The United Nations A Language Student's View from Within
著者 Kawahara Toshiyuki journal or
publication title
英語英文学研究
volume 7
page range 87‑105
year 2001‑09
出版者 東京家政大学文学部英語英文学科
URL http://id.nii.ac.jp/1653/00009635/
The United Nations
ALanguage Student，s View from Within
Toshiyuki Kawahara
Introduction−−Exposure to Geneva scenes
On 290ctober 1969， I was on board the plane bound fbr Geneva． It was my first day to report to the Of行ce of the United Nations． When the plane hovered over the Lake Leman， I was assaulted by an acute sense of anxiety． The big name of the United Nations was scaring enough to make me apprehend what fate was in store fbr this first Japanese staff member to be recruited by the refUgee organization． At the airport， I was spoken to by a bearded stranger， who tumed out to be my section chief His name was Mr． Anvar， Iranian by nationality．
Undoubtedly I might have bowed deeply in a Japanese style， while shak−
ing hands with him． Soon afしer I checked in at the hote1， my new boss
invited me to his apa伽ent fbr lunch． To an amazed Japanese， the
apartment was indeed a gorgeous mansion． When I almost took off my
shoes at the entrance， Madame Anvar urged me to go ahead with my
shoes on， allowing me to sink my feet into the fUrry caτpet． The Iunch
that fbllowed was an ordeal． Obviously I was the first Japanese guest
that had ever been invited at Anvar s． At table， I was con丘onted with
along pair of ivory chopsticks and a steaming bowl of long−shaped
Italian rice． I could scarcely swallow any fbod under the curious gaze
of my hosts・Imentioned to Mr． Anvar that I was proud to have joined
under the flag ofthe United Nations． I meant it as I was in such an ex−
alted state of mind． Mr． Anvar laughed．
This was just the beginning of a series of embarrassments． The shock−
ing discovery was about the languages． On the evening of my arrival， I dropped in at a stationery shop in town to buy some writing materials．
To my surprise， they did not understand the simple English words of 奄獅求hand notebook ．（It was 25 years ago， and thank God， it is no longer the case．）It did not take much time befbre I realized that English was not a universal language in the European Continent． Switzerland，
only the size of Kyushu， has fbur national languages：Ge㎜an， French，
Italian and Romansh． Unbelievable but true！Needless to say， it is vital fbr your survival to understand the local language and to make yourself understood in your community． Thus my uphill stmggle started to learn French to live and work in this town of Geneva． As the first step， I had to find an English speaking driving teacher， and also a medical doctor who was linguistically able to meet the needs of my family．
This language problem was also a top priority fbr my family． My two children were sent to the kindergarten in the neighborhood， while receiv−
ing tutoring丘om me at home． But in a few months time， they were beginning to行nd fault with their papa s 負mny pronunciation． My son of five years old ventured to teach his parents how to pronounce cor−
rectly r sound of French， suggesting to vibrate the throat like gurgling．
Both of us parents制e to get the knack， only repeating hopelessly the
Japanese sounds of ra−ri−ru−re−ro ． This was one of the very rare bouts
of concentration fbr the whole family who were single−mindedly united
fbr the pursuit of common o切ective．
Chapter 1． The United Nations as a Bilingual Working Place Much to my relief， English was one of the two working languages， in parallel with French， at the UN．， Geneva， which was then called the European Headquarters of the United Nations． Our office was in the venerable building of the Palais des Natiolls， Iooking over the Lake Leman， with the majestic view of Mont Blanc over the lake． Nothing more was to be desired as the working place． Once inside the office， I fbund my fellow workers were mostly Europeans（about two thirds at
th・t tim・）． ApP・・ently， it w・・t・k・n f・・9r・nt，d th、t th， uN、t。ff
should be bilingual， with good command of two working languages of English and French．
●
As a matter of fact， at inner meetings， when the chairman started in French， the subsequent discussions were conducted in French． You could intervene in English， but since you were in the minority， the discussion would soon revert to French． This was the most painfUI moment fbr non−French speaking staff members l ike myself Fo血nately， over the two decades of my service with the UN．， the linguistic balance has swayed gradually but irreversibly in favour of English． This may be ac−
counted fbr by the global spread of the English language， and also， in my view， by the chairmanship of maj or conferences that reflect the political and economical balance of powers in the arena of world poli−
tics． As a notable illustration， the UN High Commissioner fbr RefUgees
（where I worked fbr 23 years）is currently Mrs． Sadako Ogata． Her pres−
ence at the top of the office is not entirely irrelevant to the fact that the
intemal meetings in UNHCR have mostly been conducted in English， if
not in Japanese．
Another aspect that stmck me as a new recnlit to the UN． was that all the staff of the office were treating each other as colleagues， at least in the working style． It was apparent in the practice to address your co1−
