English: As World Language: Maurice Harari

WAIS Chairman Maurice Harari, Secretary General Emeritus of  IAUP, writes: Let me confirm that the official language of IAUP (The International Association of University Presidents) is English.  At the Triennial and regional meetings of the Association, however, and by prior arrangement, some presentations are allowed in certain languages, with translation in English provided.   When IAUP met in China, for example, several papers were presented in Chinese, but an English translation was made available to the participants as a whole, most of whom did not speak Chinese.  Similarly for other regions of the world.  The financial cost of providing simultaneous translation for more than very few languages which could be used at an international conference can be very prohibitive. 

RH: Working in more than one language can be an awful nuisance, even with just two languages, as in Canada.  I sometimes listen to sessions of the Canadian parliament. While a speaker uses one language, an interpreter translates into the other language.  Then, to avoid offending those using the other language, the speaker sometimes switches to the other language in the middle of his speech. Then the reverse interpretation goes into effect.  The proceedings appear in both languages, with recriminations about the accuracy of the translations. The situation is much worse in the UN and the EU.

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