53/2 APRILJMAY 2014

loL EDUCATIONAL TRUST

The Metropolitan Police Test is now accredited as:
loLET Level 6 Diploma in Pol~ic:..:e:......:..:I..:..:...:..:..!.:...:....:....~~..::....::..:....:._ _ _----;
Benefits include:
National recognition
and accreditation (Ofqual)
Five year limit to complete
the qualification
Credits for individual units
First session: May 2014
See the new DPI page of the CIOL website
for full information: www.iol.org.uk
or email: info.dpi@iol.org.uk

Unit exemptions for DPSI (Law)

holders
Eligibility for the National Register
of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI)

CONTENTS

The Linguist

."

~~ ~~ T'heLlngt1lSt
.

\I
~
-

:.

_\

__

"

The Linguist, form erly The

incolporated Ungu;s t, is the
official journal of the Chartered
Institut e of Linguists.

Ed itor Miranda Moore

EflU/.il: li!lgw:~LniitfJl'@fimai(_wm

Sales Deborah Butler

TI'l: +11 (0) 20 79103100: El1ulil: de.OOmhbutln@iol.org. uk

Editorial Board
Ms J Fra~r MA DipTrans IcLEf FCIL FHEA FITI
Ms A M Glaham BA DipTlans la LET AMIOEE
Mr 0 Ludd y BA PGCE
Mr K Moffitt BSc DipTrans IcLET MClL M ITI
Ms M Maore BA (ex officio)

Prof J Munday BA MEd PhD PGCE DipTra ns laLET MClL

Mr K Paver MA (Oxon) PgDip MCiL MITI
Mr A Peawck BA (ex officio)
Ms K Stokes M A (Oxon) Dip Trans IcLET MITI Fell

News & editorial

LYRICAL CONCERNS 22
A brief gui de to translating music

INSIDE PARLIAMENT ... 6

WELSH: RISE AND FALL? 24

Cl (Translator) (Chair)

Features

Analysis of a disappo inting decline in speakers

wW IEiol.org.uk

TRADE SECRETS 7

Th e view from bot h sides of the bench from

Royal Patron HRH Prince Michael of Ke nt GCVO

President Or N Boo."en BSc MA FhO Oip TEFL RSA HooFOL

Insights into a successfu l language policy

a lega l interpreter and magistrate

COUNSELLING:
IN YOUR OWN WORDS .. 8

Opinion & comment

l1w Chartered institute ofLinguists:

DUI/stan House, 14a Sf Cross Street, London
t:C1N 8XA; info@iol.org.l1k;+44(0)20 7940 3100;

Vice-Preside nts
Prof T J Conncll MA BPhil Dlitt PGCE Fell
Mrs A Corsellis OBE BA Hon FCll
Baroness J Coussins MA Ho nFCll
Prof D Crystal OBE PhD FCSlT HonFCll FRSA
Mr R Hard ie MA FCA HonFCll
Dr J M Mitchell CBE MA DrPhil FCll
Members of Council
Mr T Bell MA MPhi l FCll (Han Treasu re r)
Mrs J Cambridge MA Fell
Mr M Cunninghilm BA MClL
Mr J Farmer MA MCll
Prof H Fulford BA MA PhD FCll MBCS FHEA
Dr M-M Gervais-Ie Garff MA Doct 3e Cycle FCll
Ms 0 Langton MA DipTrans lo lET MCll
Ms M J lee MA DPSI MCll
Mr K Moffitt BSc DipTrans laLET MCll MITI (Glair)
Mrs C Pocock Di pTrilns lo l ET FCll (Vice-Chilir)
Mrs J A Ridgway BA FCl l MCMI
Ms K Stokes MA (Oxon) Di p Trans lolET MITI FCll
Cl (Translato r)
Mr P Shipman BSc (Hons) MScCEng MIMechE MCll

IN THE DOCK 26

Therapists working across languages explain

IN MY OPINION . 28

the complexities and cha llenges involved

Support for public sector interpreters is vita l

SPACES THAT WORK 11

How freel ancers can benefit from coworking

CAN YOU TAKE A JOKE? 30

Why we shou ld laugh at ourse lves

GOOD NEWS FOR

UNIVERSITIES? 14
A look at the secret rise of lang uages study

Institute matters

ON THE SOAPBOX .. 16 A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE 31

Journalist and languages champion Ros ie

Meet Examiner Manager Daryl Lucas

Goldsmith on her prizewinning work

WHO'S ON COUNCIL? . 31
Executive Director CIOl
Mr A Peacock BA

A BETTER EXCHANGE. .

lol Educational Trust

The e xaminations are provided under the aus pices of
the la l Educati ona l Trust. Senior officers:
Prof C J Pountain MA PhD HonFCll (Chair)
Ms A Carlisle MA (Executive Director lo lET)

undergraduates on their year abroad

18

Christine Pocock outli nes her priorities

How t he Erasmus network is supporting

DIVISIONS AND SOCIETIES. 32

Don 't miss our forthcoming events

IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION? 20

Should we ever interpret into a B language?

ADMISSIONS . 34

l1rintrxl by Hastings Prillting Cnmpfln}: .'it uXJflard~ -nll-Soo.

Published six times a year and distributedfree of charge to all

members. AJlnual subscriptioll E11 postfree. O.'erseas
subscription 59(aiImai/Ellropc). 63 (airmail rest of world).

FRO NT COVER fi T<I>" SIr '

Th e editor reserves the right to edit all material submitted. Views expressed in The Linguist
are not necessarily the official views of the Chartered Institute of Linguists. All rights of

ISS N 0268-5965

'/1w Lingui<;/ io,; rmline ul hll/J://fJudinguiM_uiJcrjliju:llffI

and via www.ioLorguk

reproduction, translation and adaptation reserved for all countries.

The Chartered Institute of Linguists, The Linguist and officers accept no responsibility
collectively or individually for the service of agencies or persons advertised or an nounced in the
pages of th is joumal. The good faith with which we publish offers no implied/implicit guarantee.

Vol/53 No/2 2014

APRI L/MAY

The Linguist

NEWS & EDITORIAL

EXECUTIVE
EDITOR'S
DIRECTOR'S NOTES LETTER

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------

As I write, the 2014 Membershi p Survey has just

closed. We have had an amazing response1,461 of you completed the survey, which is
around 25 percent of our total membership. I am
reliably informed that this far exceeds the average

The editoria l

response rate for such surveys and I would like to

inspiring and

team works hard

to provide a
range articles that
we hope wi 11 be

than k all who took part. Thanks also to t he

helpful in your

M embership te am, who worked very hard on the

daily work and

content and format, and then testing of t he survey.

In these early stages of ana lysis it is clea r - and may come as no surprise that you view Th e Linguist as your most val ued membership benefit, closely
followed by your designatory letters and the Find-a-Linguist Di rectory. The

beyond, so it was extremely gratifying to hear

most commonly selected phrases you used to describe the Institute were

approach in response to readers' views and

'Respected in t he professional language sector', 'Accessible' and 'Trustv.'orthy'.

requests, so if you have any comments, do

We will be publishing the full resu lts here and on our website later in the year.

let me know via li nguist editor@gmail.com.

------

- - - - - -..- -

- - -..- - -

It is clear that you view 'The Linguist' as

your most valued membersh;p bemfit,
closelyfollowed by your designatory letters

that The Linguist is your most valued

membership benefit Never ones to rest on
our lau rels, we constantly re-eva luate our

I am currently working on expanding ou r

'Opinion and Comment' section, and j
anti cipate t hat t his issue 's opinion pieces will
stimulate some discussion: not everyone will
agree that satire aimed at the languages
professions is a good idea, but hopefully we
will agree that it is worth talking about (p.30).
Like many readers, I work from home, with
all the inherent benefits (no travel t ime, flexible

The survey results will, of course, be informing our work on the next Strategic

hours) and challenges Oack of human contact,

Plan. Members of Council and the 10LET Board attended a strategic planning

never really leaving the office). Using a shared

'away day' on 1 March, at which we reviewed our key objectives and discussed

office part-time sounds very attractive, offering

ou r aspirat ions for the Institute and the Trust. Much more work needs to be

freelance" the best of both worlds (p. l l).

done, but we are aiming to publish the new plan towards t he end of 2014.
Last year, we took the decision to 'liberate' the Annual Review from the

There is evidence that the home office can

affect our mental healt h, too, and many of us

back pages of The Linguist and to create a fu ller, standa lone document in a

will have seen a therapist at some point in

more readable format And with photographs! You can find the Review on the

our lives. Janet Fraser's investigation into the

homepage of the website. You will see, on page 4, a photograph of (most of)

specia l skills required by counsellors working

the staff in our new offices at Dunsta n House, and I am pleased to report that

in more than one language highlights the

we are very much enjoying being in ou r new 'home'.

psychological implications of switching

Finally, I was strongly reminded during a recent trip to Burma of why

language learning is so important: not being able to speak any Burmese (apart
from Mingalabar - 'Hello') we were entire ly reliant on the tour guide and the
few loca ls who could speak English, particularly the owner of a wonderful
street cafe in Mandalay, who demonstrated great patience and good humour.

between languages and t he other complex

issues involved (p.8).
Finally, I hope you find Rosie Goldsmith's
article as inspiring as 1did (p.16). After making
a name for herself as a BBC presenter and
journalist - thanks, in part, to her language
skills - she now dedicates much of her time to
promoting languages and translation.

/""IN'ro--""<"'"
Alan Peacock

The Linguist

./'?'~

Miranda Moore

APRIL/ MAY

www.iol.org.uk

NEWS & EDITORIAL

The latestfrom the languages world

Marking the
First World War
A two-day conference lookin g at language
issues in the Great War will be held in Antwerp
and London in June. Among the presentations
at the University of Antwerp, on 18 June, w ill

be a panel discussion on the Language of

Cu ltures at War, and talks on the First World
War in French fiction and on slang and
recruitment. At the British Library, on 20 June,
there wi ll be a similarly diverse programme,
including talks on mooes of communication on
the Western Front and Italian war propaganda,

Calls for Irish Language Act

and a panel d iscussion on Language Change

and Wa r. See

http://languages-and-first-world

-war.tumblr. com for details or to attend.

A demonstration in Belfast will ca ll for Irish

have seen an increase in Catholic officers .

language rights to be protected by law

across the island. Planned for 12 April, the

years, with a new Irish language centre

protest follows a rally in Dublin to demand

opening this year in East Belfast to meet

better Irish language provision for public

demand. Yet Foras na Gaeilge, the body set

services in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

up to promote the language across the island

Thousands of people attended th e ra lly in

February, organised by the campaig n group
Conradh na Gaeilge, wh ich promised a series

following th e Good Friday Agreement, is due

A p eer-reviewed, open-access platform will

to cut 'core funding' to 13 Irish language

g ive free access to research on mooem

groups in July. All four of the Northern Ireland

languages to anyone in the world with an

of actions aiming to secure an Irish Language

organisations will close, while on ly six will

internet connection . Established by Liverpool

Act. Conradh spokesman Julian de Spainn

said the group wou ld put pressu re on the Irish
government and Northern Ireland Assembly

rema in in Ireland. However, Foras confirmed

University Press, Modern Languages Open

that fu nding had been be protected for two

(M LO) will adopt an interdisciplinary approach

Irish language resources in Be lfast: Raidi6

and a rigorous process of peer review.

to recogn ise Irish language rights and ensure

Fa ilte and an tAisaonad, which provides

'equality for the language throughout the

educational materials in Gaelic.

Interest in Gaelic has increased in recent

island'. This wou ld include Irish speaker

Free research
platform launch

Praise for the concept came from severa l

high-p rofile language academics. 'MLO looks
set to be a bold initiative indeed: said

recru itment quotas for the civil service, similar

CORE FUNDING

to police quotas in Northern Ireland, which

MuralJor Raidi6 failte

Professor Paul Julian Smith of the Graduate

all

the Falls Road (top)

Center at CUNY (City University of New York).

'It may well prove to be a trailblazing and

Welsh labels may boost economy

inva luable resource for scholars and students

alike.' Professor Mike Kelly, Programme
Director for Routes into Languages, added:

The use of the Welsh language on

in each community, and government grants

packaging cou ld boost the economy of

for businesses that 'demonstrate an ability to

submission is particu larly innovative, and it s

Wa les, a government task group has found.

provide a service bilingually'.

d ig ital media-savvy features will appeal to a

The report showed how producers have

The report comes as concerns grow over a

capita lised on Welsh culture and tradit ion

decline in Welsh speakers between 2001

through use of the language, w ith

and 201 1. Campaigners argue that the

businesses such as the Pant Du vineyard in

govemment is not doing enough to

Gvvynedd usin g it as a unique sell ing point.

A group spokesperson said: 'Our focus has
been on seeking positive outcomes in relat ion

promote and protect the language, with one

'Its flexible approach to timing and length of

new generation of researchers.'

See

\.oWIW:modernlanguagesopen.org.

Business needs

group cha ini ng themse lves to the gates of

Welsh government offices in February.

Figures released in January gave further

both to the language and fostering economic

Cymdeithas yr laith Gymraeg are demand ing

evidence of t he lack of language ski lls in UK

d evelopment.' Among the recommendations

that th e government adopts six pol icies,

business. According to the UK Commission

was the designation of 'special econom ic

including Welsh-medium education for all .

for Employment and Skills, employers find it

language zones' reflecting language usage

For our article on the subject, see page 24.

hard to fill 17 percent of roles as a resu lt.

Vol/53 No /2 2014

APRIL/MAY

The Linguist

NEW & EDITORIAL

What the
papers say. ..

rnrnr!l

NEWS
A lthough Engl ish is now borrowing from other
languages with a worldwide range, the
number of new borrowed words finding their
way into the shared international vocabu lary is

Inside Parliament

on a long downward trend . One big reason

fo r th is is the success of Eng lish as an
int ernationa l language of science, scholarsh ip,
business, and many other fields [... J New
borrowings into English today tend to cluster

Philip Harding-Esch on putting the

languages industry in the spotlight

much more closely in a f ew subject areas,

especially names of food and drink.
'Does

English Still Borrow Words from Other

Languages?',312114

guardian

There are more than 27,000 companies like

One of the great preoccupations of th is

Pa rl iament has been to create an export-led

Conversis across the world, w ith a combined

economy and promote international trade .

annual worth of more than $30 billion (rising

News reached me that the Equatorial

Language ski lls are key and, at its last

at 4 percent a yea r). The great majority have

Guinean government was plann ing to arrest

meeting, the A ll-Party Parliamentary Group

fewer than 10 employees but use many more

[author] Avi la Laure l ... It's the translator's job

(APPG) on Modern Languages considered

freelancers on a project-by-project basis. The

to translate a book's words, but of cou rse you

the languages industry itself: translation,

typica lly short supply chain in the translation

also have to translate cultures. You become a

interpreting, localisat ion and transcreation .

and localisation business can be a source of

b ridge between author and publisher, for

uncertainty with regard to quality, and may

they wi ll not typically speak one another's

The languages industry is changing

quickly as it reacts to fundamenta l shifts in

perpetuate the view that translation is a cost

language. You become informed about the

t he globa l economy. Gary Muddyman,

CEO of Conversis, a UK-based provider of

rather than a competitive advantage.

author's country and circumstances, and you

globalisation, internationalisation, local isat ion

more regulation of the industry, pointi ng out

especially if you've had to ask him a lot of

and translation services, reported the most

that high ly regu lated professions (medicine,

questions for your translation . You become a

growth for Brazilian Portuguese, Asian

law) hire from an unregu lated professional

source of hope in times of crisis.

languages and Eastern European languages.

workforce: translat o rs. Paul Wilson, Chief

Translating

Latin American Span ish w ill soon overtake

Executive of the Institute of Translation and

Under TillBa(, 27/2/14

Professiona l linguists have often called for

Casti lian Span ish, whi le the fastest growing

Interpreting (lTI), envisioned a body that could

language in social med ia is Arabic.

support freelancers with ways of guaranteeing

More fundamental, perhaps, is the

chang ing nat ure of the work. Translators are
increasingly dealing with on line t exts

become well acquaint ed with the aut hor,

the Dangers Faced by an Author

quality and CPD (continuing professiona l

development) - perhaps with a kitemark.
Parliamentarians were left in no doubt that

I am working at the Met ropolitan Opera

d irecting

Werther by Massenet and am

(websites and b logs). social media (Twitter

the languages industry is central to the UK's

const antly made aware of language

and Facebook), audio and video - which he

future success, and that the nation must

differences. Minims, crotchet s and quavers

described as 'a content explosion'.

improve its language skills. As Baroness

become half, quarter and eighth notes, a bar

Coussins, the Cha ir, put it: 'Speaking Eng lish

becomes a measure and, since t he text of

with their customers in real time - and

is a huge advant age, vit al even, but

the opera is French, it's what we speak in

publicly - th rough social med ia, they need to

speaking on ly Eng lish is a serious drawback.'

much of our rehearsa ls. I describe an

As companies increasingly communicat e

unspoken element in a scene as 'the

do so in customers' own languages and

contexts. This is a rea l challenge for the
loca lisati on industry, which is increasingly
competing with mach ine translation as
clients demand 'fast er, cheaper' results.

