FEATURES10 TheLinguistAPRIL/MAYwww.iol.org.ukThe excitement is building nationwide as theUK gears up to host the London 2012 Games,but for the Organising Committee's LanguageService this is the start of the end-game, afterfour years of planning and preparations. Fortwo weeks in August, the UK capital isexpecting to receive athletes from 205countries and about six million extra visitors,speaking a multitude of languages. How doyou begin preparing for such a challenge?In August 2008, just as the BeijingOrganising Committee was breathing a sighof relief as its Games came to a close,London 2012 began its work on this complextask. They started by 'talking extensively withthe Language Services department of theBeijing and Vancouver Games,' says aspokesperson for LOCOG (the LondonOrganising Committee of the Olympic andParalympic Games). They also attended thelanguage services volunteers.'In fact, the languages requirements are sogreat that no one department has overallresponsibility and, in many cases, severaldepartments are working closely together. TheLanguage Service is responsible for providinginterpreting for the press and national teams;publications translations are handled by theEditorial Services department; the Wayfindingand Signage team provides appropriate signs;while the National Olympic Committee (NOC)and National Paralympic Committee (NPC)teams employ Relationship Managers to assistdelegations in their languages, and aretraining Assistants, some of which willprovide language support to the delegations. In addition, the Volunteers department hassourced volunteers who can offer interpretingand multilingual support to visitors in theOlympic Park and other venues; the TicketingObserver Programmes of the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) at the Games inBeijing (2008) and Vancouver (2010); soughtadvice from experienced consultants andinterpreters from previous Games; consulteduniversities that had done research on thelanguage challenges of hosting the OlympicGames; and analysed 'gather learnings' andobservations from language services users atpast Games.'Previous organising committees wereconsulted about their understanding of theexpected requirements, and constructing anappropriate team,' says the spokesperson.'For example, we learnt that combining theLanguage Services Volunteer role with theProtocol Volunteer role is an excellent way toenhance the experience of volunteers. Thesame applied for a combination of the MainPress Centre helpdesk volunteers with theLondon 2012 tells Miranda Moore how it is meetingthe languages challenge of hosting the GamesLet the Games begin© ODA

Vol/51 No/2 2012APRIL/MAYTheLinguist11FEATURESWeber, who has interpreted at seven Games,including those in Los Angeles (1984), SaltLake City (2002) and Beijing (2008). ProfessorWeber has been working with the LanguageService team to assess both the languagesupport and the number of interpretersneeded. 'LOCOG has regular meetings withthe Chief Interpreter and internal departmentsto review the language support requirementsto ensure the services scoped for areaccurate', says the LOCOG spokesperson.Race to translateEnglish and French are the official languagesof the IOC, so official documents have to beproduced in both languages, as do theLondon 2012 website and signage within theOlympic Park and venues. 'Publicationsrequiring translation are identified on a masterpublications list. We have defined eachpublication by its audience, so that anythingto Athletes, Technical Officials and OlympicFamily is marked as "for translation",' saysthe spokesperson. The publicationstranslation team is led by a TranslationManager, but most of the translation work isdone via an external agency.This is also true of the website: 'We don'thave a staff website translator (although ourTranslation Manager helps out with urgentrequirements and oversees quality). We usean external agency who did the initialtranslation and delivers ongoing translationson a rolling basis.' Although the website isavailable in English and French only,information is available in other languages viathe websites of the Authorised TicketResellers, NOCs and NPCs for each country. Team workLOCOG is working with stakeholders, such asthe Greater London Authority (GLA), VisitBritain and Transport for London (TfL), tomake sure all front-facing staff receive'Games training' and know where to turn tofor information. The Wayfinding and Signageteams are also working with TfL and the GLAto make sure there is 'a coordinated andintegrated wayfinding system, which will carryour spectators from the start of their journeyall the way through to the venues', saysLOCOG. Signs in certain spaces will bewritten in the two official languages, so theyare using globally recognisable pictogramsand icons in order to cater to visitors whospeak other languages. Finally, it will be the London 2012volunteers who guide spectators through thevenues and deal with their queries in theOlympics Park. 'London is a multicultural cityand, via the Games Maker application, wehave been very lucky in finding a lot ofvolunteers with extensive language skills,'says the spokesperson. It will fall largely onthese local volunteers to make sure that allvisitors have a good experience, no matterwhat languages they speak.It will fall largely onvolunteers to ensureall visitors have a goodexperience, whatevertheir languagesON TRACKRiders try out the BMX course at theVelodrome in August 2011 (right);and an artist's impression of Bridge FO6 in the Olympic Park (left) Team sends key documents in French andSpanish to the NOCs/NPCs; and theAuthorised Ticket Resellers for each countrydisseminate further information, althoughthey are responsible for the translations.LOCOG itself has multilingual staff whocan communicate effectively withinternational teams and stakeholders in therun-up to the Games, and members of itsNOC team speak a wide range of languages.Multilingual roles include Russian, Arabic andFrench-speaking Accreditation Coordinators. Information relayThe Language Service will provideinterpreting to 'internal Functional Areas andsome accredited clients only'. A pool of 75professional interpreters will work on the pressconferences, while volunteer interpreters willprovide interpretation for the national teamsand media in the Main Press Centre (MPC),Olympic Village and, on competition days, atvenues. Where no interpreter is available for aparticular language, there will be a telephoneinterpreting service. 'The interpreting requirements for thestadiums have been assessed in closecooperation with the key internal teams(Press Operations and Sport), since thelanguages required varies from venue tovenue or, in other words, from sport to sport,'says LOCOG. This process will continue untilJune, when the Continental QualificationTournaments come to a close and the worldknows exactly which teams will be competingfor each sport. Only then can the interpretingrequirements be finalised. The role of Chief Interpreter was advertisedin June 2010 and the contract was awarded,in January 2011, to Olympic veteran Wilhelm© LOCOG