Chartered Institute
of Linguists
NEWS & VOICES
By Adriana Nesheva
How to fashion the perfect text when translating product descriptions for clothing brands
Product descriptions are a crucial component of fashion brands. While some may consider them boring or unnecessary, they can play a significant role in the purchasing decisions of consumers. When selecting apparel, many want to know more about the...
By Jonathan Downie
As remote interpreting platforms start to offer AI services, Jonathan Downie outlines how interpreters might respond
Conference interpreting was in shock. At the start of 2023, KUDO, a leading remote interpreting platform, announced that they had launched “the World’s first fully integrated artificial intelligence speech translator”. Many...
By Spencer Hawkins
How can the translator hope to render complex theoretical concepts in another language? Spencer Hawkins looks to Freud to argue for a controversial translation approach.
The meaning of theoretical concepts such as Anlehnungstypus (Sigmund Freud’s name for the opposite of narcissism) is debated among native speakers. So how can translators...
By Nataliya Yachmeneva
Nataliya Yachmeneva outlines the challenges of cybersecurity translation and understanding the concepts behind the terminology
We all bear witness to the breakneck speed at which the concepts of IT and cybersecurity have been evolving, together with software and hardware designed to counteract growing cybercrime. No...
By Maureen Cohen
Translators of popular science are, in a sense, translating a translation...
Scientists speak a dialect of their own, with both terminology specific to their field of inquiry and a broader idiom shared by the community as a whole. Science communicators approach their subject matter with many of the same basic problems as translators: How can I...
By Anita van Adelsbergen
The inventor of the languages game League of the Lexicon discusses his passion for words and why it is all about being curious. He explains all to CIOL Council member Anita van Adelsbergen.
Joshua, you’re a game publisher, a marketing specialist, a photographer and designer, you’ve co-founded an art gallery and written a book...
Sara Horcas-Rufián
Tell us about your early experiences. Have you always had a passion for languages?
I vividly recall my fascination with the (big) wide world long before I could articulate it in words. As a child, I felt an exhilarating sense of adventure watching the cartoon Around the World with Willy Fog. I began writing short stories and for three years in a row I...
By Karl McLaughlin
Translating inflight magazines and why it is the perfect gig for translators with wanderlust!
Who has not read a travel magazine or supplement and felt jealous of the writers who are paid to visit appetising destinations? Among linguists, such travel possibilities tend to be associated with conference interpreters lucky enough to be...
By Clare Richards
For Clare Richards, translation and autism are interwoven, but until she started an online forum for disabled translators she didn’t realise how many others felt the same way
It’s almost exactly a year ago and I am walking towards London’s Southbank to meet a fellow literary translator. One sensory onslaught is replaced by another –...
By Philippe Muriel
Is public service interpreting the ‘poor relative’ of the interpreting profession, and how can we change that?
I must confess, I am a fan of interpreters’ chat groups on social media. Interpreting is a lonely job and it is rare for us to meet up with colleagues for a chat. Few of us have a mentor to whom we can turn for guidance or advice...