leagues， or even your seniors， by the first name． I never felt comfbrtable to have to address my boss by his first name． How could I dare to ad−
dress ML Anvar， my section chief， by calling him Jamshid？When I mentioned my hesitation fbr this practice， they asked me How then do you call your senior staff in Japan？ We call our seniors in the office by the title， such as， Yes， Manager or Thank you， Deputy Director they all laughed． I have to confess that it took me a few years rpore to allow myself to be called by my shortened name of Kawa．
Speaking of how to address your colleagues， there was another device that was in practice in the United Nations． Handwritten memoranda were usually addressed by the writer to the receiver， using the initials and sometimes by abridgment of phrases． If I got a message reading， T．K．
Come and see me asap． J．H． Iwould rush to my Director s office， as this memo originated from my director（Mr．J．H．）to me（T．K．）instructed me to come up as soon as possible （asap）． I see some merit in using the initials fbr hand−written memos in a small team， where the possible confUsion would be minimal． Just think of long sumames of staff丘om all the continents of the globe． This was just the necessary wisdom to facilitate the communication within the oflice． To a newcomer丘om Japan， however， it took several months to be able to identifシthe col−
leagues by initials as well as by the first names．
But， are the Japanese the odd man out in the corporate cultUres
of intemational organizations？Certainly not． The U．N， is a composite
body of some one hundred eighty nations with a variety of cultUres and living standards． The majority of the officials working there are using the working languages of English or French， which to most of us are fbreign languages． This realization that my fellow workers were more or less on the same ground as myself helped to lessen the psychological pressures in working in this office． After all， we were in the same boat．
In． this respect， I discovered one very interesting fact． When I was asking my finance s6ction members to count a bundle of＄100 notes， the words he or she was muttering while counting were those of their mother tongues． A German clerk was murmuring， ein zwei（lrei． A Spanish， uno， dos， tres． A Malaysian， satu dua tiga， etc． Should a Japanese staff member， like myself， try to make a good show of count−
ing in English， my tongue would get entangled， and I would only end up ln countlng out 99 notes， which should correctly be lOO． This indi−
cates how strong is one s bondage to the mother tongue．
For the initial couple of years of my service with U．N．， I was still pre−
occupied with language problems． It was about that time that I was on my first home leave to Japa11． I fbund in the toilet at the then Haneda Airport a scribbling， which read as fbllows：
Je suis Nous sommes Tu es Vous etes Il eSt IIS SO］【lt Elle est Elles sont
Okay！Everything in my brain now！Let s depart．
Iwhispered bon voyage to this anonymous optimist who having memo−
rized the co】nj ugation of French verb etre （＝English equivalent be ） set out on his brave voyage， probably to Paris．
Ch叩ter 2． The Co叩orate Cu且ture in the United Nations
Contrary to the image that was evoked by the term bureaucracy the office which I had to share with another colleague was a dark and somewhat classic room in the Palais des Nations， which bespoke of the good old days of the organization． For the first time in my life， I was accorded the service of a secretary． At 30 clock， p．m． a catering lady came around with a wagon carrying tea and cakes． I was astonished at this elegant arrangement． Please be reminded that it was 25 years ago．
It is no longer the case nowadays． But the evil habits of the British style teatime die hard， and the cafeterias in the UN． building were thriving as ever．
International civil servants are divided into two categories of Professionals and General Service， depending on the qualifications and experiences． Most surprising to me was what appeared to be disorderli−
ness in the recruitment practices of the United Nations． Obviously， at the time of recruitment for any international organization， there is an un−
avoidable diversity in languages， nationalities and ages． Unlike the
Japanese system where new crops of working fbrce emerge from schools
and coIleges every year， who are at the same starting point of career in
ministries， agencies or companies， the United Nations have to depend on
the applicants丘om all over the world fbr varieties of fUnctions in the
organization whenever there are vacancies． These vacancies are filled
丘om among the best qualified applicants fbr the posts on the merit of
qualifications and experiences， and the nationalities or ages are of secon−
dary consideration， if at all．
In the Westem world， it is considered a symbol of competence and even honour that one changes jobs fbr a better prospective of career and higher salaries． It is not a seniority−oriented work place， nor is there life−
time employment guarantee． In these meritocratic and individualistic en−
vironments， there is no lack of ambitious young men and womell who seek jobs in the prestigious organization of the world． I could testify through my own service that 1 came to know a number of the first class people from various parts of the world， though we were sometimes un−
