, but they added a mention spciale to the treaty to indicate that the use
of French in this treaty is just an exception and this shouldnt be a precedent for later treaties.
However, from this time on, the accidental use of French during the conclusion of treaties
occurred more and more frequently, even though for the next half century the special close
had always been added to them emphasizing the fact that French is not an officially adopted
language for the negotiations.
Yet, the language used for both the diplomatic negotiations and for the diplomatic
documents of this time became exclusively the French. It was only the Treaty of Paris
concluded in 1763 where the special close about the language use had not been added for the
first time. This was a clear sign of the fact that the language that is used in this case and also
in later cases is (and remains) French. From this time on, the dominance of French in the
international negotiations was not a question anymore.
Although France lost its strong political position with the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte,
but its language still could preserve its special place in the diplomatic communication.
Nevertheless, beside Prussia, there was another young country emerging, which challenged
France in different fields as soon as it appeared in the scene of European politics, the United
States. One of these fields was the language use in diplomacy.
Due to the traditional isolation of the Brits from mainland Europe, English was not a
language widely-known during the golden age of the British Empire. Despite the vast
expansion and the political dominance of the Empire, English hadnt become a prevailing
language in diplomatic interactions for long. Since the British had concentrated their attention
to the world outside of Europe and had rather been concerned to build up their Empire that
contained territories on all continents, the main means of communication in European
diplomacy remained French even at the height of Britains power.
Thus, the language started its diplomatic career only at the end of the 19th century,
when not only England was willing to intervene in the matters of mainland Europe, but also
the United States appeared as a young political power. Already the Treaty of Paris concluded
in 1783 which acknowledged the independence of the USA was formulated in English for
the special request of the Americans. In 1895, a tribunal was set up in Paris in order to
address the difficulties which emerged between England and the United States related to
some legal questions concerning the Behring Sea and the protection of sea lions. It was
agreed that the problems will be discussed in English. Also the peace of Portsmouth, which
was concluded between Japan and Russia with American diplomatic mediation was
formulated both English and French, although the French version was considered to be the
original.
Finally, just like the linguistic competence of the negotiating parties influenced the
language use of the diplomatic communication back in 1714, the history repeated itself two
centuries later. However, French was the victim this time. In 1919, the peace treaties which
put an end to WWI have been prepared by a Peace Conference, and especially by a kind of
committee of four statesmen, representing the victorious countries. George Clmenceau and
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando had a good command of English; however, the representatives of
the Anglo-Saxon countries were not as talented regarding the languages. The British David
Lloyd George could speak some French, but not really well, while the American Woodrow

Wilson couldnt speak French at all. Thus, the conditions of the peace have been formulated
both in English and in French, both versions being considered as of equal authority.
Since the peace treaty of Rastadt in 1714, this was the first occasion when not only
French had been used in a Western European diplomatic interaction. Of course, the decision
was severely criticized by the protectors of the French language. The President of the
Republic, the Academy, the public opinion, they all opposed the diversion from the
traditional use of French, but the grave consequences were not to be avoided. In Versailles,
the hegemony of French as the single language of diplomacy was put to an end. From this
time on, there came a period of bilingualism: English and French had been used parallel
during the diplomatic communication. This era of bilingualism lasted until the end of WWII,
then English has assumed the role that French had played in the previous two centuries.

