Beijing is looking to recruit 4,000 bilingual volunteers to
provide language services during the 2008 Olympic Games.
Organizers want to be able to provide interpreting services in
56 languages. They need multilingual volunteers for a variety of
positions, including technical support for media operations and
doping control center support, according to the Beijing Olympic
Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group.
"We are most in need of speakers of 26 languages, such as
Afghan, Indonesian and languages spoken in some African countries,"
said Du Yunhe, an official in charge of publicity.
Organizers say the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which begin on
Aug. 8, need 70,000 volunteers. The following Paralympics need
about 30,000 volunteers
At the end of March, organizers had received 400,000
applications from people wanting to volunteer.
The first batch of the volunteers, to be selected before this
August, will start working on this year's test events, according to
Du.
Volunteers will be provided meals but they must pay their own
transport to and from Beijing and accommodation in the Chinese
capital.
(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2007)