torek, november 16, 2004

Not enough Slovene translators in Brussels

The European Commission has yet to hire enough translators to cover all of the new official EU languages since expansion on 1 May of this year. The number of languages rose from 11 to 20, but only 189 of the required 455 translators have been hired, according to the European Voice [SB / 15.11.04 / EU Needs Translators, Recruitment Campaign to Be Launched].

It seems that it is hardest to find translators for Lithuanian, Latvian, Maltese and Slovene, since there are only 13 to 18 translators for these languages, while the required number is 50 to 55. There are 90 to 150 translators for each of the previous 11 official languages.

A recruitment campaign will soon be launched to try to make up the difference, aimed particularly at Lithuania, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia. The goal is to recruit the necessary translators by 1 January 2005.

The missing translators could mean delays in the translation of new legislation, and so freelancers will be hired to help out temporarily. The Slovene government is also planning to send ten of its translators to Brussels [SB / 15.11.04 / Slovenia Rushes to Compensate for Shortage of Translators].

posted by editor @ 8:44 pop.