The Linguist

APRIL/MAY

Philip Harding-Esch works on behalf of the

British Council to support the APPG.
Contact phi/ip.harding.esch@gmail.com to
attend future meetings.

e lephant in the room' on ly to discover that

there is no equiva lent phrase in French .

'Richard Eyre: In America, Language, Like

Opera, is

Open to Interpretation', 25/2/14

www.iol.o rg. uk

FEATURES

Trade secrets
How the language policy of1MB distributor Europlus
Direct has secured its success around the world
Europlus Direct is based in the
UK but has offices around the
world. In what languages do you
communicate?
We communicate in French and Eng lish with
the Mauritian office; wholly in French with the
Daka r office; English for Namibia; and
Portuguese in Mozambique. For coordination

between globa l offices we do tend to use

English as a lingua franca, but as I speak

!fyou force a non-

run from our African HQ in Mauritius. The

language use is split 50/50, French and
English. So Eng lish in Zimbabwe, South

native speaker to speak

Africa and Namibia, and French in the

Englishftr.nakesftve~

and Senegal, for example.

difficult to sell to ther.n.

We cover 14 languages

Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar

Is your website localised for the

different markets?
It is localised for French and German, and we

French we have many meetings in French,

are doing Chinese currently. Tra nslation is

particularly if one of our staff members feels

done by a native living in the target country,

our staff, if at all possible. If you force a non-

plus ke]"Nords and SEO (search engine

native speaker to speak Eng lish it makes it

optim isation). For the Chinese site we are

very d ifficuft to sell to them. For customer

looking at the use of correct colours and

support, we cover 14 languages in-house.

ensu ring numbers are laid out correctly.

Jim Hart is CEO of Europlus Direct.

We do extensive market research and work

How do you localise your

advertising for different markets?

more comfortable with French than English .

You recently set up offices in

Senegal, Mozambique and
Namibia. How do you plan which
new territories to extend into?
closely with our client, IBM, to ascertain

A ll our marketing is done by our sister

GLOBAL REACH

which markets to go for. We look for growth

company, One Globa l, which offers

jim Hart (right) with members afthe team

potential and limited competition . We have

translation services, transcreation and

an in-house matrix we use to work out where

localised d igita l marketing. We are all in the

to go next. We work with our accountants,

same bui ld ing and One Global has more

Mazars, in Africa to ensu re that profits can be

t han 2,000 translators.

repatriated, and we also take note of the

set up in a country due to serend ipity, as a

How many of your staff members

are multilingual?

quote request can come from anywhere.

75 percent - it is essential that staff members

Corruption Index. And it can happen that we

speak more than one language, except ou r

With 96% of sales coming from

overseas markets, how do you
communicate with clients in
non-English-speaking countries?

Account s department. French, German and

A lways by employing native language

In the countries where Europlus

Direct is a distributor, how is
distribution coordinated?

speakers in our offices. At our Leeds HQ we

have 25 European native language speakers

Spanish are the main languages but Chinese

is also creeping up.

in-house. We always translate our website

We have staff in countries where we are a

into local languages. We never expect our

distributor. In African countries where we

customers to speak a second language to

don't have an on-the-ground presence th is is

Vol/53 No /2 2014

APRIL/MAY

The Linguist

Counselling: in
your own words
Janet Fraser explores the
subtleties ofproviding therapy
across language barriers
t was an Austrian physician, Josef Breuer; 1

The proportion of non-English work

who first coined the term 'the talking cure'

varies over time but currently ranges from

A THERAPIST'S VIEW

but Freud who adopted it to describe

10-50 percent. Antonio (Span ish) was bom

Anissa works in Mandarin, English and

what went on in the emerging field of

and trained in the UK but raised b iling ua lly,

her native Cantonese.

psychoanalysis. It is now used to refer to a

while Elena (Russian), Meena (H ind i, Guja rati,

The f irst barrier is to stop my clients

Punjabi and Urdu) and Uta (German) were all

addressing me as 'Mrs' - that is the norm in

counselling, va rious branches of cognitive

born outside the UK but did their therapy

Chinese culture when you ta lk to someone

behavioura l therapy and psychotherapy.2

training here. So what issues does practising

who is older. I have to succeed in that or

Many of us benefit from a short- or long-term

bi lingually raise?

they will put me in an unequal place, which

range

of therapies, including psychoana lysis,

'talking cure' at some point in ou r lives. But jf

In many languages, the first decision to be

is against my counsell ing philosophy.

you find yourself facing emotional difficu lties

made in any conversation is the choice of

in a country whose language you don't

second-person pronoun - forma l or informal

I classify myself as a bil ingua l and

speak, how can you access the ta lki ng cure?

And what happens if you use a sign language

01 or n? Th is choice is not always entirely

in psychotherapy in English, all the

straightforward in ordinary conversation but

terminology I learnt is in Eng lish, so I am

to communicate?

it can be particula rly problematic in a

not familia r with the psychotherapeutic

bicultura l person but because I was trained

To find out, I asked six therapists,3 working

therapeutic context: is the client keen to

language in Cantonese . When I get stuck

either in both English and another language or

keep a d istance through the use of V or

we tend to switch to Eng lish, which helps

in British Sign Language (BSl), to complete a

m ight they choose T as a statement of desire

with the communication but the essence of

short survey. Academic resea rchers are

for a more intimate relat ionshi p?

vmat they're saying may be diluted.

focusing increasing ly on the role of a client's

cultura l and linguistic identity in therapy,4 but

The use of

tu by Spanish people is

w idespread, and Antonio reports that most

If they go to an English-speaking
therapist , some of the cultural references

I wondered what skil ls therapists need in

clients immediately use it w ith him, 'perhaps

will be lost. I know enough of the colloquial

order to manage a working environment in

because they recognise that the [therapeutic]

expressions that I can really capture what

which linguistic choices may be a vita l cl ue to

relationsh ip involves intimacy'. While he

they're trying to express, and it's not just

the cl ient's concerns, and where it can be just

would fall in w ith their choice to use

as important t o attend to
speaking as to

how someone is

what they are saying. I found my

usted

about cognitive understanding - it's the

instead. that choice mig ht be sign ificant if, for

sentiments and emotions that can be

example, it was being used as a distancing

captured t hrough t his slang.

participants through a directory of bilingual and

device. However, where a cl ient starts with

multilingual therapists offering selVices in around

usted, he says, they may switch t o tlJ once

say can

50 languages (righttherapist.com/d ir/la nguages).

they have established a rapport with him.

cu lt ure, seeing me as an older person,

First things first

and Sie in German are rather more formalised,

quite tricky to estab lish that trust so that

Antonio, Elena, Meena and Uta offer therapy

and Uta reports that her clients' choice w ill

they can say what they th ink.

in both English and their other language(s).

typically be governed by age and class and,

The conventions govern ing the use of du

The Linguist

APRIL/MAY

Knowing what they are really t rying to

be difficult because in the Chinese

they find it hard to disagree with me. Its

www.iol.org.uk

FEATURES

when recounting a specific incident or a

conversation t hat has taken place in one of
their two languages -

but they agree that

switching may also enable the client to contain

a d ifficult emotion : 'If someone wishes to
avoid a feel ing or avoid being moved, they
may well want to use the more 'remote'
foreign language to create distance. Qu ite
likely, this is not a conscious process, but I may
address th is to bring into awareness whatever
is going on underneath,' says Uta. 'In my
experience, words have a different fee lin g,
tone and intensity depending on the
language used . Research has found that the
degree of emotionality in a language learnt
early in life differs from that learnt later..
partly because it was learnt in conjunction
with learning how to regu late that emotion .'
The ability to code-switch is controversial
among therapists: Beverley Costa of

possibly, usage in the region where they

work. All fou r the ra pists report the use of

grew up. Meena also finds that the choice of

code-switching to negotiate d ifficult or

Mothertongue, a multi-ethnic counselling and

T or V depends on the client's age but

uncomfortable emotion - a sign that the

listening service that also works with specially

possi bly also on gender.

client is moving into a significant area.

Russian offers perhaps the most complex

trained interpreters,S highlights its va lue in

Meena says that clients sometimes begin a

situations in which clients lack access to a

set of 'rules'. Elena reports that while the

session in English but switch to their mother

therapist who shares th eir language and have

choice between the informal Tbl and the

tongue when they feel angry or frust rated, or

on ly a poor command of the language their

formal

when issues relate specifica lly to the cultural

therapist speaks. However; she notes that

prescribed' (when clients are significantly

background in which they feel rooted. Antonio

other therapists thin k code-switching may

Bbl

is 'often automatic and cultura lly

younger or older), it is more complex when

is more ambivalent about clients' reasons for

they are closer in age. In fact, like some other

switching: 'Sometimes, one language will help

enable the cl ient to avoid emotional arousal

and duck uncomfortable areas. 6 ln work with

Russian-speaking therapists, Elena sometimes

them get closer to an issue but at other times,

Jean-Marc Dewaele,7 Costa explores the

establishes t he 'ru les' for pronoun usage from

it also helps t hem gain a better perspective if

specific use of code-switch ing to create

the outset. Alternatively, therapists may opt to

it's not their mother tongue,' he says.

greater emotional proximity or distance when

begin with

Bbl

to establish boundaries or Tbl

He cites the example of a Spanish-speaking

shame and trauma are involved, citing the fact

to make it harderfor the cl ient to 'distance

client who fe lt she had an addiction to food

that an individua l's mother tongue has greater

themselves from some emotional states'.

and 'preferred to ta lk about it in Eng lish

connections with the neurological structures in

because it gave her more perspective on it.

the brain that mediate emotional arousal.

Elen a adds that using

Tbl

'can help a small

scared ch ild inside the client to feel heard. A

You cou ld say that it was her way of th inking

about it in a more adu lt way, whereas talking

Using sign language

internal speech, on ly Tbl , so when the

about it in Spanish might have taken her to a

Suzanne and Pauline work with a mix of

therapist uses Bbl at such moments, it creates

more childish place. Then again , talking about

hearing and Deaflhearing-impaired clients; the

a form of d istancing from fee lings.' One

it in English might also have been a way

client experienced alienati on from the world

her avoiding the negative feeli ngs arisi ng.'

person never says

Bbl

around her and used

to themselves in

Bbl

to avoid having to

of

Elena's Russian-speaking clients may revert

majority use BSL while a few use a mixture of

BSL and speech or, in one case involving a
newly-deafened client, a mixture of lip-reading

engage too closely with other people: in th is

to Eng lish cliches to describe fee lings, and

and written interaction. Drawing and other

case, Elena reports, discussion of t he use of

here, too, she needs to tune into why: 'At

visual tools can be used to good effect, too.

times, it feels helpful to ask [why], as it cou ld

Suzanne works primarily with hearing clients

be about some difficu lt raw fee lings that

and Pau line, who is Deaf, mostly with

don't sound as hurtful/pa inful in another

Deaflhea ring-impaired clients. Both report the

Switching languages

language. At other times, it feels right to

need to be very flexible in therapy sessions.

When a client has a command of two

think of it as just a cl iche.'

Tbl

helped both client and therapist to

explore her relationsh ip with the world.

languages, their choice of language may be

of even greater significance to the therapeutic

Vol/53 No/2 2014

Elena and Uta also say clients sometimes

switch languages naturally - for example,

A BSL therapist is less li kely to encounter

code-switch ing between English and another
language when the therapy moves into a

APRIL/MAY

The Linguist

"To avoid a feeling

they may well want to
use the more remote'
foreign language to
create a distance"

._.._----------_ .... _ d ifficult area, but Suzanne and Pauline agree

that plenty of ot her indicators suggest

non-manua l features. There might also be

of attention is mu ltiplied when more than

d isparity between t he facia l expression and

one language is involved, with t he therapist

emotional arousa l. Suzanne comments, 'Body

the intensity of the sign.'

language and facial expressions will indicate

when a client has moved into a d ifferent

In a session with a hearing therapist and a

hearing client , the two may be facing each

also attending to factors such as forms of

address and shifts between languages.
The BSL therapist must be able to focus on

[emotional) area: fo r example, if a Deaf

other (so the holding or breaking of gaze

person becomes angry in a session, their

may b e significant) or the client may be on a

client's lip patterns and signing in a very

signing could become more animated, w ith

couch with the therapist behind her, so that

specific area of the body.8 Comp lex listening

their facial expression indicating that the

gaze p lays no immediate part. This is clearly

or attending skills are just as vital an

predominant emotion is anger, not

not possible in a BSL-mediated session,

ingred ient as the actual talking in a 'talking

excitement, or body language may become

closed , signalling that the client has moved

where client and therapist must always have

cure' - and where more than one language is

each other in view (and, as Pau line notes,

involved, those skills are more demanding

somewhere uncomfortable or d ifficult.'

where good lighting is crucial - the d im

and complex st il l.

Pau line expands on t hese linguistic and

paralinguistic indicators: 'Signing may

become very sma ll or very large, speed up

the whole body while also following the

'mood lighting' that can enhance other

settings actually ham pers therapy in BSl..).

However, wh ile gaze is vital, it can prove

Notes
1 WIo'ffl.britannica.com/EBchecked/topid

or slow down, become hesitant with [the

p roblematic if sust ained when t he client is

cl ient's) fingers w iggling, cheeks puffing out

struggling t o continue with the session .

and lips pursing as they fight the urge to

Pauline reports that one client asked her to

sign someth ing revealing.' Other clues to

tu rn away when t hey felt particu larly

the client's int erna l state may include 'head

d istressed, which effectively halted the

of using 'therapy' and 'therapist' as shorthand

movements and breath ing patterns, shrinking

session. Suzanne agrees th at avoidance of

for the full range of approaches and

or closing off of the body, turning away, head

eye contact often signals an area that is

dropping or tilti ng back, nose-rubbing, jaw-

uncomfortab le or painfu l for the client.