Languages used for diplomatic communication in our present days

Although the significance of French from its monopoly in Western diplomatic
exchanges has gradually declined since WWII; however, the use of this language hasnt
completely disappeared from the domain. It still functions as one of the two working
languages in the United Nations, similarly to the International Court of Justice in the Haag
whose official language is also the French. This language is the working language of the
Council of Europe, of the General Court (along with the Court of Justice) of the European
Union and of the European Court of Auditors. French is also the official language of the most
important recurring event of sport diplomacy, the Olympic Games.
Of course, apart from English and French, a number of other languages are used in our
days for diplomatic purposes, especially as working languages in the international
organizations that assume multilateral diplomatic activity. These international organizations
include a number of member states. As an example for this kind of multilateral cooperation
we can mention the Danube Commission, where working languages are French, German and
Russian. Another example can be the OPEC which uses Arabic, English and Spanish as its
working languages. At the high-level meetings of non-aligned countries, Arabic, English,
French and Spanish are used. (Nick 2001: 46-47) In the United Nations, beside the two
previously mentioned languages, also Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish are considered to
be official languages; however, at the plenary meetings, the participants have their choice
even to use their own vernacular language. In this case, of course, the translation of the
speech should be provided in at least one of the working languages of the organization.
The cost of translation required by the multilateral diplomatic exchanges in the
international organizations is tremendous. As Nick mentions, some years ago a calculation
was made concerning this question which resulted that the translation of one single page to
all official languages of the UN amounted to the value necessary to cover the cost of living
for one person in India for a whole year (ibid). However, we dont wish to deal with the
problems of the translation of the written text sin a detailed way, but for those who are
interested we highly recommend the short study of Ildiko Hortobagyi which has been
published under the title Plurilinguisme et Comptence Interculturelle in the 4th volume of
the tudes franaises series. Although the multilateral diplomatic communication is more
complicated and more expensive than bilateral, also this latter meets a number of challenges.
There are some countries, which share the same official language; however, language
conventions vary in such a way that there might even be some misunderstanding between

people of these countries. E.g. French is spoken not only in France, but also in Belgium, in
Canada, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and in numerous African countries. The
same way, English is shared by a huge number of states beside the United Kingdom and the
United States. Also Spanish (Spain and Latin-America) and Arabic (e.g. Maghreb and
Mashraq countries) can be listed as examples. Thus, even though these countries share the
same language, sometimes the same words and expressions of these languages have different
connotations in their language use. (Mathieu 1951: 29)

The ways of solving the language issue in diplomacy-related situations

As we have already referred to it, the problems of mutual understanding at least as
for linguistic competences are concerned can be solved in various ways between diplomats
of different nationality and thus possessing different mother tongue. Nevertheless, we have to
admit that none of these solutions is perfect.
Of course, any diplomat has the free choice of using any of the languages he can
speak, especially if he knows his counterparts linguistic background. Sometimes even to
make the right decision regarding the language use requires a sense of diplomatic approach.
In certain cases it might be tactical to choose the language that he can speak not so well. E.g.
a diplomat who can speak Hebrew very well might hurt the sensibility of an Arab diplomat
by talking to him using that language. At the same time, its a sign of good-will, politeness or
special respect if someone greets their counterpart in their own language. Many statesman act
like this during their visits to foreign countries, just like leaders of diplomatic delegations
participating in international conferences, expressing their respect towards the chairman of
the event or towards the country in which the conference takes place. His Holiness the
polyglot pope John Paul II can stand as a good example for all diplomats.
One way of reaching to a consensus is that one of the negotiating parties is willing to
use the mother tongue of his homologue, which at the same time might also mean that he
accepts having the chance to have some disadvantages during the communication, as the
linguistic competence of a second or third language is seldom in match with that of a mother
tongue. As a native speaker, one can be much more aware of the hidden, connotative
meanings and certain implications of expressions, while in case of a second language these
can easily avoid ones attention. This is also one reason why it is not so simple to find a
commonly accepted and acknowledged language in the multilateral diplomacy. (Nick 2001:
40)
Another possible way of tearing down the language barriers is the mutual acceptance
of using a third language which is spoken by none of the participants as a mother tongue.
That results in a situation where theoretically none of the negotiating parties can have an
unfair advantage concerning the linguistic competence. Of course, this solution also implies
that either (or both) of the parties might not have a complete linguistic mastering of the
language, and this can also lead to misunderstandings in extreme cases. Still, this is one of the
widely used methods in the practice of international diplomatic communication, especially in
less formal occasions, such as receptions or other events. (ibid)
The idea of using an artificial, synthetic language, such as Esperanto, in the
communication of diplomacy in order to avoid all the complications of the linguistic kind,
emerged long time ago; however, even George Mathieu formed his skeptical opinion about

the possible success of such a language as early as back in the middle of the 20th century.
(Mathieu 1951: 33)
A special way of solving the issue of different languages is the employment of
translators, people mediating between the communicators. This might happen in two cases:
either theres no common language shared by the participants of the communicative situation,
or they intentionally dont wish to directly communicate by using a common language. This
latter has got nothing to do with the lack of politeness, of course. According to the diplomatic
protocol, high ranking statesmen, heads of state should use their mother tongue in certain
official occasions, and the use of interpreters is a widely used method in diplomatic
negotiations for tactical purposes, as well.

