新奇事件簿 欧洲议会禁说英语（在线收听）

The European Parliament's Secretary General, Klaus Welle, has urged Euro politicians to speak more slowly and to stick to their native language instead of using English. This is to help the hundreds of interpreters who work at the institution. Mr Welle said many interpreters were encountering difficulties doing their job. He said: "It's extremely important that people do not speak too fast." He asked politicians not to use English if it was not their native language as this complicates things for the translators. He added: "It's also extremely important for interpreters that people speak their own language. If the politicians speak a foreign language, the quality of interpretation goes down."

欧洲议会秘书长克劳斯·韦勒呼吁欧洲政界人士减慢语速，使用本国语言而非英语。这将帮助议会数百名口译员减轻压力。韦勒表示，许多口译员常会遇到麻烦。他认为：“减慢语速至关重要。”他要求政界人士若非母语不要使用英语，否则将增加翻译员的工作难度。他还表示：“对于口译员而言，使用母语极其重要。使用外语将降低翻译质量。”

There are 24 official languages spoken at the European Parliament. The most recent additions are Croatian, Irish, Bulgarian and Romanian. A small army of 330 interpreters is employed to ensure everyone understands each other. The parliament employs an additional 1,800 freelancers. It also has about 700 translators, who translate over 100,000 pages each month. If everyone followed Mr Welle's request, only politicians from the UK would be allowed to speak English, even though many members are multi-lingual. Many prefer to speak in English to avoid the confusion of having several simultaneous interpreters. The parliament's annual budget for interpreters is $50 million.

欧洲议会有24种官方语言。最近新增加，且使用率最高的语种为克罗地亚语、爱尔兰语、保加利亚语以及罗马尼亚语。330名口译员担任口译工作。议会还额外聘请了1800名自由职业者。约700名翻译员，每月翻译篇幅超10万张。若遵循韦勒要求，即使许多为多语种国家，那么只有英国代表允许使用英语。为避免口译员造成混乱，人们更喜欢用英语。议会对口译员的年度预算为5000万美金。