aware that we were rubbing shoulders with colleagues of outstanding quality on a global scale．
How then， in this individualistic workplace， can the order or discipline of the office be maintained？At the time of the conclusion of an em−
ployment contract， each staff member is given his／her job descriptions specifying the areas of responsibilities． Each staff member is responsible for， so to speak， his area of defense which is strictly documented．
Conversely， should anyone ask him to do something outside his area， the answer would probably be， It is not my job， sorry， It may sound・
р窒凵hif seen from a Japanese practice at o伍ce， but no one would do oveltime just because the peoPle around are doing so． Responsibility is individualized． In reality， the staff at managerial levels were seen doing overtime， even coming over the weekend to catch up with the heavy workload． It was a typical example of noblesse oblige ， indeed．
In the United Nations， the decision making process was clearly a top一
down style． Directors and Section Chiefs must be well conversant with the developments in their area of responsibility in order to make correct judgment and decisions． This was decidedly a di脆rent apProach from what I had so far been accustomed to in Japan as ringi system or a bottom−up process to arrive at a consensus． As a matter of fact， I was surprised when my director instructed me how to round up figures in the annual accounts． To me， it was too detailed bolts and nuts of accountillg method fbr a director to bother about． I had been trained fbr that in Japan， and my method seemed more logical． But anyway， we were not in Japan， and moreover， as a proverb says， Do in Rome as the Romans do． I acceded，
Having written so far， I am afraid you may have received an impres−
sion that the United Nations was a working place which is dreary，
humorless， and without any human touch． On the contrary， it was a brisk， colorfUI and multinational working place． In the corridors， there are many scenes of skinship of colleagues who met after long absence，
hugging each other， saying Hey， long time， no see！ At night there were exchanges of parties among fdends or families． There were regular meetings of friends at concerts and visits at museums． Geneva was a historically renowned place， at the same time， it is a comfbrtably small tow11血lly equipped with facilities fbr cultural enj oyment．
Chapter 3． Communications in the United Nations
Traditionally， the Japanese peoPle have set store by the proverb，
Speech is silver， silence is golden． as this saying was very much in line with the code of conduct of Samurais． This will never do in the in−
temational community， where no skill is more valued than that of
communicating what you have to say． Eloquence has been one Of the comerstones of the westem civilization since the days of the Roman Empire， as we know in the Shakespeare s works． The same thing can be said of the United Nations． My first impression was that so long as elo−
quence and selfLassertiveness are concemed， any Japanese would be no rival to those English or French speaking nationals， even丘om A伍can or Asian countries， which had been under colonial rules befbre． If you stick to the principle of the golden silence in a meeting， your contribu−
tion would be nothing with the result that your presence will simply be ignored． It is heartening that nowadays an increasing number of Japanese delegates in inte血ational conferences volunteer to stand up and speak out what they have to say． In my opinion， hoWever， there must be a clear line of distinction between eloquence and verbosity；we have wit−
nessed many a long−winded elocution at conferences， which was ap−
plauded with relief and thanks because it had at last ended！
Agood sense of humour is very highly appreciated in meetings and conferences． It is an indispensable lubricant that is conducive to a circle
・f・mile・at th・meeting t・b1・・A・en・e・f hum・u・is n・v・・in・h・rt・up−
ply in our offices of the U．N． Suppose we are having a meeting to dis−
cuss how to cope with the shortage of fUnds fbr assistance of refUgees，
the fbllowing conversation takes place befbre the meeting， Hi， Kawa．
How are you？ 1 m fine， thank you． You look healthy， but not wealthy． Incidentally，1（＝Kawa）was in charge of finances fbr the whole office． Let me cite an episode that I witnessed at an important conference in the Palais des Nations． The chairman who was just elected was the ambassador ffom an African country． This very popular diplo。
mat made an acceptance speech by saying， First of al1， thank yon very
much for the confidence you have so kindly shown me fbr this respon−
sible job of the Chairman． If I should blush over a blunder in the course of my chairmanship， you would certainly not recognize it． The roomfUl of delegates and attendants at the conference burst into laughter and ap−
plause at this excellent piece of black humour，
My colleagues at times made a friendly tease at me， saying that most Japanese people very seldom say No to any questions． Instead they would say politely Yes， but＿ Ido admit that we Japanese have this tendency to a c6rtain extent． Meanwhile， I was trained long enough in the U．N． to have cultivated a tactfUI way of coping with such teasing questions by responding， We11， that is a good question． This would en−
