Advance Information Requested to all ESF Speakers and Organisers

Babels, the international network of volunteer interpreters and translators will be organising interpretation at the ESF in Athens.

Simultaneous interpretation is at the core of international Social Forums as it allows speakers and delegates from different linguistic backgrounds to understand each other. Babels volunteers at the ESF enable speakers to express themselves in the language of their choice and enable the audience to understand what the speakers are saying.

In order for Babels volunteers to deliver a good level of interpretation which will have a direct impact on the quality of the debates it is absolutely essential that Babels is informed on the linguistic needs of each seminar and receive in advance some background information about the content of the speeches of all seminars to give it to the interpreters.

The vocabulary used by alter-globalisation activists is not the vocabulary of the everyday life. Interpreters (professionals and amateurs) will need to learn in advance the relevant vocabulary and key terms related to the sessions they will cover in their respective languages.

It is the responsibility of all speakers and organisations who are presenting seminars and plenaries to notify Babels of the necessary background information to Babels prior to the ESF.

If you want your speeches to be well interpreted by Babels volunteers and so better understood by the delegates, please think of the following :

One person per seminar will have to liaise with the other speakers, collect their abstract and information on the languages they speak and understand.

The background information should include the following :

A/General seminar information :
 Title of the seminar
 Name of all the organisations involved in the seminar or plenary (including the meaning of acronyms if any)
 Explanation of the topic of the seminar

B/ Speaker information :
 Name of the speaker, language s/he will speak into and organisations s/he belongs to
 A few sentences about the content of the speech
 key terms and expressions and specialist vocabulary
 figures and key dates
 organisations and acronyms
 names of treaties, laws and other regulation to be mentioned
 Full text of the speech if available
 Any other important information