790091Josef-Breuer
2 WIoWi.mentalhealth.org.uklhelp-informatiorJ
menta l-health-a-zITItalking-therapiesl

31 follow the Mental Health Foundation's practice

professionals in this area

4 See, eg, (hung, A, 2007, 'Daring to be

tighten ing, hidi ng their hands, stamping a

However; Paul ine adds that initially

Different. AA exploration of cross-cultural

foot or involuntal)' repetitive movements,

uncomfortab le reactions from clients - such

counselling' in Therapy Today, 18 (4); and

particu larly of hands or feet.'

as return ing her gaze defiantly, laughing, or

Jimenez, J P. 2004. 'BetNeen the Confusion of

signing fear or confusion - can act as a

Tongues or the Gift of Tongues: Or working as

springboard: 'Demonst rating my own

a psychoana lyst in a foreign language' in

Coming face to face

International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 85

A ll therapists - and in particular t hose t rained

comfort and acceptance in silence seems to

in certain theoretical models - are m indfu l of

help the cl ient to stay with whatever feeli ng is

5 WIo'ffl.mothertongue.org.ukl

all aspects of body languag e as a means of

com in g up ,' she says. 'Growing comfort with

6 Costa, 8, 2010, 'Mother Tongue or Non-Native

expressing emotions, but a BSL therapist has

eye contact in silence usually signa ls a

Language? Leaming from conversations with

to focus on the client's entire body wh ile still

positive shift for the client .'

bilingual/multilingua l thera pists about working

di recting attention to bot h the face and the

with clients ......ho do not share their native

all-imp ortant signing space to re gister the

Talking - and listening

language' in Ethnicity and Inequalities in HeaHh

fu ll import of what is be ing signed. As

A monoli ngual therapist pays attention not

and Social Care, 3 (1)

Pau line notes: 'It's important for the [BSL]

only to what the monol ingual client is saying

therapist to und erstand that a range of

but also to how t hey are sayin g it, with

emotions may all have the same sign but

paralinguistic featu res, such as pace and

that the meaning is changed by t he intensity,

volume of speech, eye-contact and body

speed or repetition of t he sign, alongside

language, equally im portant. That dual focus

10

The Linguist

A PR IL/ MAY

7 Dewaele J M & Costa, B, 2013, 'Multilingual

cl ients' experience of psychotherapy' in

Language and Psychoanalysis, 1 (2)

8 For more information , see Corker, M, 1995,

Counselling. The Deaf Challenge, Jessica

www.iol.org.uk

Spaces that work

Could a shared office qfferfreelancers the best possible
working environment, asks Dorte Schabsky

hile studying translation, I was

already looking fo r the secret
recipe for not getting lonely in my

home office and for not getting distracted by

housework and other chores - two problems

many freelancers experience . I found the
solution in my th ird trimester: coworking
(without a hyphen) is the act of sharing a
workplace with other p rofessionals. Coworking

spaces provide the setting; they offer desks,

wh ich can be used permanently or flexibly (eg,

24!7 or two days a week), as we ll as office

infrastructu re, such as internet access, printers,

Moreover, coworking spaces bring

professionals together from a variety of related
and unrelated fileds. This can create new
synerg ies, wh ich may lead to job referrals,
collabo rations or even new business ideas.
Using a coworking space therefore promised
not on ly to so lve all my home office-related
problems, but also to provide additiona l va lue.
Intrigued by the potentia l, I chose 'coworking'
as my dissertation topic and spent three
months trying to answer the question: 'Cou ld
coworking be beneficial for translators and
what are their motivations (not) to do it?'

kitchen facilities and meeting rooms. They are

hubs that enab le freelancers, entrepreneurs

Is coworking the answer?

and telecommuters to form communities.

I asked 11 6 translators - based in Germany,

th e UK and the US - questions about
t hemselves, their working habits and their
attitude towards coworking. I supported
th ese findings with a separate study,
consisting of in-depth interviews with seven
coworking translators, in order to determine
whether they had experienced the assumed
advantages and disadvantages.
V'vhat I had imagined to be obstacle
number one - the 'unnecessary costs'proved to be a relatively minor hurdle, with

Using a coworking space is also reasonably

cheap because users share the communal
space and facilities. Th is may not be a selling
point for translators who work from home
and have almost no variable costs, but there
are downsides to t he home office. As studies
by Spinuzzi, and Umberson and Montez have
shown,l working from home can negatively
affect productivity and general health.
Coworking helps to maintain a healthy worklife ba lance and to reduce a sense of isolation.

Vol/53 No /2 2014

BRIGHT IDEAS:
Dorlc and rim Schabsky at Work Inn

29 percent citing it as a deterrent. Fees vary

depending on membersh ip type and location,
but tend to amount to 5-10 percent of the
average translator's income (see table, p.1 2).
The most cited argument against coworking
is an attachment to the home office. This is
understandable because no office can provide
the same amenities as one's home. This is
why almost all of the coworking translators I
interviewed use a coworking space in add ition
to the home office. By offering part-time
memberships, coworking spaces cater to the
needs of each freelancer, enabling them to
enjoy the advantages of both workplaces.
Another deterrent is the extra effort
involved in getting to a sha red office.
However. most coworking spaces are just
5-20 minutes from the professiona l's home
and, to my mind, th is is an advantage, as it
gives me a reason to leave my flat. Some
translators even use the short journey as
exercise, benefitting their healt h.
An additional concem is d istractions and
noise. This is, indeed, one of the weaknesses

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

11

FEATURES

< . . ."'-- ----- - --

of coworki ng . Any open-plan office can

hope for, and which the coworking translators

become noisy unless solutions such as phone

were already experiencing.

wou ld engage coworkers in unre lated

conversation to dea l w ith th is problem -

booths and sound isolation e lements are

provided. Nevertheless, these distractions can
lead to unexpected synergies: someone else's

were especially interested in collaboration

opportunit ies, while those who were already

Our own perfect workplace

problem m ight be a job opportun ity for you.

coworki ng reported that they had

Although coworking spaces can counteract

expe rienced three types of collaboration:

many of the shortcomings of the home office,

The translators considering coworking

known colloqu ially as a 'block'.

Motivations for change

cooperation in t heir own profession, the

t hey are not suitable for everybody. This

Interesting ly, some of the survey participants

deve lopment of a business partnersh ip and

depends on both personality and the type of

who expressed an interest in coworking had

sub-contracting opportun ities.

work (eg, confidential work might not be

not heard of it before. While the concept is

Addit ionally. the mixture of expertise

suitable for a shared office). For me, the

well known in big cities, such as New York,

provided coworkers with interesting learning

advantages certa inly outweigh the

disadvantages, w hich is why my husband and

London and Berlin, many people in smaller

opportunit ies . Some had improved t heir

towns do not know about coworking - yet;

technological skills, wh ile others were

I decided to create ou r own 'perfect

the idea is spread ing and more and more

working alongside native speakers of their

workplace' after I completed my MA.

spaces are openin g all over the world.

My survey also shows that many translators

source language . For young translators this

poo l of knowledge can be especially helpful.

home town of Dortmund, Germany, wh ich

are not satisfied with thei r home office and

If more translators begin to use coworking

meant that we were able to use our existing

seek solutions - as I did . Two thirds shared my

spaces, they could sha re translation-specific

social ne1:\ovork to spread the coworking idea -

own motivation : a larger social network and

knowledge and coworking m ight even lead

and also to help with renovations. We looked

reduced isolation. A study conducted by

to co-working (ie, working together) .

for a bui lding in a residential area, because

deskmag, found that 93 percent of freelancers

using such sp aces felt less isolated. 2

An interesting finding, especially for me as a

We started looking for a property in our

we wanted to be close to t he homes of ou r

translator of popular cu lture, is that coworking

customers, b ut we also needed to be nea r

Accord ing to James House, a lack of

can spur creativity. Nearly 40 percent of survey

the motorway and public transport li nks.

in-person social contact during working

participants sa id they would ask coworkers for

We found a su itable space - an extension to

hours means that home workers are not

help with synonyms, 59 percent wou ld look

a building owned by another company - and

exposed to the healthy behaviour of other

for creative inspiration and 61 percent would

the icing on the top was a sma ll garden. The

professionals, such as takin g b reaks and

drinking sufficient amounts of wate r.3 Further

test their t ranslati ons on other coworkers. This

possibility of working outside was very

part of the survey was based on neurologica l

important to me because it is one of the

health benefits come from a more clearly

research looking at how the left brain

things I love most about be ing a freelancer.

defined wo rk-life balance, which is somet hing

hemisphere hinders the right hemisphere to

We then created an office design that appeals

that 57 percent of the translators in my survey

th ink divergently,4 and 59 p ercent sa id t hey

both to business and creative professionals .

12

The Linguist

A PR IL/ MAY

www.iol.o rg .uk

FEATURES

COLLABORATION
norte and rim H/ith their coworkers in
the backgrowu and Tim leads a
workshop at Work Inn

Distractions can
lead to synergies:
someone else's problem
might be a job
opportunityfor you
COWORKERS' AVERAGE YEARLY COSTS & INCOME

control who takes part in events - especia lly

those with free food . When two men w ho

Averages from translators survey

USA

Germany

UK

were not exactly our target group began

Annual income

25,272
1,383 (55%)
1,826 (7%)

28,103
2,109 (75%)
1,854 (65%)

31,000
1,848 (6%)
3,168 (10",(,)

coming to successive free d inners, we

M onthly membership 24n access (per year)

Pay-as-you-go, 3 days/wee k (per year)

stopped advertising upcom ing networking

evenings during events. Our guest list soon
consisted of potential customers again.
Following three months of preparations

Hence, our rooms look modern and

prosecution if a customer uses our internet

and the initia l trial period, Work Inn now has

professional but with bright colours in the door

fram es so that th e space does not look li ke a
standard business centre. We embellished
'problem areas' with photographic wallpaper
and wall tattoos. A dead-end corridor was

access for illegal activities.

a sma ll group of members - making coffee

management and marketing. According to my

enjoyable. I wou ld love to have some

research, the best advertisement is word of

translators in ou r space. And maybe, soon, 1

mouth, but for such an unfamil iar concept it is

w ill have time to start my own career as a

converted into a cosy breakout area, and we

important t o take part in as many networking

translator - in my perfect workplace.

covered the windows of t he server room with

events as possible to explain what Work Inn

a p icture of an airplane wing which,

offers . We also organise a range of events,

Notes

combined with the noise of the ventilation

including an art exh ibition, talks, networking

1 Spinuzzi,

system, gives the illusion that you are looking

breakfasts and workshops. Additiona lly, we

Coworking as emergent collaborative activity' in

out of the window of a p lane.

informed the regional media about coworking

Journal of Business and Ted-mical

and convinced a newspaper; radio station and

Communication, 26(4}, pp.399-439

findings. As noise is known to be a problem,

TV channel to report on the concept using

(http://jbt.sagepub.com/contentf26/4/399); and

we fixed noise isolation panels under the

Work Inn as an example . We use social media

Umberson, D & Montez, J K, 2010, 'Social

ceiling, and we bought screens for some of

and our own website (\N\NW.wo rkinn.de), as

Relationships and Health: A flashpoint for health

the t ables because the survey indicated that

well as advertising in print media and on line.

policy in Journal of Health and Social Behavior,

51, pp. 54-66
2 deskrnag, 2012, '2nd Annual Global Coworking

We paid close attention to my research

some people prefer to be shielded when they

Today, my primary tasks are community

Work Inn opened on 6 January, with a

breaks and communal breakfasts very

C. 202,

Working Alone Together.

want to concentrate. We cross-referenced my

cost-free test period for the first three weeks,

data with the prices charged by eXisting

and we have already learnt a lot about what

Survey (wvwv'.deskwantedcom/static/Deskmag

coworking spaces in the Ru hr region to

open ing and running a coworking space

-Globa l-Coworking-Su rvey-slides-Iowres.pdf)

calcu late how much revenue our coworking

involves. It is quite difficu lt to explain the

3 House, J S, 2001 , 'Social Isolation Kills, But

How and Why?' in Psychosomatic Medicine,

space, Work Inn, could generat e and

concept in Germany because there is no

checked whether we wou ld earn enough

German word for 'cowo rking', and none of

par. 8 (WINW.psychosomaticmedicine.orgl

income after expenses.

the possible translations express t he idea fully

contentl63/2/273.full)

An im portant 'self-insurance' t hat many

or have the same positive connotations. We

4 Kraft, U, 2005, 'Unleashing Creativity' in

coworking spaces neglect are the terms and

settled on f}exibfes Bliro, but I often use the

Scientific American Mind, pp.16-23

conditions. We took extra care when we

English term and describe it as 'like an office

(\WIIN.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=

created ours, because they not on ly protect

sharing community (BiJrogemeinschaft) but

unleashing-creativity&page=5); and McGi lchrist, I,

the coworking community from disruptive

not as boring as it sounds'.

2009, The Master and his Emissary. The Divided

customers (who can be banned), but also

provide us with security against criminal

Vol/53 No /2 2014

The process has been relative ly pain-free,

but we have d iscovered that it is d ifficul t to

Brain and the making of the Western world,

London, TJ International Ltd, p.42

APR )L/MAY

The Linguist

13

FEATURES

Students are well aware

ofwhat an institution
has to offer: the luxury
canteen, the excellent
language centre
Manchester, Leeds and, in particular, Sussex.
Universities such as Bradford, Sheffield and
Bath developed language degrees w ith a
focus on applied language learning, and
consequently invested in technology that
developed into language resources centres.
During th is period, universities that provided
tradit ional language degrees had the
unshakable belief that practical language ski lls

Nick Byrne on the increase in

were to be acquired either in the year abroad

non-specialist language provision

Trad itional or mainstream language

o r in these newly established centres.

departments we re thus ab le to concentrate
on the more forma l and theoretica l aspects

ext year, I will have worked as a

language provider in the Higher

language courses, which are generally p riced

of language and literature, leaving a parallel

low enough to attract as large an uptake as

workforce of native speakers, lecteurs and

Education sector for a quarter of a

possib le. These courses do not count

assistants to deliver actual language tuition.

centul)'. For the last ten years, in particu lar,

towards a degree but t hey are certified and

Language centres were the refore a usefu l

I have mon it ored the rise of non-special ist

qua lity controlled by the host institution.

(and sometimes the on ly) resou rce for

language provision for the Association of

Furthermore, the course grades or statements

students to learn and develop practical

University Language Centres (AU LC), the

of attendance appear on students' transcripts,

language skills - and it was precisely these

skills that students of Business, Engineering,

Departments of Ed ucation and Business,

which record all the activit ies that contribute

Hefce (the Higher Education Funding

towards a successful employability profile.

Law and Journa lism wanted to acquire

Council for Eng land) and the European

Both routes can come under the acronym

alongside their main courses of study.

Commission. I have also been able to

IWLP ('Institution-wide language programmes')

observe its effects on the sector as a whole both positive and negative.
The te rm 'non-specialist language

and I shall use this term to apply to both

A period of optimism

routes throughout th is article.

In the 1990s, a different pattern of support

p rovision' needs some in itial clarification. On

The arrival of language centres

tradftional language degrees were losing both

the one hand it simply refers to the language

provision provided for students who are not
do ing a full language degree; on the other it

The development of IWLPs is closely linked to

student s and value in the eyes of employers.

the growth of language centres, which began

There was also a noticeable growth in the

to increase as a way of supporting language

p rovision of joint honours programmes (e9,

encompasses a wide range of courses that

leam ing in the 1960s and 1970s. Forward-

Law and French , Economics and Gennan,

emerged in response to a rea lisation that

often link t o official university policies on

th inking languages faculties and departments

Finance and Span ish), and degrees with a

employabi lity, mobil ity, internationalisation

were quick t o recognise the role of technology

named language component (Engineering

and even income generation .

in language acquisition, and established un its

with Gennan, Joumal ism with French).

Non-specialist language provision can vary

g reatly between institutions. At a 'h igh-status'
level it can be in the form of credit-bearing

that conta ined language laborat ories and

open-access learn ing facil ities.
Oxford and Cambridge did so in the 1970s,

These joint and combined honours

programmes focused on practica l language
competence, rather than theoretical

modu les, which count towards each year of

creating purpose-bu ilt environments for

knowledge o r an understanding of linguistiCS,

degree study. This can vary from as little as

students t o p ractise their applied language

taking a practica l approach to language

5 percent to a high of 25 pe rcent. Most

ski lls. Other visionary universities that

instruction, often using technology. Language

un iversities also run sepa rate not-for-credit

pioneered purpose-built un its were Warwick,

centres gained greater status as standalone

14

The Linguist

A PR IL/ MAY

www.iol.o rg. uk

FEATURES

teaching units, staffed by professional

credit courses broadened the language offer

measu red solely by looking at the number of

language teachers, many of whom were

of a university.

students taking language degrees. It shou ld

The business~case argument was simple: if

native speakers and were employed to teach,

not to do research.

a university was able to attract enough

be ba lanced by looking at the bigger picture.

