Escort interpreters accompany visiting delegations or individuals and interpret for them in generally informal situations. There are more escort interpreters than conference interpreters because more languages are in demand for escort interpreting. The temporary assignments in this field are just as uncertain and sporadic. The United Nations has a staff of some 98 interpreters, all of whom are required to know extremely well at least two and preferably three of the UN conference languages, which are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The State Department normally has 50 or so linguists on its interpreting and translating staff, of whom 20 or so are primarily interpreters.
Vacancies are few and far between, with many applicants applying for each opening.
The free-lance conference interpreting field in the United States is made up of experienced interpreters, who compete for the opportunity of interpreting at international conferences on scientific, economic, political, and other subjects. Except for the very few best known and most experienced interpreters, who are frequently multilingual rather than merely bilingual, free-lancing as a conference interpreter is, therefore, rather an uncertain occupation. Practically the only languages used in international conferences in the United States are English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. A broad background of education and experience is required to translate documents on many diverse subjects. The United States Information Agency, for example, uses foreign-language announcers and script writers.