Translators and interpreters in the diplomatic communication

Since the Treaty of Versailles made the use of two official languages instead of only
one as a norm to be followed, a new profession had to be invented, that of the official
diplomatic interpreters. Of course, the use of translators and interpreters was not a completely
new phenomenon, as we have proof of the existence of people in charge of this task
throughout the history of mankind. The above-mentioned historical event only led to the
systematic special training of the diplomatic translators and interpreters.
As early as in the first meetings between representatives of different tribes (later
empires and states), there had been the challenge of understanding the other. Since there were
issues to discuss, problems to solve, terms to negotiate, understanding has always been
essential, thus finding a way to avoid the language barrier was a question of high significance.
For this challenge, the actual leaders had tried to find various solutions. As Takeda (Takeda
2008: 2-3) refers to Cronins research (Cronin 2002: 55-58; 2006: 101-102, 114-115), the
first step had usually been the employment of the so-called heteronymous interpreters who
were chosen from the members of the opposing party, and who were forced or motivated to
learn the language of the conquerors so that they can be used as translators or interpreters.
However, sooner or later the loyalty and reliability of these heteronymous interpreters had
been questioned, and as a shift of paradigm, the attention turned more and more towards
using autonomous interpreters, i.e. the employment and linguistic (and often diplomatic)
training of the states own professionals. This shift in the tendency has also been detailed
dealt with by Lewis who discussed the translating issues of the Middle East in his work.
(Lewis 2004: 24-28)
The function of the employment of interpreters during the multilateral talks and
international conferences significantly differs from that during bilateral negotiations. While
in the first case the use of interpreters ensure the complete understanding of the speeches, i.e.
it is dedicated to avoid the eventual lack of linguistic competence, interpretation in a bilateral
situation, especially in diplomatic negotiations, is a much more complex issue with a much
wider scale of functions.
One of the advantages of using interpreters during bilateral meetings is that the
negotiating parties gain some time for thinking over what they wish to reply, while the
interpreter is doing his job. On the other hand, it is possible to observe and analyze the nonverbal elements of communication of the other party, which also might provide information
of great importance to the listener. (Hidasi 2004: 65-66)

Of course, the employment of translators and interpreters also might have their
disadvantages, such as their time consuming character, their cost, and the eventual inadequate
or even incorrect way of translation or interpretation. The danger of this latter cannot be
avoided even in that case when the translator has a high linguistic competence of both the
main language and of the target language, because at the same time he might not be an expert
of the specific linguistic register of the issue in question, as we shouldnt forget that the
themes of the negotiations can cover the most various fields of issues. A mistakenly or
intentionally incorrect translation or interpretation can cause serious harms in diplomatic
relations, no wonder that as early as in the medieval Italy a slogan spread to draw a parallel
between the translators and the traitors (traduttore traditore). (Nick 2001: 40)
Also the memoir of the former Hungarian minister of foreign affairs, Miklos Banffy
includes a similar idea about the role of interpreters. The politician mentions concerning the
grey eminent of Italian diplomacy of his times, Contarini, that he was only willing to use
Italian language in his communications, so that he can blame his interpreter in any case of
misunderstanding. (Banffy 2000: 270)