The market cannot be ignored. A

students to a language degree programme,

pragmatic attitude must take into account the

bearing language modu les, which became a

there was no problem; if not, it had to

growth and success of a more generalised

compulsory component of all degree

recogn ise that there was an emergin g market

market, and recognise that non~spec i alist

programmes at a few ground-breaking

of students who wanted to study lan guages,

language learners are now the norm. They

universities, such as Westminster.

but not as a full degree.

even overtook language undergraduates in

Even more significant was the rise of credit-

In the market~led world of Higher

It was a period of great optimism, when an

2004/05, wh ich saw uptake for language

increasing number of stud ents wanted to

Education in the last two decades, students

learn languages and universities were w illing

are acutely aware of what an institution has to

to fin ance and support language courses.

offer in addition to its core degree

Language centres became a marker of

programmes. The National Student Survey

over and that surviving language departments

marketable quality, and were often

high lights the need for universities to offer a

w ill hopefully now get stronger. The qu ickest

highl ighted in university publicity material.

wide range of support services that aim to

route to strength is to put together a rea listic

improve the student experience and

portfolio of high-quality courses that combine

centres had two ro les: they could provide a

maximise their potential. So there is definite

a financially viable m ix of specialist and non~

In this period of expansion, language

degrees fall to an all-time low.

The good news is that the worst of the
decline in specialist programmes is probably

range of applied language cou rses to

value attached to tangible items provided on

specia list provision, the latter subsidising the

supplement trad it iona l lan guage degrees,

campus: the arch itect-designed library, the

high cost of specialist programmes.

and they could operate as independent

h i gh ~tech

sports centre, the luxury canteen,

Real progress can only be made through

providers in their own right. They could offer

an excellent language centre. Students ask

this hol istic approach, and a recogn ition of the

a wider range of languag es than degree

for these, students want these and students

potential that a broad definition of language

p rogrammes, and they were able to charge

prefer universities that offer these.

provision can offer. Universities have been

for these courses to generate extra income

for the host institution.
From t he outset, language centres had to

The stellar growth in students ta king a

developing language po licies that underline

credit-bearing degree option or a not-for-

the importance of languages as a marketable

credit extracunicular language course in

dimension to their offer. The wi ll ingness and

operate and th ink like business units, and they

recent years should, therefore, come as no

readiness of sen ior management to support

both profited and suffered from their status as

surprise (see chart, below). The trend has

languages is genera lly there, but only if we,

service units. They had a cheaper cost base

shown no signs of abating, with the number

as language professiona ls, mainta in a clear

than language faculties, which looked down

of students ta ki ng a non-specialist language

vision of what the market reqU ires and what it

on th eir portfolio of practica l language courses

class rising to 49,637 (in 62 institutions) in

costs to provide what we want to after.

but envied t heir growing financia l clout.

2012/13, and to 53,971 (in 64 institutions) in

the current academic year. The split be"tINeen

Responding to demand

credit~bearing and not-for-credit courses is

It is at this point, in the late 1990s and early

currently 60:40 (for details, see

2000s, that professiona l language

\NINW.ucm l.ac.uklnewS/21 D.)

organisations, such the University Council of

The picture is clear: the market is still strong

Modern Languages (UCMl) and AULC, started

and buoyant for lan guages at universities, but

to take sometimes opposing views of the

measured in a different way than it used to

increase in non-specialist language provision.

be. Success - or fa ilure - should not be

UCML recognised the importance of this

growth but worried that language modules,

Figures for languages degrees

no matter how well-taught, could never

and courses in UK universities

replace the breadth and depth of a three-year

degree. Furthermore, they were concerned

80000-------------------------

Degree

Extracurricular

Total

about issues ranging from the danger of

70000 -----------------

'dumbing down' content to a drift towards

60000-----------------

employing lower-paid, non-research staff,

50000

which could lead to redundancies.

40000 ----1.._---30000 -==-'__- - -

AULC placed a positive spin on the

situation, pointing out that any sort of

20000

language study could contribute to an

10000

important, employability-focused skills set,

----1.._----

and that b oth credit-bearing and not-for-

Vo l/53 No/2 2014

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

15

FEATURES

On the soapbox
Journalist and broadcaster Rosie Goldsmith
explains why she owes her life to languages
t the BBC we are taught to be

He speaks French, German, Italian, spatterings

I'm te lling you all this not to se lf-promote

objective in our journa lism but when it

of Russian and Hungarian, and derives strange

but to promote languages. Because if I can

comes to learning languages I'm not

pleasure from runes and Sanskrit. (Ou r d inner

do it, anyone can . My parents weren't

objective at all : for me there is no alternative .

conversations can be rather geeky.) Everything

wea lthy diplomats but frugal teachers with

Languages should be compulsory for all British

I do tooay has roots in languages.

wanderlust. They dragged their four ch ildren

school children and everyone shou ld have

access to them. They are a springboa rd to a

on a new programme call ed Europhile. The

I learned bits of Afrikaans growing up in

more successfu l and interesting life.

Berlin Wall fell two days before our first

southern Africa and my first German words,

transmission; t he revolutions of Eastem Europe

aged 11, from a Munich woodcarver on a

I owe my life to languages. My active

involvement in public campaigns to encou rage

others to love them as much as I do is the
least I can do to say 'thank you'. Without my
French, German and Italian I wouldn't have
become a BBC foreign affairs journa list or
have lived a near-decade in Germany and,

I began my career on BBC Radio 4 in 1989

round the world in a tent and a Ford Taunus.

followed rapid ly - I d idn't sleep much or stop

campsite in Venice. As a child, hearing myself

moving for several months. Thanks to my

use foreign words made me fee l exotic,

Latin and Italian, I cobb led togethe r enough

special, d ifferent, da re I say empowered?

Romanian to talk to people in Bucharest a

few days after Ceausescu's downfall.
The

Europhile team was hand-p icked for

I attended a comprehensive schoo l in

Cornwall and it was p erfectly natural - and, in
those days, possible - for me to choose

before that, in France; I wouldn't have

ou r language skills - quite exotic on domestic

French, German and Latin for A-level. I

w itnessed the fall of the Berlin Wa ll ; I wouldn't

radio in those days. The BBC World Service,

studied French and Germa n at the University

travel the world for work or understand the

on the other hand, seethed w ith linguists. So,

of Nottingham and, latterly, more slowly and

operas of Richard
Wagner. This

as I hacked off chunks of the Berlin Wall, I was

painfully, I've been learning Italian. Arabic

able to interview East Germa ns in German;

wou ld be my next choice.

later, in the

banlieues of Paris, I spoke with

riotin g young immigrants in French.

I used my languages every single day.

Europhile evolved into the global cu rrent

Loving the sound, t he country and the

culture of a language gu ided my choice;
having a musical ear helped me learn them.
Speaking a foreign language is also about

affairs documentary strand Crossing

performance - or, as my family describes it,

Continents, so I was able to broaden my

showing-off. I like being Ita lian or German or

linguistic scope from East Timor to Japan to

South African - and, than ks to my languages,

Ubya and beyond . Ou r office sang to the

I feel I have a leg it imate right to belong to

sound of many languages - Japanese, Greek,

those cultures. I also have an embarrassing

Arabic, Luxembourg ish, Russian, Polish, and

habit of copying foreigners' accents when

several of us spoke German, French, Spanish

they talk, which can be funny but also very

and Itali an (I was no longer exotic).

rude. (I wou ld rather forget the time I

) began presenting other programmes. In

Prague, for Rad io 4's A World

in your Ear, I

found that I cou ld communicate with a whole

impersonated the New Zea land Prime

M inister Helen Clark when I was with hed)
After university in the late 1980s, my love of

generation of Czechs who spoke German.

German took me to Cologne and it was from

For From ou r Own Correspondent and Front

there that I began broadcasting for t he

Row, my scripts and interviews were easier,

Deutsche W elle, BBC World Service and US

riche r and deeper thanks to a knowledge of

National Public Radio. My first story for the

languages and foreign affairs.

BBC (for Radio 4's Womans HOUl? was about

www.iol.o rg. uk

FEATURES

BREAKING BARRIERS

HaSte at the Berlin Hf(dl in

] 1):;1) for

lite

RRC (lejt); and at a Furopean [,iterature

Night at the British Library (abol'e)

Cologne's Trummerfrauen ('rubble women') of

Even in major mu lticultura l cities, such as

literature and language. In Octob er 2013, I

the Second World War. Conversing with these

London, Liverpool and Edinburgh, people

was Artistic Director of 'Greece is the Word'

b rave old ladies in German was essentia l for

read pitiful amou nts of translated literature

at the South ban k Centre, w ith t he ambit ion

the story - and very humb ling .

In the past five years, after leaving t he BBC

to b ecome a free lance journalist, my zea lous

enthusiasm for the arts, languages, literature

b ut, increasingly, more fiction is being

of helping writ ers and performers from

translated and published . 50 j'm back on my

Greece to become better known here. It was a

soapbox. The festiva ls are responding well.

sell-out and spawned a week of events.

The linguist-campaigners I was long in awe

I've received o ccasiona l injections of

and talki ng has exposed me to new

of - David Crysta l, Baroness Coussins, Richard

generous funding but what I do is rarely

opportunities . I had always felt a need to

make a diffe rence, so I jo ined the Free Word

Hardie, Berna rdette Holmes, Lind a Parker,

remunerated . I am drive n. I now talk (some

Teresa Tinsley, A ngeligue Petrits, Daniel Hahn,

would say 'preach') about t he necessity of

Centre, Index On Censorship, English PEN,

5arah Ardizzone, Rose Fenton, Am anda

language learning at conferences, schools,

the Association of Language Learning {ALL},

Hopkinson (and oh 50 many more) - are now

universit ies and Westminster; I write articles,

the All-Party Parliamentary Grou p on Modern

Languages and many more - my head was
b ursting, my pockets usua lly empty.

my colleagues. They are the backroom boys

bom bard Faceb ook, Twitter, my BBC

A s well as continu ing my BBC

and gi rls of a li nguist ic revolution in the UK

colleagues and passing celeb rities to get

(well, in ou r dreams).

t he ir support in promoting languag es .

The crisis over th e Euro and membershi p of

The reason I d o it is because languages

commitments (my first true love), j started

the European Union (EU) has further fuelled

have, for me, been a great g ift that keeps on

working for t he Brit ish Coun cil, various cultura l

my revolutionary zeal. I work closely with key

giving . I am lucky - and I am angry and afra id

t hat we are losing a major asset in our

organisat ions and the European Commission,

figures in the European Comm ission t o help

and I met with the Southbank Centre and the

counteract Britain 's shameful lack of

educat ion system. Of course languages can

Arts Council. Each organisation expressed the

knowledge ab out Europe , its history, literat ure

be hard - so are maths and physics - but

need for intemationally-m inded , lingu istica lly-

and langu ages. Five years ago, in Lond on,

t hey should all be compulsory. It is proven in

able, media- and PR-savvy Brits who cou ld

j helped to launch a new national venture to

business, trade, d iplomacy, the economy,

help bridge their (often-misund erstood and

celebrate contemporary European fiction in

cu lturally, socially - and every way - that

always under-publicised) worlds with the

Eng lish , entitled European Literature N ight

knowing languages is an asset. They can

scept ical and intransigent British public.

(ELN). I cha ir the selection panel and the

make us cleverer and richer. And , with your

annual ELN event at the British Library. ELN is

help , I won't stop preaching about it.

d iscovered a new minority, the 'B ridge-

Brits' - a group of modest, extraord inarily

now a popula r 'litera ry b rand' in the UK and

talented and indefatigable colleagues, from

j've ta ken Polish crime writing and Hungarian

support - I'm still wa iting for his reply. And

polit icians to lobbyists, publishers to

vampire fiction round the count ry. I also run

I'm sure N ick Clegg's national reputation

translators, academ ics to students, whose

the independent European Literature

would be restored if he simply 'came out' as

aim was to overcome the ignorance and

Network.. It's a first, it's free and it's a real

a linguist. Let's tear down the barricades!

arrog ance of the majority of people in this

netvJorking hub for translat ors, publishers,

March on Westm inster! And let's en list

country toward s 'anything foreign ', And I

writers, festival directors and arts leaders.

found a new drum to bang : the p romotion of

Last year, I created the festival 'High Impact:

international literat ure and translation in t he

Literature from the Low Count ries' to celebrate

UK, and the op p ortunity to combine all my

Dutch writ ing in English, and I toured English

interests and to put them to good purpose.

cities w ith six top Dutch writers. To create

At the literat ure festivals J chaired, J was

'High Impact' is now my mantra in drawing

dismayed how rarely foreign fiction feat ured.

attention to the UK's prob lems w ith foreign

Vol/53 No/2 2014

I wrote to Roy Hodgson to ask for his

'celeb rity linguists', like Nick Clegg, Eddie

Izzard, Rory Bremner, Kristin 5cott Thomas
and Roy Hodgson, to lead the vanguard.
Rosie Goldsmith was awarded loLErs David
Crystal Trophy for fostering the study of
languages, in November 2013.

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

17

FEATURES

A better exchange
Charis Fisher looks at the benefits oflinking up
university Erasmus societies through a student network
A unique experience

The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is a

difficult. Local boards were formed and

vol unteer organisation which has been a key

disbanded, lead ing to a lack of continuity.

ESN offers opportun ities that might not

p layer in enriching exchange students'

However, with in the last eight years it has

otherwise be ava ilable to exchange students.

experiences abroad since it was founded in

1989, at a meeting between the Erasrnus

gathered strength. ESN Bristol is a good

At 'tandem' language exchange events,

example, re-establish ing itself in 2012 after

each Erasmus student is assigned a student

Bureau and 32 former Erasmus students. It

closing in the 1990s. Today, it is a strong

from their host country to talk to,

offers a support network to university

section, wh ich organ ises a variety of events

encourag ing thorough immersion in the

Erasmus societies so that they can improve

the q ua lity of the events they offer to help

for in coming exchange students - and I have

language and internationa l socia l

been invo lved in the coord ination of these

connections . ESN organ ises weekly events so

integrate international students in the host city.

events since returning from my th ird year

that adapting to the new home becomes a

abroad last year.

natural process rather than a shock, as well

ESN now cove rs 430 Highe r Education

institutions in 36 countries, rang ing from

ESN loca l boards can ask for guidance from

as subsid ised trips to tourist sites to allow

Iceland, Latvia and Cyprus - with one ESN

the Nationa l Board, which is made up of

students to gain a b etter understanding of

section each - to Pola nd with 33 sections,

Turkey with 34 and Italy with 50. As you
might expect, Spain, Germany and France

experts who have been runn ing their local

the host country's cultu re.

advice on how to improve the exp erience of

placement at the University of Bristol in

also have large ESNs, w ith the UK fall ing on

incoming exchange students, how to get

September, as part of her degree at the

midd le ground - along with Sweden ,

them talking t o both loca l and Erasmus

Universita di Bologna. 'I t ook part in different

events ESN proposed - a walking tour of

ESN sections for years. Loca l boards can get

Marzia Lapadula began an Erasmus

Switzerla nd and Hungary - each with 15

students, and how to manage th e business

participating institutions. Five UK candidate

side of ESN initiatives. Initia lly funded by the

Bristol, a trip to Bath - as well as in some

sections are hoping for approva l in October.

European Commission, it is now seft-financed,

tandem language exchange meetings t hey

mainly through student membership fees.

offered to practise Eng lish,' she says.

The joumey for ESN UK has been re latively

www.iol.org.uk

FEATURES

ESN sections are also in the pipeline. ESN UK

National Representative Matt Clemo hopes to
host ESN's biggest meeting of th e year - the
AGM - in the UK. 'This wi ll be a meeting w ith
over 700 participants from more than 36
countries . It's someth ing we're definitely
looking towards,' he explains.
ESN shows that British students are
increasingly willing to shed the UK's

A training session Jor the SocialFrasmus

initiative (left); and the project in action (above)

monolingual, monocultural stereotype . By

informing ourselves about how people from
other countries live, we will not only ma ke the
British economy more competitive and

interpersonal skills, which wi ll benefit her

im prove relations within Europe, but we will

that ESN helped her to become a 'richer

in the job market. The work involves

also enrich our lives and th e lives of people

person from a personal perspective' . By

attending national and internationa l ESN

who have made the brave step of leaving their

home to pursue a life abroad .