able me to gain time and avoid the embarrassing alternative of saying Yes or No right away． I only hope that our stUdents would not resort to this tactics in dealing with questions from professors in classes． I would like to share with you one more usefUI expression in the store of my glossary． Diplomats never say， I cannot agree with you ． But if you add one word of more at the end， the meaning is completely opposite，
denoting the entire agreement with the speaker s opinion． I find in this paradoxical expression of I cannot agree with you more． acertain ele−
ment of shock therapy， which adds a spicy effect to conversations． That may be a reason why the expression was heard time and again at meet−
ings in the UN．
Ch叩ter 4． Correspondence Manual of the United Nations
The United Nations is unique in that it is an office of civil servants 丘om practically all countries on the globe． It is， so to speak， a modem−
days Tower of Babel． In order to keep this tower intact， a rule book has
been set up to ensure that the official correspondence of the world or−
ganization may be clear and accurate in content， direct and dignified in style， correct in form and attractive in appearance The Correspondence Manual of the United Nations was thus issued in l962， and revised in 1968．This 50−page document is extremely interesting丘om a linguistic viewpoint， as it sets out， or aipns to set out， the guidelines of correspon−
dence in the United Nations． Hereunder are the salient aspects of the guidelines of general interest．
（i）Languages：
At present， there are six languages designated as−
of the United Nations；English， French， Spanish， Russian， Chinese and Arabic． The official documents of the General Assembly and other most important forums may be reproduced in these languages． This reminded me of one thing． When I attended a crash course in French in the early days of my service， the majority of the classmates were Russians， spe−
cifically being trained fbr language skills． It is surprising what a high proportion of the whole staff of the UN． has been occupied by the lan−
guage division・Ihave since been skeptical of the criteria of designation of the U．N． official languages， which they say were the languages of the victors in the World War II． But who， other than the Soviet people read or understand the Russian version of the UN． documentations？
Furthermore， why was Arabic included？Perhaps， because @of the oil
power． The Hindu language was not included though it is spoken by the
Subcontinent nations， the most populous on the globe after China？There
are many contradictions and distortions in the present system， Anyway
it seems that we would have to live with the political reality even in the
realm of languages．
In day−to−day conduct of business， however， we were not so much bothered by these official languages， as there were a convenient set of
−：English and French， and to a much smaller extent，
Spanish． Outgoing official letters to the govemments and permanent mis−
sions are to be written in one of the above three languages． English out−
weighs the other two languages in the global coverage by about 60％，
French by 32％， and the rest of 8％fbr Spanish． The govemments of the飴㎜er Soviet Union， or China can officially be ad（lressed in English， so are the most Europgan countries， except France， Belgium and Switzerland who are to be addressed in French． Especially noteworthy is that the present spread of fbreign languages ref【ects the scope of the in−
nuence of the colonial mles of the main westem powers dating back to the days of Great Navigation Era． Asia was historically within the broad influence of the British Commonwealth丘om India， Pakistan， through Malaysia， Singapore to Hong Kong． These countries are at present basi−
cally English speaking area， with the exception of Cambodia and Viet Nam， which were under the French rule． On the other hand， the West Afhca was largely the fbmler colonies of France． Naturally the present independent countries from Benin to Zaire are francophone or French−
speaking． The same process applies to Spanish or Portuguese speaking Latin American countries， which were colonized f（）rcibly by Spain and Portugal in the l 6th century and afterwards．
（2） Spelling：
United Nations correspondence fbllows the spelling given in the Concise Oxfbrd Dictionary， according to the stipulation of the Correspondence Manual． But in practice， this is easier said than done．
There are so many exceptions． For example， Where the Concise Oxfbrd
Dictionary gives part of a word within parentheses like program（me），
the longer form of p1gg！q！11！！lg should be used in the U．N． papers． But l；！1gg1！｝！1l is to be used for computers． Furthermore， the spelling of the
names of organizations fbllows their usage， e．g． American Federation of Labor， but Intemational Labour Organization（ILO）， which are both cor−
rect．
Here， I should like to invite the readers to fly in imagination exactly half a century back to 1945， when the United Nations was established．
（The fbllowing is a scenario of my imagination．）During the initial exer−
cise of burden−sharing among the victorious nations of the World War II， there was no question to designate the English language as the main working language， in parallel with French， of the United Nations， as the United Kingdom and the United States were incontestable supporters of the idea． But which English language？There was already a growing di−
