International Organizations for Interpreters

This course is primarily aimed at students of conference interpreting, or people who wish to begin studying conference interpreting. It is based on a long-standing lecture course given by the oldest interpreting school in the world, the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Geneva.

Our course looks at organizations from a viewpoint which very few people ever get to see; international organizations seen from the interpreting booth. You will learn about the history, development, structure and functions of international organizations, and of course the question of multilingualism. The purpose of this course is to help you, as a budding interpreter or translator, to gain basic knowledge about the institutions which may be your future employers, and to give you the essential tools that you will need to easily and efficiently prepare yourself for working at an international organization. Naturally, Geneva – renowned for its uniquely high concentration of international organizations – takes centre stage in this course. Throughout this course, we will take you with us to visit a number of these organizations, and to benefit from interviews with various experts who will give us an insider’s view of multilateralism, multilingualism and the other topics broached in the course.