The competence of diplomatic translators and interpreters

The aim of translation and interpretation is not the semantic and syntactic
transmission of the sentences from one language to another, but to achieve the same effect
with the translation as what the original version is supposed to achieve. Communication can
be called successful, if we know when, what, to whom and how to say in order to reach a
certain goal or effect. For this success in communication, however, an interpreter needs to be
aware of the cultural features of the other party.
These cultural features include both linguistic and non-linguistic elements. The above
mentioned former Hungarian foreign minister, Miklos Banffy mentions a situation in his
memoir, when the Hungarian delegation tried to convince the French president about their
cause. The head of the delegation spoke first in a very factual way without using any rhetoric
phrases, however, his recommendations had immediately been denied. Then the foreign
minister himself started to talk, and being aware of the French spirit, of the way how French
people use to argue for their right, and of the linguistic register they use to employ he
reformulated the same content of the former speech. When he said France or gloire, he
used the same spirited tone as the French usually do. The attitude of the counterpart has
gradually changed, and finally he agreed with what was requested, although he had heard the
same request twice, only served in a more French sauce in the second case. (Banffy 2000:
273)
The different way of thinking, and the different means of expression that characterize
the various cultures can also influence the negotiations. When Chairman Mao drew a parallel
between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the busy swallows who are preparing for the
storm, the American politician didnt quite understand the metaphor and the Chinese leader
had to explain his meaning. (Burr 1998: 395) The proper linguistic awareness of cultures, i.e.
the significance of the correct approach of the various cultures is also underlined in
Hortobagyis study. (Hortobagyi 2008)
The common knowledge shared by the counterparts forms a basic precondition of the
successful negotiations. The verbatim records of Kissingers talks with the Chinese and
Russian leaders give an account of not only covering the actual (and historical) events of the

international politics, geopolitical competences, the awareness of the systems of alliances and
that of the possible conflicts, the knowledge concerning internal political issues of other
states, and the topics of the actual meeting (e.g. questions of disarmament, economic issues),
completed by diplomatic protocol issues. It seems that it is also essential for the negotiating
parties to know their homologues background, life and works. Apart from these, the
Kissinger records mention conversations regarding historical, philosophical and even
linguistic themes.
We have to admit that not all of the participants of the conversations had an equally
wide knowledge concerning the above-mentioned topics. However, it was essential that the
interpreters could convey the meaning of the speaker in each case. Thus for the sake of
success, interpreters need to possess both a wide knowledge of the world in general, and the
linguistic register expressing the details of the most various fields. Sometimes it is the
interpreter who needs to help out the speaker (even a head of state) in expressing his thoughts
in a more exact way.
Mathieu summarizes the qualifications and qualities of a good interpreter as follows:
Hes required to have a knowledge [sic] of languages and of as many technical subjects as
possible. (Mathieu 1951: 31) As Mathieu underlines, interpreters can requested to
participate in a succession of meetings related to a very wide variety of subjects, such as
atomic energy, technical or legal issues, statistics, demographic issues, the regulation of
whale hunting, human rights issues etc. For all such issues, it is not even enough the detailed
knowledge of the terminology, but the interpreter is also required to be mentally fit to deal
with the individual questions, since during the talks he has to face the real experts of these
fields. (ibid)
Of course, the interpreter has to be able to speak in public without the trace of fright
or shyness. How large ever the audience is or what important and well-known personality
ever his employer is, he has to disregard all these and concentrate on his task without any
stage fright. Another required quality towards interpreters is discretion. The people they are
working for need to feel safe even at (and after) the most confidential meetings. Its important
that they can immediately grasp the meaning of the spoken words. A great presence of mind,
a good measure of psychological understanding, a long-lasting ability of concentration etc.,
these are all essential qualities for a good interpreter. And we already have mentioned the
cultural awareness of the counterpart, which is also a basic prerequisite. As Hortobagyi
explains it: La conscience langagire et la conscience culturelle constituent galement deux
facteurs trs importants dun discours diplomatique., i.e. the linguistic conscience and the
cultural conscience are two equally important factors of a diplomatic discourse. (Hortobgyi
2009)

The difficulties of interpretations

The difficulties of interpreting might be the result of various factors. The speaker
might not be a talented orator and in case hes not well prepared for his speech, he might
struggle with the ways of expression himself, which also might cause hardships for the
interpreter. Especially when the speaker has a tendency of accumulating negatives used
within the same sentence, the interpreter might lose count on these and finally he wont know
whether it should be expressed in the negative or in the positive. Its quite awkward and not
always possible to ask a question to the speaker to clarify his meaning.