Marzia grew in confidence and believes

making English friends at ESN events, she

events. 'Through send ing an ESN Bristol

found out more about what it would be like

representative to these events, we are able to

to live and study pe rmanently in the UK, and

netvvork and gain new ideas for socia l events

started to consider the possibil ity of staying

and t rips from other members of ESN. Th is

in her host country. She now has ambitions to

means our members constantly benefit from

study a Masters in the UK, with a view to

new, fresh ideas,' she says.

becoming a professional trans lator.

According to He lEme Duranton, Language

I have also represented ESN Bristol at these

For more information about the work of

ESN see http://esn.org.

STUDENT VIEW
Moving t o another country can be

b iannua l nationa l platforms, which allow local

intim idating, especia lly as exchange

Director of French at the University of Bristol,

boards to gather infotmation from lo nger~

students often anive without anywhere

to live. When Luisa Celentano began an

ESN helps students to return from their year

established sections about what kind of trips

abroad with more confidence and maturity, as

and activities we could

well as a greater capacity for communication.

organise them. Representatives can vote on

'Schemes li ke t he tandem language exchange

p rogramme are incredibly useful,' she says. 'As

national issues, such as new member sections,

a degree in Modern Languages at the

National Board members and ESN UK trips for

University of Bristol, she faced the

language teachers, we wou ld rea lly be

all ES N Erasmus student s in the UK (the most

added obstacle of t he Geneva housing

encourag ing that type of programme. It takes

recent one to Amsterdam in March).

students away from the academ ic input into a

more personal relationship w ith t heir peers.'

be running and how to

We are also working on implementing

Erasmus placement at the Universite de

Geneve, Switzerland in 2012, as part of

crisis. 'ESN Geneve helped by posting

ads and booking appointments to see

int ernationa l ESN projects, such as

land lords. I found my accommodation

Socia lErasmus - a scheme that encourages

through ESN and was very happy with

Life after Erasmus

exchange students to engage in charity

the house I ended up in,' she explains.

When they retum from an Erasmus

in itiatives. These ki nds of internationa l

p lacement. students often find it ha rd to

projects increase the visibility of incoming

accept that the in credible experience is over.

Erasmus students in th e local community and

to p laces such as CERN [the European

One proactive way of dealing with these

show how they are contributing to society.

Organization for Nuclear Research].

emotions is to get involved w ith running their

ESN Bristol also promotes nationa l

'I participated in all of ESN's tandem

events, city tou rs and educational tours

They made it possible to meet other

loca l ESN section to g ive something back to

sponsorship deals with partner companies,

Erasmus but also loca l students. Once a

the organisation that helped them . Emma

who provide us wit h discounts and incentives

month, ESN would organise a Geneva

Long, a fina l year Chemistry student at the

for incom ing students, such as free p laces on

Interns Associat ion evening where we

University of Bristol, spent her Erasmus year

nationa ll y~organ ise d trips. Such initiatives also

cou ld make contact with interns from

in Spain, and is now Treasurer of ESN Bristol.

enable ESN boards to gain experience of

Geneva's most important organisations,

how a business works.

such as the UN. This inspired many

The future looks bright

institutions and ultimately to return to

WORK AND PLAY

ESN UK now hopes t o expand to cover more

Swrtzerland. I wou ld defin itely consider

Infomarkct at the ES.!.VAGl'vf 2U1J in Jlrlaribor

(Jar left) and F.SN sections in Relgium
organise a 'responsible party' (left)

universities. The rightfully ambitious aim is to

living and working abroad as a result of

have 50 sections by 2016. Plans to extend

my interaction with ESN.'

This role has helped her t o acquire skills,

students to pu rsue a career in such

such as money management and persuasive

Vol/53 No/2 2014

ESN UK's interaction with ot her European

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

19

FEATURES

In the right direction?

Rejected by the EU, UN and many academics, retour
interpreting is used increasingly widely around the world.
Eva-Maria Lohwasser tries to plug the research gap
Retour interpreting is as o ld as our profession

itself, but it is now be ing used more than

ever and, as such, is increasingly important.
Retour refers to work from a mot her t ongue

or A language into a second or B language.

For liaison interpreting t his is an unavoidable

a nd vital skill , b ut in the context of

conference and simultaneous interpreting
there is d isagreement over whether it is

appropriate, with many argu ing that the

qual ity of output suffers.

As a Germa n interpreter based in the UK, I

feel as comfortable wo rking into English as I
do working into my mot her tongue. Be ing
immersed in an Eng lish-sp eaking environment
develops confid ence and fluency to an extent
that ooth languages seem viable working
languages. Retour is common, even for
conference interpret ing, yet the largest users
of simu ltaneous interpreters worldwide - the

comprehensibility, correct language use and

intonation, hesitations and wrong use of

EU, UN and other large intemational

accuracy, and elegant style and completeness.

terminology.5 Overall, clients seem to pay

organ isations - d o not use th is approach as

These choices also d efine the wo opposing

little attention t o d irectionality issues as long

standard. This was my starting point when I

schools of thought within retour interpreting:

as their quality criteria are fulfilled .

decided to research retour for an Interpreting

while the Russian school insists that an

MA at the University of Cent ral Lancashire.

interpreter must und erstand 100 p ercent of

New research

the original speech in order to ach ieve the

Based on existing research, I identified six

most tllJthful interpretation, the Paris school

criteria that seemed most re levant to ensuring

There has been a vast amount of research into

is convinced that a petfect rendition in one 's

quality in retour interpreting. I then conducted

qual ity assessment in interpreti ng. According

mother tongue is paramount.

a widespread questionna ire, as well as focused

Judging quality
to Jorge Arevalillo, 'qua lity

user satisfaction, .1

Sylvia Kal ina used the mode l 'q ual ity

According to a study by Hildegund Blihler,

the concerns of users and inte rpreters do not

interviews w ith a qua lity expert and a highlyexperienced conference interpreter. The most

successful commun ication',2 in which a good

necessarily match. Wh ile interpreters were

significant insight was the importance placed

interpreter ensures that the ir listeners

concerned with native accent, pleasant voice,

on these criteria, w ith respondents listing

t hem in the following ord er:

understand exactly the same things as listeners

fl uent d elivery, completeness and correct

of the origina l. Daniel Gile defined the most

grammar, users attached greater importance

1 Clea r rendition of ma in message

cited parameters as ideationa l cla rity, linguistic

to sense consistency, logical cohesion and

2 Interpreter confidence

acceptabil ity, terminological accuracy, fid elity,

acceptability and professiona l behaviour.3

correct terminology.4 Anot her survey

3 Quality of voice

Kalina argued that quality in interpreting is

always a dilemma between faithfulness and

20

The Linguist

A PR IL/ MAY

conclud ed that most users associate quality

4 Speed of rend ition

wit h an accurate, fluent, fast and convinci ng

5 Rend ition of all nuances

rendition, and poor quality w ith awkward

6 Accent-free rendition

www.iol.org.u k

FEATURES

The first four points are matters of training,

more ingrained it becomes in our memory,

VIEW FROM THE FIELD

experience and mastery of interpreting skills,

improving our rendition. This is sign ificant for

particula rly in a simultaneous context.

retou r interpreting, as t he interpreter

As a legal and conference interpreter, I

Interestingly, the most significant quality

continuously hears sp eakers refer to specialist

have encountered d ifferent practices with

indicator - clear and logica l rend ition of the

terminology in both languages and m ay

regards to retou r interpreting . In public

speaker's main message - is to be found in

therefore be able to cement this termino logy

service interpreting, we work into and out

the Russian 'pro-retour' school of thought. Its

more quickly.

of our native language all the time . It is

ranking in first place suggests that retour

interpreting is by no means substandard .
Confidence, voice quality and appropriate

Does direction matter?

interpreting, however, the mode is not as

My intelViewees stressed that we ought to

w idely accepted (esp ecia lly in international

p erfect ou r out put no matter wh ich direction

organ isations) although it is becoming

we are using, as this is the only product our

more so.

speed are asso ciated with the Paris school,

which focuses on perfecting output rather
than interpreter comprehension . These skills,

Surely a non-native
accent marks out
retour interpreters to
native-speaker users?

w hat the market demands. In conferen ce

users can judge us on . This means that we

I find the main challen ges when

must focus on continuous development of

interpreting into my 8 language are

our languages to make su re that we provide

sounding confident, as I am always acutely

the best possible rendition. Nevertheless, as

aware of the mistakes I make in English,

p er t he Russian school, w ithout complete

and not over--correcting myse lf. When

understanding of the source we can hardly

interpreting into my A language, however,

produce a t ruthfu l interpretation. Deciding

! sometimes have difficulty with some

whether we feel confid ent enough to

reg ional accents and particularly with

interpret into our B language must therefore

those of non-native English speakers.

b e given sufficient considerat ion .

(Although this can happen to English

My stud y su pports previous research that

native speakers, too, if t hey are not used

concludes that we can interpret into our

to the accent, as was the case with a

B language(s) without losing qua lity, as long

colleague at a conference where delegates

training and experience, are vit al for

as we fulfil a number of requirements to

spoke in a variety of Welsh accents.)

interpreters irrespective of directiona lity, and

ensure user sat isfaction. It is now easier tha n

must be fully developed in order to achieve

ever to spend t ime in countries where our

practisin g sight-translation and giving

B languages are spoken - an important

presentations or speeches in t he

which are achievable through sufficient

high quality in any case.

We can improve ou r B language(s) by

development t hat appears to be improving

language(s), listening to ourselves

camps. On the one hand, full understanding

B lang uage skills. If we also work on acquiring

afterwards and identifyin g any annoying

of the origina l is required, and this is arguably

and maintaining specia list terminology in

habits t hat might irrltate a native spea ker.

The abil ity to render nuances fa lls into both

easier in retour due to perfect com prehension both languages, we should be able to
of the mot her tongue. On t he other hand,

achieve excellent quality, whatever directi on

excellent mastery of the target language is

we work in.

necessary to fully express all the details of the

The key in retour is preparation,

prep aration, preparation. The more we
know about a subject, the less likely we
w ill be caught out not knowing a key tenn .

origina l without omissions. Here we find

Notes

in my case, the experience of translat ing

ourselves in a dilemma b et'Neen the two

1 Arevalillo , J M, 2010, 'Focus on Standards' in

all sorts of texts for nearly 20 years gives

schools, yet with a certain amount of

The Globalization Insider (www.lisa .org/global

me a very valuable resource to draw from.

compromise - an interpreter's typical quandary ization insider/200S/04/the_en 15038_eur.html)

- I am certa in that we can find an accept able

2 Kal ina, 5, 2005, 'Quality Assu rance for

ba lance to satisfy both ou rselves and users.

Interpreting Processes' in Meta: Translators'

Finally we reach the issue of non-nat ive

Retour can even improve our interpreting

skills by keeping us on our toes and forci ng

us to improve ou r
knowledge of our

Journal, 50,2: 768-784

accents. Surely this marks out retour

3 Gile, D, 2003, 'Quality Assessment in

interpreters to nat ive-speaker users

Conference Interpreti ng: Methodological issues'

B languoge(s). It

immediately? Perhaps, but the rendition is not in Hermes: Journal of Linguistics, 109-123
seen to lack as much in terms of quality as is

4 Buhler, H, 1986, 'Ungu istic (Semantic) and

frequently assumed, as long as we fulfil the

Extra-lingu istic (Pragmatic) Criteria for the

first five qua lity requ irements.

Evaluation of Conference Interpretation and

An additional p oint uncovered during my

Interpreters' in Multilingua, 231-235

interviews is the impact of long-term memory 5 Donovan, C, 2002, Survey of Users'

on our interpreting abil ities. The more often

Expectations and Needs, 'Teadl ing Simultmeous

we work on a certain subject matter, the

Interpreting into a liB" Language', EMCI, 2-11

Vol /53 No/2 2014

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

I 21

FEATURES

Lyrical concerns
As music become ubiquitous, Lucile Desblache cifJers a

quick guide to translating songs and musical references

Today, music is everywhere: where you go,

SOUND AND SIGHT

where you stay. where you shop, where

Director Sofia Coppola (I) and lead actor

Kirsten Dunst at the premiere of ~Warie

you listen, but also where you look. For

translators, that means that music permeates

many of the texts that are to be transferred.

.!Jntoinette: which used post-punk tracks to

evoke the Qucen'sJulile priorities

A few tips on the interlingua l transfer of

texts that include musica l content can help,

one can assume that providing subtitles was

so here is a short guide to four of the

not a financial issue, but perhaps would have

cha llenges a translator may face and how to

deal with them.

exposed this unsubtle associat ion of desired

Do nothing

backg round and the lyrics are not always

A few days after the US launch of the

iPhone 55, in September 2013. Apple
promoted the phone by fi lming a 3D-second
cl ip of the Burberry spring/summer 2014
show at London Fashion Week to the track
Soothing Me So by mu lti-instrumenta list

very audible.

object and desired being a little too visibly.

In the ongina l clip, the song is p layed in the

Robert Fleming (better known as Victory). 1

A second reason fo r not t ranslating lyrics is

t hat the song may be used solely for its nonlinguistic meaning: rhythm, atmosphere, ete.
Many translators might be relieved to read
that not translating songs is one of the most

In that case, the words are more important as

carriers of music than vessels of semantic

common strat eg ies in contemporary texts.

sense. At t imes, even writers of words use

Among a range of reasons for this, there are

them for their musica l meaning over their

showcase for the g lobal launch, and the song

!'-No ma in ones: lack of payment for

semantic sense . The singer Enya, who has

was selected purposefully: Victory is a young

translation rights and lyrics that are deemed

deli berately sung in Japanese and in a fictional

independent writer, in the words of the music

to be un important.

The g lamorous setting was the perfect

critic John Bauccio, 'fresh, fami liar and

Increasingly, large media corporations,

focused' - qualities that Apple would want to

including Viacom and T ime Warner Inc, refuse

attribute to their latest product. Its 'get-to-

t o pay copyrights/translation rights for song

the-hook nuggets [that] get in and out of

translations. This means that companies such

language, Loxian, provides a good example

of how words, for singers, are sometimes
primari ly important for their sonority.

Translate if you can

your face in three minutes or less 2 are just

as

what Apple must have been looking for.

on their television channe l until about five

song is 'texturally' essential, the lingu isti c text

years ago, now on ly offer, at best, intra lingua l,

also carries important semantic mean ing. For

As so often in advertising, on ly part of the

song is used. In the case of this excerpt, the
lyrics are vague enough to relate to the

MTY. who t ranslated most lyrics of songs

verbatim t ranscriptions of musica l texts.

In the case of Soothing Me So, if the song

It may be that , although at first hearing the

instance, when Sofia Coppola chooses to use

post-punk tracks, such as Naturals Not ill It

object of desire that is be ing sold:

had been translated, non-Eng lish audiences

by Gang of Four, for her fi lm Marie-

I wanna see you my love,

would undoubtedly have established links

Antoinette (2006) what she aims primarily for

Wanna see you in the mirror my baby always,

between the owner of the iPhone 5s, known

is the anachronistic shock that the music wi ll

Ooh and if it isn't enough,

If it isn't yet enough I'd tum away.

for its high perfonnance camera, and the

produce w ithin the period drama setting. Yet,

character of the song who wants t o 'see you

undeniably, the words also evoke Marie-

Going at it, keep on going at it,

Don't you stop going at it cause you're soothing

in the mirror my baby always' . Identifying

Antoinette's futi le priorities, and a parallel

objects for sale in paralle l to human beings in

be!'-Neen early 2 1 st-century postmodern

me soothing me so

songs is a common strategy. In this case,

absurdit ies and the fin de n?gne preceding

22

The Linguist

APRIL/ M AY

www.iol.org. uk

the revolution can only be fully drawn if the

would be aware of Haruki Mu ra kami's

most translators, the lyrics w ill be provided as

words of the soundtrack are understood:

Norwegian Wood intertextua l reference, but

subtitles. A good p iece of advice is to

The problem of leisure

how many have transferred the song

translat e as if for a sung translation, respecting

VVhat to do for pleasure

reference in the t it les of The Catcher in the

the

The body is good business

Rye

SeJl out, maintain the interest

King? These references are easy to miss and

by J D Salinger or Night Shift by Step hen

Ideal love a new purchase

a second sense for checking a possible song

A market of the senses

title can and should b e developed.