vergence in spellillg and usages between the then emerging American English and the King s English．（King George VI was then reigning），
Though the British Empire had badly suffered丘om war damages， she still managed to maintain sufficient cultural superiority over America to secure fbr her mother tongue the well−deserved status of the UN． work−
ing language． Thus the United States acceded to the idea that the Concise Oxfbrd Dictionary of Britain should be the ultimate authority of reference in the U．N．
In the meantime， a language is a living thing． During almost half the century that fbllowed， there has been quite a number of changes in the vocabulary in genera1， and the words frequently fbund in the UN． docu−
ments in particular． That means that the Concise Oxfbrd Dictionary has
undergone the revisions as well． The United Nations Secretariat in New York has issued on several occasions the revised listing of those words，
showing the prescribed spelling， hyphenation and underlining． The latest revision dated 24 January l 991， cited some 700 words， based on C．0．D．，
1990．For the sake of your interest， some of the words are cited below for correct spelling， which may raise your eyebrows：
adviser bureaux de facto favour manoeuvre
「09「amme
agemg
centre defence honour metre realize
analyse cheque en route kilogram neighbou「
specialize
behaviour colour fait accompli
lal）our
pre−empt supervlse
Frankly speaking， I am more confUsed than informed by the above guidelines． Especially fbr the Japanese stUdents who are leaming American spellings at schoo1， the above should be treated as exceptions rather than rules． Nevertheless， I have to emphasize that this is the rule you would have to abide by once you are employed by the U．N． This rule applies even to the U．N． staff members of American nationality working at the UN． Headquarters in New York． Having worked in the refUgee organization fbr nearly a quarter century， I am by now accus−
tomed to the U．N． spellings， with no hesitation in writing， e．g． a programme． But now back in Japan， I always have to think twice before putting on paper syllables correctly spelt（not spelled， attention please1）．
Chapter 5． The Protocol and Elitism of the United Nations
In working within the stonewalls of the United Nations， one is bound
to be reminded at times that this world organization is indeed a castle of bureaucracy． By way of an illustration， I quote below a paragraph of the resolution by the U．N． Security Council to impose an economic blockade on Iraq，
she Security Council calls upon natio耳s with naval fbrces in the area to use such measures commensurate to the specific circum−
stances as may be necessary under the authority of the Security Council to halt all inward and outward maritime shipping in order to inspect and verify their cargoes and destinations and to insure strict implementation of the provisions related to such shipping
To me， this seemed to be a blurred statement apparently arrived at after heated discussions of the conflicting interests of the countries concemed．
It was not clear who was to do what． But this kind of official language is nothing special in bureaucracy． I got acquainted in many other cir−
cumstances with this type of literature， which could be conveniently ap−
plied to different occasions． For example， an important visitor is coming fbr an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest ． The visitor s speech is also fUll of same happy phrases： glad to be here， thank you fbr the gracious welcome， ties between our organizations will be fUrther strengthened， look fbrward to hapPy and fUitfUI cooperation in the fU−
ture， etc． Familiarization with these important−sounding of丘cial phrases was the趾st step fbr civil servants to leam how to write letters and re−
ports． But more recently， I came to㎞ow that this kind of of丘cialese
was jocularly termed gobbledygook． I am waming myself to be carefUl
lest my style should be imbued too much with this tendency．
Another idiosyncrasy in the UN． officialese is its pre ference to Latin words or phrases． Let me cite one experience I had a few years ago．
One moming， I was surprised by a telephone cal1丘om the director s secretary， who told me that there would be a postmortem of the Executive Committee Meeting of the day before．1 could understand what she meant． She was referring to a review of the meeting of the previous day． I chuckled． Why did she have to use this Latin word to perplex her colleagues？It was not her fault． The UN． is lenient， even generous to the usage of Latin and French words in English texts． I even suspect that this obvious preference fbr Latin， and fbr that matter French words， may be the vestige of those highbrow diplomats of 19th centUry， when Napoleon thrived． I am not certain about it． But as a mat−
ter of fact， there was a long list of Latin and French words and phrases that have become common usage in the U．N． documents． Some exam−
ples are given hereunder：
aide−memoire coup d 6tat laisser−passer raison d etre fbrce maj eure
charg6 d affaires CUrriCUIUm Vitae inter alia
Slne qua non Vlce versa
chef de cabinet fait accompli per se status quO
． ミ ．
