Chartered Institute
of Linguists
NEWS & VOICES
By Gene Hsu
Gene Hsu considers approaches to song translation and proposes a comprehensive way to discuss the process
In popular music, song translation is used to help the target audience understand the source song, but the translations are often not singable. Some are produced by translators or songwriters, while others are done by internet users....
What is the most efficient way to learn a language? Petar Milin and Dagmar Divjak are turning to an algorithm to find out
Learning a new language is an incredibly daunting task for adults. While newspaper headlines may give the impression that the interest in language learning is on the wane, fluency in a foreign language is something many aspire to. Over the...
How languages helped the music promoter make it to the top in a male-dominated industry
Music promoter Rachel Strassberger, who counts Black Eyed Peas among her biggest clients, has combined a career in law and marketing with a passion for electronic music. She explains how speaking five languages shapes who she is, how she builds relationships and how...
By Agata McCrindle
Why peer-to-peer mentoring – a sort of supportive partnership – can help with professional development, motivation and accountability.
Mentoring offers personalised support among professionals and boosts career growth. Early examples can be traced back to Greek mythology. In Homer’s Odyssey, King Odysseus goes to war, leaving his son,...
By Holly Langstaff, Nicola Brown, Chris Dobbs and Rebecca Smithson
A new outreach project shows teens choosing their exam options that there’s more to languages than they thought, say Holly Langstaff, Nicola Brown, Chris Dobbs and Rebecca Smithson
A new languages outreach programme aims to change how secondary school students think about...
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...