Dream of the perfect lif~

rhythm and poetic life of th e song as

much as possible, as th is will produce a more

intuitive translation for readers.
There is no space here to discuss the full
range of song translation, 5 but if you are a
translator, the chances are that you will

Translate songs, absolutely!

occasionally need to help your readersh ip

little time in the original version of the fi lm to

In a p erfect world, translators with expertise

with foreign songs - finding, as The Beatles

perceive these subtexts and even less so in a

in music would be asked to translate songs .

sang, a few 'words that go t ogether well' .

What can be frustrating is that there is often

translated version. Indeed, translators do not

However, in the copyright-protected media

always have the opportunity to provide a

world, with fast-paced global production

translation, but shou ld if they can.

practices, th is is not always the case . Nahima

Ait-Bouzalim has d iscussed the cha llenges of

Transfer a musical reference

translating a song for dubbing purposes with

Musica l allusions are frequent in political and

no context, because the fi lm providers were

Lucile Desblache is the main investigator in

the Translating Music research project, -which is
conSidering all aspects of accessibility and
translation in music-related texts. For details or
to take part, see IN\NW.translatingmusic.com.

cultura l t exts. It is not difficult to translate

keen to protect the film content before its

such allusions, although they might need

release. 4 With no information on the visua l

Notes

paraphrasing, some explanations or an

context and no persona l musica l background,

1 Watch at \VWliV.youtube.coml

imaginative adapt ation . However, it is

she did her best, matching rhymes and

watch?v=iKcBNbRSdyl

extreme ly easy to miss them. A French friend

stresses, making sure that th e numbe r of

2 Kevin Bronson,

who recently d ivorced an Englishman told

syllables used remained the same, finding

victorylbiographyl

me, with conviction, t hat her next husband

equivalent poetic images, hoping that hers

3 From Entertainment, 1979

would be French 'because we sung the same

would not clash w ith the visua l content.

4 See W'Mv.translatingmusic.com/styled-31

songs at schoo l'. Her remark set me th in king :

often translators were not exposed to songs

Such situations are common, potentially

disastrous for song translation and very

W'N\..... mtv.com/artists/

styled-141index.htm l
5 See, for instance, Desblache, L, 2012, 'Low

in the language of the source t ext while they

challenging, even if the translator has some

Fidelity: Opera in translation' in Translating Today

were growing up.

musical knowledge. The best a translator can

(WVvW.translatingtoday.com/low-fidelity-opera-in-

do is to make sure that t he imagery chosen is

translation); Tortoriello, A, 2006, 'Funny and

Just before Valentine's Day this year, the

energy company Ovo issued the slogan:

not too specific, so that it can fit any g iven

Ed uCBtional across Cultures: Subtitling W innie

'Roses are red, violets are b lue. Dump the

visual context, and that the song can be

The Pooh into Ital ian' in JoSTrans6, pp. 53-67;

Big Six, Ovo loves you!' . The advertisement

fluidly sung in the target language,

Low, p, 2005, 'The Pentath lon Approach to Song

uses a famous song w ith gentle irony; clearly,

respecting rhythm and rhyme.

Translation' in GaMe, D, Song and Significance.

this is one of these instances when we shou ld

see music and adapt. Similarly, most peop le

Vol/53 No/2 2014

Songs do not always have t o be sung in

the foreign language, of course, and, for

Virtues and vices of vocal translation, Amsterdam,

Rodopi, pp.185-212

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

23

FEATURES

Welsh: rise an d fall?

Esyllt Meurig assesses the disappointing results ofthe
2011 census and what it meansfor the Welsh language
According to the saying, there are 'lies, damn
lies and statistics', but, as statistics go, the

th e favou red language since the 1535 Act of

National Census is among the most reliable .

Un ion. Welsh is generally st rongest in the

The 2011 results were d isappointing for the

Welsh language. The proportion of the Welsh
population able to speak it dropped from
21 percent in 2001 to 19 percent - a reduction
of 20,000 people. The language is in decline
in its heartlands and th is is not compensated
for by growth in other areas.

west and weakest in the east, closer to the

around 1870, even though English has been

border w ith Eng land, although there is no

clear-cut geograph ical split.
The Welsh -speak ing heartlands, known as
Y Fro Gym raeg (or 'the Fro'), stretch from
Anglesey and Gv.ynedd in t he north-west to
Carmarthenshire in the south-west, and also

There are now 562,()(X} people in Wales

include pockets of other counties (see map,

who report that they can speak Welsh. The

figures have been decreasing since the

above). The county with the highest number

of speakers, at 78,000, is Carmarthenshi re but

question was first asked in the 189 1 census, in

as this represents a sO< percent reduction, it is

which 54 percent said that they spoke Welsh.

among the most d isappointing results of the

This decl ine accelerated in the fol lowing

census. Less than 50 percent of people in the

decades and, in the 1960s, the dramatist,

county can now speak We lsh. There have also

poet and politician Saunders Lewis ca lled for

WELSH SPEAKERS

been drastic reductions in other traditiona lly

revolutionary measures to save the language,

2011 figures for I'Vales showing the

Welsh-speaking areas, such as Ammanford .

lead ing to considerable activism, including

percer/{age oJWelsh speakers by area

attacks on Engl ish-on ly road signs. This

The higher percentages of speakers are in

t he north-west , with the exception of South

downward trend continued until 2001, when

are young and that int erest in Welsh-medium

Pembrokeshire - known as 'little Eng land

an increase was recorded for the first time.

education remains steady. In add it ion t o a

beyond Wa les' . Blae nau Gwent in the south-

hard-won television channel and print med ia,

east has the lowest percentage of speakers

w ith 7.8 percent and Gwynedd has the

In 2011, respondents were able to choose

between reading, writing, understanding,

the language has a presence in new

speaking or any combination of skills, but

technolog ies, with Welsh Wikipedia growing

highest with 65.4 percent. The language is

there were no options for differing levels of

and the language com ing th ird in the ran ki ng

doing relatively well there - although it, t oo,

competence, which may have discouraged

of minority languages most used on Twitter.

some learners from ticking the oox. Welsh

Welsh has official status in Wales, alongside

has seen a reduction in Welsh speakers probably because it is protected by

speakers living in England were not able to

English, and is arguably the most successful

answer the detai led question on knowledge of

Celtic language, with more speakers t han

council's strict b ilingual policy. Almost all of

the language. It is estimated that 100,000 of

Breton, Cornish, Manx and Scots Gaelic

Gwynedd's primary schools are Welsh-

the world's Welsh speakers live in England or

together, and more nat ive speakers than Irish.

medium and almost all of its secondary

the rest of the UK, and anything between

Furthermore, Welsh language policy is often

school pupils speak We lsh f luently.

1,000 and 8,000 in Patagonia, Argentina.

seen as best p ractice for minority languages.

A lthough classed as vulnerable by Unesco,

There is a myth that most people in North

Gwynedd's education system and t he county

In contrast, Welsh-med ium education is

not universal in Carmarthensh ire and most of

Welsh was decla red to be 'safe' by David

Wa les speak Welsh and no one in Sout h

Crysta l. On a chart of most spoken languages,

Wa les. in fact, most areas of Wa les are

carried out in Welsh. Dr Simon Brooks, a

it is in the top seven percent in the world.

traditiona lly We lsh-speaking, and most

Senior Lecturer at Swansea University, has

Census figures also show that many speakers

inhabitants were monoglot spe akers unti l

even claimed that Carmarthenshire shou ld be

24

The Linguist

APRIL/ M AY

t he county counci l's internal workings are not

www.iol.o rg. uk

FEATURES

----------

There is no official
status or even clear
geographical
difinition given to the
Welsh heartlands

local residents (which cou ld include non-Welsh

spea ke rs) to prevent locals having to move

Many are wary of spea ki ng Welsh unti l

they are sure that their interlocutor will

away b ecause they cannot afford houses in

understand, hence the use of badges to

their own areas. In the 1980s, there were arson

identify Welsh speakers working in customer

campaigns against holiday homes, which

service. These badges have p roved popular

were seen as a th reat to the language and

with many, but critics point out that Welsh

the commun ity sp irit of these areas.

speakers shou ld not have to be marked as

There is no officia l status or even clea r

different. They also argue that speaking

geog raphica l definition g iven to Y Fro

Welsh , at least in the Fro, shou ld be seen not

Gymraeg. This differs from other countries,

only as norma l but as the default.

such as Ireland, where t he Gaeltacht area, in

S4C recently showed an entertaining

which Irish is a living commun ity language, is

documentary follow ing the poet Ifor ap Glyn

'forgotten' in terms of the lan guage revival

clearly defined and officially supported .

as he carried out all his conversations in

efforts in favour of Gwyned d, until

Resistance comes from m any Welsh

Welsh in vario us parts of the country. Former

Carmarthenshire council sets up a network of

speake rs, who do not want to live on

Archdruid Robin Lewis attracted police

designated Welsh-medium primary and

'reservations', split the country or endanger

attention for refusing to pay for his shopping

secondary schools.
Although the Welsh Language Board's

support for the language in other areas.

in Nefyn, Gwynedd, until he was told the p rice

However, the census results have led to more

in Welsh. More recently, protests erupted after

February 2012 report predicted that the

strident calls for such a status, with Or Brooks

a pharmacist in Bangor, Gwynedd, refused to

census results wou ld show a drop in speakers,

going as far as to call for a separate

accept a prescription until the patients had

caused by the death of older speake rs, and

parliament for We lsh speakers.

driven to the surgery for an English version.

emigration and immigration to and from the

We lsh-speaking heartlands, it had been

hoped that the decline in the heartlands
wou ld be partly compensated by growth in

The Welsh Government's taskforce

proposed some solutions, including creating

Despite all this, we shou ld not be too

pessim istic. The accuracy of the 2001 census,

city regions in Bangor, Aberystwyth and

in which 55 percent of chi ldren between 10

Ca rmarthen to encourage economic

and 14 were reported to be Welsh speaking,

has been guestioned, and the apparent drop

other areas. This increase has not materiali sed

regene ra tion at the same time as growth in

- Cardiff has only seen a small rise of

the use of Welsh. Other recommendations

in 2011 may not be as serious as it might

0.1 pe rcent (to 11 .1 percent) and Monmouth,

included language impact assessments for

seem . In 1961, Saunders Lewis predicted that

an increase from 9.3 to 9.9 percent.

The movement of Welsh spea kers to
places such as Cardiff continues to be seen

p lanning proposals, targets for a bilingua l

Welsh wou ld cease to be a liVing language at

workforce, more consistency wit h Welsh-

the beginning of the 21st century. This has

medium education and encouraging social

not OCCUlTed and Welsh speakers prefer to

as problematic, and there are frequent ca lls

and business use of the language. Campaigns

ech o the words of their unofficia l anthem:

for certa in Welsh institutions to be transferred

have been launched to encourage ordinary

R'yn ni yma

westwards. The television channel S4C

speakers to use Welsh more often, in cluding

announced this yea r that it wou ld re locate

the 'start every conversation in Welsh' and

Language Services, based in Cardiff

some of its production to the Fro, possib ly to

'say sut mae (hello) day' campa igns.

(www.business/anguageservices.co.uk).

Carmarthen in the south-west or Caernarfon

in Gwynedd.

As fewer areas have a concentration of

Welsh speakers and more speakers live
outside the heartlands, Welsh speakers are
less li kely to come across each other and to
transfer t he language to their ch ildren. There
have t herefore been many attempts to
safeguard Y Fro Gymraeg. In the 1970s, the
Adfer (Restoration) movement called on all
Welsh speakers to abandon t heir homes and
popu late the heartlands in an attempt to ha lt
the language shift. Language activists have
been ca lling for property restrictions to favour '

SIGN OF THE TIME

Public sign age must be in Itelsh and English

Vol/53 No/2 2014

hyd (We are sti ll here').

Esyllt Meurig writes on behalf on Business

FEATURES

In the dock
Magistrate and legal interpreter
Nil Okan Paniguian offers the
view from both sides of the bench
I am in the unique position of being a

Magistrate as well as a public service

interpreter. It all began 15 years ago, when I
sat the DPSI (Diploma in Public Service
Interpret ing) and Met Police test as part of my

continuous professional development. After

working as an interpreter and Turkish language
tutor, I was offered work as a trainer; examiner
and setter for the DPSI, BSC (Bilingual Skills

Certificate) and Dip Trans (Diploma in

- - _.__...._-

Even now, it is not

clear to me who should
draw attention to the
fact that everything is
being interpreted

Translation), which I continue to do part-time.

Working as a NRPSI-registered interpreter,

I gained some legal knowledge and

interpreter than the legal professional, and

familiarity with court procedures in England.

vice versa. It is bridging this gap that should

I wondered if j cou ld offer more to my

concern us.

community

by serving as a Magistrate, even if

Wh ichever hat I'm wearing, I am

this wou ld restrict the interpreting

uncomfortable when the prosecution,

assignments I cou ld take on.

defence or another party does not take the

In 2006, I was accepted as a Magistrate for

Hounslow Bench, now part of West London

interpreting into consideration. Even now, it is

not clear to me whether it is the Legal Advisor

Local Justice Area (UA) . Among the requ ired

or the Bench Chair who should draw attention

skills are working as a member of the team,

to the fact that everyth ing is being interpreted

which involves questioning colleagues to

and t herefore that the pace ought to be

clarify issues, using non-discriminatory

adjusted. There have been cases where the

language and bu ilding supportive

Bench Chair has indicated th is requirement,

relationsh ips; self-management, including

and if a winger realises that the interpreter is

agreeing roles and responsib ilit ies, checking

having difficulty w ith the pace, they might

confl icts and identifying the requirements of

also draw t he Bench Cha irs attention to this.

court users; and making judicial decisions by

sifting, clarifying and analys ing information,

The gap in expectations

and cha ll enging any b ias or prejud ice.

Wh ile int erpreters like to be fa mi liar with a

It is interesting to observe court

case in advance in order to avoid

procedures from both sides of the bench .

unexpected term ino logy, mag istrates expect

Bot h magistrates and interpreters are there to

the interpreter to be fam iliar with termino logy

enable the justice system to run smooth ly, yet

straightaway. Yet, however well qualified the

when you look at each set of expectat ions

interpreter, there wi ll always be areas where

from anothe r perspective, you can see that

culture, customs and other factors come into

some areas are more important for t he

the equation. A well-qual ified interpreter may

26

The Linguist

APRIL/MAY

www.iol.org.uk

FEATURES

work with at West London UA: 'It is

important that the Court Cha irman ensures
all speakers use a pace and vocabu lary that

A tutor's view

facilitates the interpreting process; occasional

Educating interpreters to work w ith the

checki ng this w ith the interpreter during the

lega l profession, and vice versa, is now

case is highly recommended.'

compulsory in Australia, where all

judges need to be trained on how to

Complaints from both sides

students at London Metropolitan

arrangements for interpreting in the UK courts,

University to the pol ice training centre

interpreters with a range of gualiflcations, ski lls

in Hendon, where new officers are

and experience are used in the legal system .

trained to give evidence in court. We

Not all are NRPSI-registered. As a Magistrate,

combined t his with interpreting training,

I freguently observe interpreters abbreviating

which highlighted some simple issues.

what has been said and answering on the

Many officers did not even realise that

defendant's beha lf. Th is is frustrating, as I

there would

don't have the authority to intervene.

Sometimes I observe an interpreter
acting almost as an advisor or failing to keep

TH ,,<Sroc .

be confident about legal terminology but , in

use an interpreter. I used to take my

Under the current, much-disputed

be interpreters in court.