Sometimes the obscure way of expressing the thoughts gives hard times to the
diplomatic interpreters, as in this case they need to decide within a moment, whether it was
the speakers intention to formulate his thoughts in such an obscure way, in which case the
translation should reflect the same obscure character, or whether it was accidental, when the
interpreter shall make a clear expression of what the speaker wished to share with his
audience.
Some of the speakers might have a heavy accent, especially if they deliver their
speeches in a second language. But even if we consider the various accents of English spoken
in India, Pakistan, in the Arabic countries or by French speakers, we can realize that
interpreters can have a lot of hardships when they are not used to these language variations.
Its another difficult moment when the interpreter finds a mistake in the content of the
speech, as he has to decide immediately, whether it is to be corrected which might mean
losing face of the speaker or not. When Hungarian political leader, Pal Losonczi was
ceremonially welcomed in Sierra Leone as the president of Bulgaria, the interpreter corrected
the mistake without hesitation in his interpretation. (Erdos 2004: 39-40)
In the history of diplomacy, many intentional mistranslations are also well-known.
The reason behind these had varied from provocation to the correction of the text in order to
avoid diplomatic conflicts. An instance where the effect of the original text has been
modified in order to moderate and to make it acceptable for the receiver was the diplomatic
correspondence between the Sultan of the Turkish Empire and Queen Elizabeth I of England
which gives account of the fact that the Turkish emperor didnt consider the queen as equal in
rank; however, the Italian translation of the sultans letters reflects the required relationship
of a vassal as a true friendship. (Lewis 2001: 22)
When speakers use quotations and references during their speech especially in
simultaneous interpretation , it is always a source of difficulty for interpreters, all the more
so if they havent been provided with the required reference material in advance, so that they
can find the documents from which the orators draw their quotations. (Mathieu 1951: 32)
The translation of culturally unique phenomena is also something which might be a
source of difficulty when they turn up during a speech. This was a case some years ago when
Hungarian head of government Ferenc Gyurcsany mentioned a Hungarian invention in his
speech in Beijing. The name of the invention just as creative as the invention itself comes
from an old Hungarian word which is mostly known from a fairy tale. However, the word
gmbc has no equivalent probably in any language. Also the interpreter had a hard time
when he had to translate it. The politician getting a little upset by his interpreters lack of
linguistic competence repeated the word in Hungarian. The interpreter, however, awkward as
it was, replied that he also knows the Hungarian name of the invention.
Although according to Mathieu it is a general rule that the higher the delegate in rank
and reputation, the kinder and more understandable he is in his dealings with interpreters
(Mathieu 1951: 31), this seems to be a reference to the past times. E.g. due to the widespread
use of the English language in diplomatic context, George Bush, then President of the United
States, even questioned the necessity of his speechs interpretation into German, and
interrupted the interpreter saying Everyone speaks English, right? It was Chancellor
Merkel who asked his patience so that his speech can also be heard in German translation.
It can also be a nightmare for interpreters, when speakers read out their speeches, as in
this case they dont need to think what they say, thus they speak faster, time their pauses in a
different way, and usually use a more formal, more bureaucratic way of expression.

10

Summary
The various languages spoken in the different countries necessitate solutions to bridge
the linguistic gap during the interstate exchanges, which challenge had been addressed by the
actual political elites in numerous ways throughout the history. Although the requirements of
the multilateral communicative situations cannot be compared to those of the bilateral
meetings; however, as a rule, the most commonly used method in both cases is the
employment of interpreters and translators.
This paper hasnt dealt with certain questions related to translation and interpretation
in diplomatic context, such as the difference between consecutive and simultaneous
interpretation, the role and necessity of taking notes during interpretation, from which
language to which language to translate etc.; however, we have covered the most important
qualities and qualifications of a good interpreter, as well as the difficulties that an interpreter
might have to face during his work.
We havent mentioned the main differences between the job of the interpreters, who
work closely together with the speaker, and the translators, who work alone by recreating a
text as its second authors. Also havent dealt with the issue of interpreting certain emotions,
such as anger, humor, and confidence; nevertheless, dealt with the advantages and
disadvantages of employing interpreters, and also covered the theme of heteronymous and
autonomous interpreters.

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Authors address: H-8200 Veszprem, Haszkovo u. 2/B

Authors e-mail: [email protected]

In SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpretation [online]. 2011, vol. 5, no. 2 [cit. 2011-11-21]. Available
on web page <http://www.skase.sk/Volumes/JTI06/pdf_doc/01.pdf>. ISSN 1336-7811.

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