100 Years of Conference Interpreting

1919 saw the Versailles peace conference, which I mention in nearly all my talks, showing a picture of it. That means that conference interpreting hit the one-century mark just two years ago. They were interpreting in consecutive with notes and actually ended up doing pieces of up to an hour in length, which I find amazing. Already in the 1920s paid preparation days had been adopted and studies showed that 30 minutes was the maximum sustainable time for quality simultaneous. In 1924 women had equal pay, 60 Swiss francs per day. The Geneva interpreting school was founded in 1941.  We conference interpreters are standing on the shoulders of giants. I really recommend that all of us delve into our fascinating history. This video is a marvelous summary of our 100-year history. Click the blue button to see it.
​