As linguists and communicators, we

offered advice on voice projection and
posture, as we cannot interpret if we

their relationship with the defence advocate

cannot hear or see the interlocutor

and defendant strictly professiona l. Once, I

properly. Both sides learned a lot from

heard an interpreter interrupt the advocate

the experience. Due to budget cuts,

saying: 'Darl ing, you are talking too fast.'

th is opportunity no longer exists, but it

Inappropriate fami liarity does not belong in

is easy to recreate scenarios where

a court.

there is give and take on each side.

'Wh il e the overall standard is very good,

For three years, I took students to

and some interpreters are outstanding, there

Wandsworth prison to practise remote

is a spectrum of competence and it is usually

interpreting for the courts. We noticed

eye contact

court, they can be confronted with specialist

clear to magistrates when a full and correct

that to benefit from 'normal'

words from any field. For example, there is

interpretation is not be ing made, particularly

we had to sit right back in our chairs.

no word for a bu ilder's skip in Turkish, 50 if

as regards the leg al terms,' asserts Lister.

The position of the camera otherwise

such a word is at the core of a case, it wou ld

It is equally important that interpreters are

meant that we lowered our eyes, which

be helpful for the interpreter to know

properly looked after by the court. Once, I

beforehand, so that they can find an

observed an interpreter, long after the

equivalent and maintain the flow seam lessly.

defendant had been taken back to the cells,

interpreters at work can be

Interpreters expect to be backed up by

magistrates if other parties do not
understand the work involved and talk too

politely wa iting in the dock for the door to be

rewarding, but if the interpreter acts

unlocked from t he outside. Nobody took any

unprofessionally it is very frustrating.

notice until I alerted the Chair. After their

Danielle D'Hayer, Associate Professor,

London Metropolitan University

quickly, yet many magistrates expect accurate assignment is finished, interpreters d eserve to

interpreting w ithout any impediment t o the

flow. An interpreter should be confident and

could be perceived as a lack of honesty.

Taking students to observe

be 'released' too.
From legal advisors to the CPS, users of

professional enough to ask for repetition

th e legal system may not be awa re of the

when necessary, or request that interlocutors

slow down in order to ensure accurate

challenges faced by the interpreter. Jeremy

interpreting. If th e Crown Prosecution Service

professionals do understand their work, but it

Lister's comments show that some legal

(CPS), a defence lawyer, witness, legal advisor is clear that th is is not true of everyone
or probation officer is not adjusting the

working in the courts. Tra ining and

speed of their speech, this could lead to

workshops in the use of interpreting services

injustice through m isunderstandings,

should be provided for everyone working

om issions and/or additions.

with interpreters in a legal setting . It is

Some legal professionals have a better

essential that interpreters undertake sim ilarly

understanding of the interpreter's role than

stringent training so that the link to the lega l

others. Acco rdi ng to Jeremy Lister JP, who I

process is not broken.

Vol/53 No/2 2014

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

27

OPINION & COMMENT

n iLhemedi
TERESA TINSLEY

In my opinion ...

'Speak English or lose benefits: David

Cameron was reported as saying in The

Daily Mail, announcing the latest in a series

of policies linking immigration and welfare.
Meanwhile, with figures from the latest
English school census in the publ ic

The need to build emotional capital

is vitalfor public service interpreters

domain, The Daily Express reported that

English is now a second language in one in
nine 5Chools, where more than half of

p ut in. John Kennedy, Director of Care

pupils speak another language at home .

Services at the Joseph Rowntree Fou ndation ,

Sticking

with the theme of immigration,

and others have suggested that those looking

The Mirror reported that the high street

chain Hobbycraft has told its foreign

It is self-evident that those working in the

better, and with greater job satisfaction , if they

workers to speak to each other in English

public service context, in any professiona l

have been afforded professional courtesy,

or face disciplinary action.

capacity, need to possess both intellectua l

understanding, encouragement and support .

after the elderly are likely to do their tasks

and emotiona l intelligence. The latter always

Th is includes adequate training, respectfu l

UK phenomenon. In the US, a new advert

used to be assumed. Discreet steps were

salaries and working cond itions. Twelve hour

by Coca-Cola, which showed Americans

taken to ensure both its existence d uring

shifts, zero hour contracts, inadequate ( PO

But linguistic intolerance is not a purely

from diverse communities singing 'America

selection for training, and its cultivation

(continuin g professiona l deve lopment) and

the Beautiful' in seven (some coverage said

during t raining and practice.

minim um wage salaries damag e carers and

nine) different languages provoked

There wasn't a name for it rea lly. The

do not promote good care of the elderly.

'xenophobic outrage' on Twitter. It also

abi lity to understand, express and control

sparked a spoof version, with singing in

one's own emotions and to understand,

recognise the connections to public service

Klingon, Morse code and 'hieroglyphics'.

interpret and respond to the emotions of

interpreters (PSis). The successfu l PSis I know

others seemed pretty basic and obv ious.

have huge am ounts of both emotional and

Back home, we learned from The

It took me a disgraceful couple of days to

Independent and The Mirror that Further

Then came managerialism, w ith its attendant

intellectual intell ig ence, even though they

Education and Sixth-Form colleges are

targets, and this crucia l element no longer

work in one of the least cared for professions

axing A-leve l language courses because of

seemed to be on anyone's list.

in the p ub lic selVices.

funding cuts, and t hat the We lsh

Government has reduced funding for ClLT

From th e fringes, I have been helping

Between 1983 and 1990, th ere were fou r

former N HS co ll eagues prepare submissions

successive development projects that piloted

Cymru - the organisation that supports

aimed at reinstat ing what this necessary

selection, training, assessments, train ing of

foreign language teachers and learners in

element nurses. In a quest for status,

trainers, codes, good practice and

Wales - by two thirds. At the same time,

nu rses may have extended their intellectua l

registration of public service interpreters.

intelligence through un iversity deg rees,

They were conducted under the auspices of

The

Mirror reported that 16 percent of

jobseekers have falsely claimed that they

at th e expen se of d evelop ing their

the Institute of Lingu ists and mainly funded

can speak another language on their CV

emotiona l intelligence.

by the Nuffield Foundation (for a brief history,

But among all the g rim neY-lS for

There is a debate on term inology here.

Public Service Interpreting: The first

steps, Pa lgrave Macm illan).

see my

languages there was also some high-profile

Some say 'emotional intell igence' is a

support: German President Joachim Glauck,

contradiction in terms because what is being

on a visit. t o India, urged young people t o

described is not w hat is usually meant by

1 Selection criteria for traini ng, encompassing

'open new horizons' by leaming languages,

'intel ligence' . There are d iscussions about

a range of factors such as interpersona l skills

while our own Royal family showed off their

whether it can be taught (although some

and persona l and professional aptitudes.

The p ilot recommendations included:

linguistic skills in a video campaign against

medical faculties do teach it) or whether it

wild life poadling. Prince Charles is heard

m ight b e a matter of recognising and

Development. Later pilot courses had

saying 'Let's unite for wildlife' in Mandarin,

nurturing innate abi lities. Who m ight do the

sessions on how to care for one's

2 Persona l and Professiona l Continuous

Arabic and Spanish, .,.mile William does the

teaching then arises, because they wou ld

psychological well being, how to recogn ise

same in Swahili and Vietnamese. Lets hope

have to know and practise what they were

when help was needed, and where to find

they won't get their benefrts cut!

teaching, as well as understanding how t o

help with in the circle of informed

pass on those skills.

Tinsley is Director of Alcantara

Communications; \IVW\-V.alcantaracoms.com
Teresa

28

The Linguist

APRIL/MAY

Through this p rocess, I learnt that

confident iality. Loca l public services often

made thei r own faci liti es available to

individua ls have emotional capita l and what

interpreters if support was needed after

they can g ive out depends on what has been

deaths and d isasters. Talking t hings through

www.iol.o rg. uk

OPINION & COMMENT

---_.... _---

They are likely to do

their tasks better if
they have been
afforded professional
courtesy and support

Crossword no.8
Answers page 33
Down
2 Approximately, especia lly
referring to a date (5)

3 Words or phrases which

cannot be fully und erstood
without context (6)

4 National flower of Mexico,

---_.._---

it is named in honour of a
Norwegian botanist (6)

5 Caribbean island where

with colleagues is always good but, at

times, there is a need for a safe, private
support system.

a form of Patois is the

spoken language

6 Cha racters used in a script

3 Regular, friendly meet ings with qualified

interpreters, their tutors and public services

associated now with magic

representatives for interdiscipli nary support,

or channs (5)

development and problem solving. At

7 South American feline

these meetings, we brought our national

whose name is taken from

foods to share; maybe it was the mixture of

the Nahuatl word for

curry, tortilla and choco late cake that

p romoted success.

'jaguar' (6)
Across

13 The first letter of the Arabic

1 NATO's name for a series

and Hebrew alphabets (4)

Indian subcontinent is the

public service, who had participated in

of m issiles developed by the

17 Alexander, 18th century

fourth most commonly

interpreter tra ining, came to the supper

meetings, knew the context - and could be

Soviet Union (4)

explorer, who accord ing to

spoken in the UK (7)

4 Legally th is contrasts with

legend heard a parrot speak

14 It's summer in Italy,

contacted by interpreters at any time.

'de facto' (2,4)

an extinct South American

but denotes property in

I notice these low-cost activities have all but

8 Dolly Pentreath is said to

language (3,8)

English (6)

d isappeared. The first two might be the resu lt

have been the last fluent

19 Unit of currency in Turkey,

15 A form of verba l noun in

of academic and fi nancia l priorities. The third

speaker of this language .. (7)

mean ing 'pound' in English (4)

some languages (6)

16 NW Caucasian language

4 The existence of liaison people in each loca l

12 This language from the

cou ld be a casualty of the ca ll centre

9 ...and Ned Maddre ll the

20 To live in a country (7)

approach. As fa r as I know, in terms of the last

last native speaker of this (4)

21 Formerly known as British

spoken in Georgia, Ukraine

point, on ly INTRAN in Norfo lk still has what it

10 In finance, amounts of

Hondu ras, it is the on ly

and Armen ia (6)

calls its service 'champions' .

money which a company

anglophone count ry in

17 Grammatica lly it could

owes and must one day

Centra l America (6)

be active or passive (5)

pay(11)

22 Word meaning

18 In th is African nat ion,

the new generat ion . New approaches need

11 Could be bi labial , ve lar

'enthusiasm', cognate with

five percent speak Berber

not be the same as the ones in the p ilot but

or g lottal (4)

'jealousy' (4)

languages (5)

My instinct is that thought should be g iven

to how to care for and nurture PSis, especially

shou ld carry t he same positive, creat ive ethos.

There are course organisers who m ight be
approached and helpfu l exist ing support
systems, such as the Chartered Institute of

Neglecting nurses

Linguists (ClOL) and Institute of Interpreting

shown to aff,ectta.....

and Translation (ITI), to bui ld on. I suspect

lVell as their cm'.ol;o",ul

more is needed and few, except the PSis

themse lves, wi ll have the emotional capital t o
provide it.

CIOL Vice-President Ann Corsellis

HonFCIL has published on public
service interpreting and coordinated
projects for the development of good
practice in PSI.

Vo l/53 No /2 2014

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

29

OPINION & COMMENT

Can you take a joke?

JiVhy we should laugh at ourselves
Obviously, th is isn't the fare of 'regu lar'

promising t o make su re their answers are

journa ls; what they have in common is that

good enough to avoid a mention .

they illustrate that linguistics and li ngu ists can

be hi larious.
Working w ith language is a serious business.

W ith SpecGram recently celebrating 10

years of on line publication, it seems to have

Of course, humour can be dangerous. It

gathered an air of gnJdging respectabil ity. Its

Language professionals change lives, affect

can arise from cynicism and become a

businesses and shape students' minds. At a

breed ing ground for negativ ity. Political

acceptance by the Lingu ist List, a serious

forum for book reviews, journal tables of

time when some areas of the language

sati re, for instance, is usually a means of

contents and conference notices, and the

industry are under attack, most linguists do

not see the need to laugh as a priority. On the
contrary, surely that is the last thing we need?
The fie ld of linguistics offers us a surprising

criticising politicians. No one wants or needs

recent release of the Speculative Grammarian

answer. Speculative Grammarian (or

work of a g roup of students with a grudge. In

now taking a humorous approach to

SpecGram to its fans) is the world's first - and

fact, its entire editoria l team consists of

translation, it seems that lingu ists are not the

p robably only - joumal ded icated to 'satirica l

people who m ake their live lihoods from

on ly language professionals d iscovering the

linguistics' (see http://specgram .com).This

working w ith language and lingu istics: from

benefits of field-specific humour.

means that every month, the SpecGram

team produces material on such untapped

Trey Jones (computational linguist by day,

SpecGram Managing Editor by night) to

problems in our industries, it might j ust make

topics as 'H ippie Lingu ist Nam ing Practices',

Mikael Thompson (a historica l lingu ist and

them easier to face. In 2004, a team led by

whether linguists should have spaghetti or

SpecGram Associate Editor). SpecGram is

psychologist Michelle Tugade found that

lasagne for dinner, and why all ch ildren

w ritten from the inside by those who see the

positive emotions and experiences allowed

shou ld b e taught linguistic theory as they

humorous side of the field they love.

people to cope better with d ifficu lt situations;

another avenue for people to have a pop at

Essential Guide to Linguistics, shows that

language professionals. The biggest surprise

t here is an appetite for seeing the funny side

about SpecGram, then, is that it is not the

of language. And with cartoons and websites

As Consulting Ed itor Bill Spruiell points out,

Whi le laughter wi ll not so lve any of the big

wh ile psychologist Karen Zweyer showed that

SpecGram is not the first publication to find its

watch ing humorous materia l increased our

own field funny. The JOllrnal of {rreproducible

tolera nce of pain. The effects were even

Results and Science Made Stupid have shown

stronger when already cheerfu l people were

that it is respectable to use a bit of self-

asked to produce a funny commentary on

d ep recating humou r. Th e Annals of

what they were watching .

Improbable Research even seeks to use funny

Faced with threats to ou r professions on

experiment s to make serious points about

many sides, it m ight seem easier t o become

science. The success of such publications

negative than t o laugh. Yet the success of

suggests that laughing about your work might

SpecGram, coupled with the growing

actually be good both for those doing the

literatu re investigating the benefits of

writing and for th e field itself.

Madalena Cruz-Ferrei ra's regular column in

SpecGram, 'Th ings You Didn't Know You

humou r, suggests that a laugh m ig ht do us

some good. If nothing else, it makes life a
whole lot more fun.

Didn't Know', is an interesting case. Charting

students' answers to linguistics questions, it
might seem not hing more than an attempt
to ridicule students. Response to it,
however, has been mostly positive, with

Jonathan Downie is a translator,

interpreter, writer and member
of the SpecGram editorial team.

students writing to SpecGram

www.iol.org.uk

INSTITUTE MATTERS

Who's on Council?
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MEMBERS OF
THE INSTITUTE'S GOVERNING BODY

Christine Pocock FCll

After a career in t he
import/export sector in
b oth England and
Germany, Christine Pocock
went on to set up a mult ifacet ed language service
for business, special ising in
t he German market. She
joined the Institute in 1993,
became a Fellow in 1998, a
member of Council in 2008

EXAMINER MANAGER DARYL LUCAS EXPLAINS HIS ROLE

and is now Vice-Chair.

My arrival at the Institute in March 2008

modifications and improvements have

and was advised that the best way to learn more was

coincided with the busiest time of the

been made to the Assessor train ing

through t he divisional events, 50 I joined the Translati ng,

year: the bu ild up to t he DPSI (Diploma

p rogramme, with greater emphasis

Interpreting and the Business and Commerce (now

in Public Service Interpreting)

being placed on practical exercises and

Business, Professions and Govemment) divisions. The

examinations. I was joined by a new

marking assessments.

netwo rking with fellow linguists was both stimu lating and

When I first joined the institute, I knew only one member

Examiner Assistant and two new

Over the last 18 months, we have

Examination Consultants (ECs), which

taken even greater strides towards

meant a very steep learn ing curve as we

streamlining processes and improving the

helpful, and as I grew in confidence and experience, I

thoug ht I m ight also have something to offer.
Since then, I have thoroug hly enjoyed contribut ing

way we operate. Communications are

to the work of the committees of the Translating and

now sent to Assessors by email, ensuring

Interpreting divisions and their many events, and! have

a more cost effective, faster and efficient

learned a great d eal in the process. During the 1990s,

quickly settled into my ro le as Examiner

response. Last year we introduced digital

more and more members began working electronica lly

Manager, absorbing the enormous

recorders, alongside conventional

as freelancers and needed a substitute for their

amount of information needed t o do

cassette pl ayers, for recording oral

previous in-house colleag ues, so I became involved

all got to grips with our unfamiliar ro les.

Thankfu lly, 1 emerged from this 'sink

or swim' situation unscat hed and

all the tasks involved . Now I am

examinations at t he London O p en

wit h a small group of volunteer members who, over

approaching my seventh year of

Centre. From this year, digital recording

the years, have developed the TransNet and InterpNet

examination sessions, sta rting with

w ill become the method of choice, with

language support networks. I have been very grateful

the Certificate in Bilingual Skills (CBS)

cassettes as back up, before we go

for these in my own work and I do hope other

Po lice in March and concluding with the

completely digital in 2015.

members continue to benefit from them .

DPSI in June.

My role includes having responsibility

A lll oLET Assessors are provided with

I joined Counci l and sat on a variety of its committees

the tools t hey need to carry out their

before being elected as Vice -Chai r in March 2012. My

for the recruitment, training and

role to the highest stand ard , including

previous close involvement w ith the Institute and

appointment of Assessors (Examiners

comprehensive pra ctical t raining,

business background have enabled me to p lay an

and Interlocutors) for the oral

information guides, training DVDs and

effective and p ro-active role. Keen to see great er

examinations of the loL Educational

constructive feedback about t heir

transparency in the Institute's work, I very much

Trust (loLE1} I also manage the Trust's

performance annua lly. The ongoing

welcomed the reintroduction of Council News in

eight ECs, who are based throughout

enthusiasm and d edication of Assessors

The Linguist and the ClOL's new d atabase, wh ich has

the UK and Ireland and perform an

and ECs ensures the smooth running of

enabled d irect desktop communication w ith members.

essential role by maintaining an 10LET

the examinations year on year.

I would also like to see the ClOL conti nu ing to raise its

p resence in their designated regions,

As a department, we w ill continue to

dea ling with inqu iries from examination

review our processes and procedures,

centres and Assessors, and promoting

mainta ining and improving our overall

the activities of the Institute.

stand ards and ensuring that the

profile by fo rging wid er links with the outside world.

A list of Council members appears on page 3.

examination experience we provide is a

For further details about CIOL committees and

undergone a number of progressive

positive one for everyone involved:

governance, see the 'About us' section at

changes over the years. Important

cent res, cand id ates, ECs and Assessors.

www.iol.org.uk.

The Examiner Department has

Vol /53 No / 2 2014

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

31

INSTITUTE MATTERS

DIVISIONS & SOCIETIES

Trip to the on ly surviving

18th-century private
palace in London .
For details ema il
ju lie.hobbs@iol.org.uk.

DAY VISIT TO
TRINITY COLLEGE
CAMBRIDGE Illll!I

Saturday 10 May
Cambridge
Incl uding lunch and a
language-themed ta lk.
For details ema il

JUDITH RIDGWAY ON THE BPG DIVISION TRIP TO THE AIRBUS FACILITY IN WALES
The BPG Division had the privilege of visiting the Airbus
faci lity

at Broughton in North Wales recently. With

ASSEMBLY LINE
l l-lafll{/'acluring the AJ80 wing in the

~Vcsl

Factory

locations in Germany, France, Spa in and the UK, Airbus

ju lie.hobbs@iol.org.uk.

LINCOLNSHIRE
SOCIETY AGM, TALK
& LUNCH
II!lmI

Saturday 10 May
Wig & Mitre, Lincoln,

is one of the two most successful civil aircraft

of wings for the A380, the largest commercial ai rcraft in

manufacturers in the world. In 2012, it received 833

history. Airbus A380 planes carry 1.25 million

orders and made 588 aircraft deliveries to 89 customers.

The company employs approximately 10,000 people in
the UK directly, with a further 100,000 involved through

passengers each mont h, and one t akes off or lands

three classes, the A380 can

a supply cha in of 400 UK suppl iers. It inputs 2 billion a

the quiet est long-haul aircraft, making up to four times

'Translation and Desktop

year to the UK economy.

less noise on landing than comparab le aircraft.

Publishing: Problems and

Our guide - a fo rmer Head of Secu rity for Airbus in

the UK - explained that Airbus takes tra ining (including

every six minutes. Typically seating 525 passengers in

fly 15,700km non-stop. It is

The BPG group followed the assembly of an A380

wing

from

the moment t he aluminium plate or

MirUiay-4jJln
The AGM will be followed
by lunch and a ta lk on

pitfalls, tips and tricks' by

t ranslator and typesetter

language training) seriously, with an annua l UK t raining

component parts arrive in the p lant, right up to t he

Chris Thompson. To

budget of 8 million. Its North Factory was bui lt to be

point when the wing is ready to be transported to the

attend em ail candia@

'the best it cou ld be in terms of environmenta l

Fina l Assembly Line in Tou louse. Each wing consists of

chezh il lier.freeserve.co.uk

standa rds' and , through it s Corporate Foundation , it

more than 25,000 component s, and each one bears its

by 3 May.

has partnered w ith the North Wales Wildlife Trust to

own unique identification number, ensuring that each

Steep Hill Room, Wig &

help loca l ch ildren to d iscover the wild life living in their

component is fully traceable.

Mitre, 30 Steep Hill,

Lincoln LN2 lTL

p laygrounds. In the last 18 months, the Airbus Charity

Fo llowing this unique and uplifting experience, the

Challenge has ra ised more th an 200,000 for its

group networked at a restaurant in nearby Chester.

partner charity, C LlC Sargent, for children and young

There is little doubt that the BPG Division will request

people with cancer. Employees chose the Alzheimer's

another visit in due course - perhaps next time to the

Society as the next partner charity.

environmentally-friendly North Factory to see the

June

tempered with just the right amount of humour, our

aircraft. More than 50 percent of the w ing is made there

ANGLOPHONER TAG
20-22 June
I!rnI

guide took us on a tou r of the West Factory - a

from new high-strength, lightweig ht composite

lvlercure Hotel~ Potsdam

350 mi llion facility opened in 2003 by Prime Minister

mat eria ls. How wou ld that

Tony Blair. This factory is dedicated to the manufacture

learn new vocabulary 'on the wing'?

Following an extremely informative presentation ,

32

The Linguist

AP RIL/ M AY

manufacture of wings for t he new A350 XWB family of

be for an opportunity to

Following a geHoget her

on Friday even ing, the

www.iol.o rg. uk

INSTITUTE MATTERS

presentations on Saturday

Dibble, the tour w ill be

w ill be on Translation and

fol lowed

by lunch at

contact Candia Hill ier

by 15 November on

Remembrance of Things

midday. To book email

01522 526695 or candia@

Past'. There is an optional

anda. lescinska@hotmail

chezh ill i er.freeserve .co.uk.

boat trip w it h d inner on

.co.uk

Saturday evening and visit

Fee: 10; 5 NW Society

we lcome at Lincolnshire

to Cecil ienhof on Sunday.

and students.

Society events.

by 20 June.

For det ails or to reg ister

Non-members are

details, see
May listing .

For venue

September

by 15 Apri l, ema il

Poetry in motion

setarling@t-on line.de.

CONTACT DETAILS
HANOVER STUDY
WEEKEND
I!I3iI

IIl!m J udith

Saturday 7 June

S-7 September

' - loL.lnterpreting.

Novotel Loninn City

South, London

Hanover

D ivision@goog lemail.com

For details email

Em Michael

The keynot e sem inars w ill

setarlingt-on li ne .de.

Cunningham, m ichael@

October

mm Leslie Ray,

IDAGM &
SEMINARS

be on 'New Technologies
in Interpreting'.

Ridgway,
ridgway@tal ktalk.net

michae lcunningham.net
leslie.ray@btint ernet. com

I!I3iI Stephan ie Tarl ing,

BPGAGM

Saturday 28 June
Civil Service Club, r,(Jndon

INTERNATIONAL
NETWORKING IIl!m

setarling@t-online .de

mI3III Francis Lee,

Including lunch and ta lk.

Saturday 18 October

francisleekCiolhks.hk

Fo r deta ils email

Londoll

mmJ Candia

ju lie.hobbs@iol. org .uk.

See next issue for deta ils.

candia@chezhillier.

GUIDED TOUR OF
THE RYLANDS

November

Il!lD Rann heid

Hillier,

Im'lII

Saturday 28 June
iHanchester, I Jam-2pm

NETWORKING
LUNCH
I!ImJ

Found and Created' event was b rill iantly led by

Committee member Cynth ia St ephens on 31 January. I
was delighted t o hear about this session for a mu ltitude

freeserve.co.uk

LIBRARY

The Translating D ivision's 'Poetry Translat ion , Lost

Sharma,

of reasons. One of my primary motivations for learning

RSharm a105@aol.com

languages was t o study literature, and this event

Im'lII Katrin Hiietam,

provid ed the opportunity to explore the nature and

katrin.h iietam@ee-

purpose of literary translation, based on readings of

translations.co m

poetry by t he Argentine p oet Jorge Luis Borges.

Saturday 22
November

~ Anne Withers,

created by John Ryland,

amwithers@msn.com

themes are highly ph ilosophica l and t im eless; the

Manchester's first

Wig & Mitre, {,fnealn,

mill Rebe kah J ane

poems are literary gems. We enjoyed hearing t he

m ill io naire . Led by Kate

middlly-4p rn

Rhodes, rebekah

original Spanish poems read aloud by two A rgentines

For details o r to attend

jrhodes@gmail .com

and the English versions read by other volunteers.

See th is neo-gothic li brary

KEY
DIVISIONS
Business, P,,)fessic~
& Government:
Education:
Interpreting:
Translating:
SOCIETIES

Cambridge:
German:
Hong Kong:
Lincolnshire:
London:
North West:
Scottish:
Spanish:

Borges's work is exquisit e, artfu l and profound, his

Translators covering a w ide va riety

Crossword, page 29

of languag e

combinations then formed groups to d iscuss the

int ricacies of the translations, with particular emphasis
on the com peting concerns of the t ranslat or, whether
conveying a feeling o r capt uring the sense of individual
words. W e found that poetry is particularly subjective in
translation, in contrast to the med ical or legal texts we
may be m o re accustomed t o translating for work.
In groups, we attempted to t ranslate our favourite of
the selected poems, and it really made us appreciate
what a creat ive and rewarding end eavour it is. I
thorough ly enjoyed the evening. It deepened my
thoughts, p rovid ing a release from the confines of daily
life and routine, as reading great lit erature often does.
My thanks go to t he o rgan isers. I hope to attend more
events like th is in the future and I high ly recommend it
to other ClOL members.

Vol /53 No / 2 2014

APR I L/MAY

The Linguist

33

INSTITUTE MATTERS

ADMISSIONS

CONTRIBUTORS
Nick Byrne

Rosie Goldsmith

Director of the LSE

Rosie Goldsmith is a

Students

Nadia M ekkaoui

Language Centre since

freelance journalist

C laudia Betoldi

Siyamend Omer

1999, Dr Nick Byrne is

specia lising in arts and

Jenn ifer Chen

Asuncion Perkins
Khan itha Picot

also the UK Director of

current affa irs in the UK

Aneta Dutton

the Confucius Institute

and abroad . A former

Koshin II lingworth

Marion Plath

for Business and co-Di rector of the

presenter for flagship BBC radio

Emma Pick

Francesca Pozza

European Commission's lUClDE

shows, she is now involved in severa l

Thomas Russell

Denise Preston

project on mu lt il ingualism. He sits on

campaigns to support translation

Associates

Nata lia Racheyskova

the Executive Board of AULC and

and language leaming, including the

Zuzana Bien

Victoria Rowlands

the Advisory Board of the British

All-Party Parliamentary Group on

Emilie Declaron

M atth ias Schmidt-Curio

Academy project 'Born G lobal:

Modern l anguage. See p.16

Mime lle Doherty

Giorgia Sessi

Rethinking Language Po licy for 21 st

Tumay Forste r

Maya Sinha-Ray

Century Brita in'. See p .ll

Aurelie Geldof-Eke

Elena Sukhova

Eva-Maria Lohwasser

Sylwia Kamoll i

IgorTimko

Freelance interpreter

Muhammad Nawaz Khan

Alexandra Titchmarsh

Lucile Desblache

Agnieszka Lomn icka

Sek lune Sharon Toh

Dr luci le Desblache is

Eva-Maria lohwasser

Johanna Louw
Bob Scott

Agnieszka Tomeczek

Director of the Centre

MOL was previously a

Kristina Valendinova

for Research in

Translation Manager at

Giorgia Sessi

Marguerite Vieira

Translation and

l if eline Language Services in

Pavel51ama

In a Qian Wang

Transcu ltura l Stud ies at

Preston.

and translator

See p.20

IIdiko Somogyi

luanyi X iao

the Un iversity of Roehampton , and

Janusz Szczygiele k

Dorota Zimn iew icz

the course convener of their MA in

N ishat Zaman

Upgrades

Audiovisua l Translation. She is the

Esyllt Meurig

Shuangning Zhao

Caroline Beaumont

editor of JoSTrans (www.jostrans.orgl,

Esyllt Meurig was, unti l

Members

Anne-Marie Chaloner

and her main areas of research are

recently, Project

Sim in Abrahams

Martin Conroy

music and translation, and non-

Manager of Business

Anthony Adamberry
Shefa Alnaeme

Nathaniel Elcock

human/animal representations in

Language Services,

Chinenye Etteh

contemporary cultures. See p.22

one ofthe UK's leadi ng

Mime le Balduzzi

Marilyn Eva

language service providers to

Katarzyna Bedkowska

Bertrand Larsimont

Lidia Carney

Anne Mclntyre

Janet Fraser

IIva Dabolina

Diane Moreau

Janet Fraser has been a

business and professiona l people

worldwide.

See p.24

Hilary Dyke

Joanna Parlak

staff translator, a

Aniko Egerton

Patrici a Pepper

multili ngual journalist

Nil Okan Paniguian

lan Horsfield

Emily Russell

and a Sen ior Lecturer in

Nil Okan Paniguian JP

Alina latagan

Yulia Tsybysheva

Translation at the Un iversity of

FCll is a Turkish

Kyeong-Soo Kim

Readmissions

Westminster. Freelance since 2010,

Languag e Tra iner at

Igor Kuznetsov

Issam Isma il

she now combines translation and

the Foreign and

Commonwealth Office,

Dominique Lambert

Edita Jodonyte

editing with examin ing and training

Amandine Lepers-

Catherine Kil bridge

roles. She is also a member of

a lecture r at SOAS and King's

Thornton

Enkelejda Nolan

The Linguist Editorial Board . See p.8

College, and a member of the

loana Lungu

Angela Potter

Rachael McCorriston

Am ina Sa if

Centre f or La nguage Pedagogy at

SOAS . She is also a freelance lega l

Charis Fisher

NORTH WEST CALLING

interpreter and a magistrate. See p.26

Charis Fisher is in her

final year of a Modern

The North West Society acts as a forum for linguists in

Languages degree at

Dorte Schabsky

the North West of Eng land , offering workshops, talks

the Un iversity of Bristol.

Dorte Schabsky is

on a range of subjects, networking and social meetings,

Following Erasmus

co-Founder of Work Inn,

normally in central Manchester.

p lacements in Toulouse and

a coworking space in
Dortmund, Germany.

Visit www.iol.org .uklmembership/soc_northwest

Bologna, she is now trip secretary of

or email anda .lescinska@hotmail.co.uk for details

ESN Bristol, organising events and

She studied coworking

or to join.

trips for international students at the

for a recent MA in Translat ing Popu lar

un iversity. See p.18

Cu lture at City University.

34

The Linguist

APRIL/MAY

See p.ll

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