Chartered Institute
of Linguists
NEWS & VOICES
In a small computer room with Mexican-style artwork adorning the walls and Frida Kahlo-inspired cushions softening the benches, Lucy is talking about volunteering at a hispanic nursery while studying for her Spanish A-level. “I went every Saturday morning last term,” says the 17-year-old student at Channing School in North London. “It was really cool to be able to practise speaking...
By Magdalena Bartłomiejczyk
In Jonas Jonasson’s The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, the Swedish protagonist, Allan Karlsson, ends up in Moscow having dinner with Stalin. As well as the dictator, his two cronies and Allan, at the table sits “a little, almost invisible young man without a name and without anything either to eat or to drink”: the...
In the under-representative world of publishing, can a mentorship for a minority ethnic translator make a difference, asks Miranda Moore
It has been five years since journalist Danuta Kean published a report on the severe underrepresentation of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in the British literary industry. In addition to a legacy of “white male elitism” that...
By Erwin La Cruz
Do measures that pit machine translation against human interpreters give an accurate picture, asks Erwin La Cruz
The fight for translation supremacy between machines and humans rages on. The reports from the front line are delivered in code: LEPOR 0.68, NIST 0.56, BLEU 0.46, METEOR 0.56, WER 0.39. These acronyms are translation quality evaluation metrics. These...
Fuschia Hutton and mentor Oliver Lawrence outline the benefits of CIOL’s mentoring scheme from both sides
CIOL launched its mentoring programme, through which seasoned translators and interpreters share their knowledge to help less experienced linguists reach their full potential, at Members’ Day 2018. Mentees can choose mentors according to the skills and expertise they most...
By Anita van Adelsbergen
Anita van Adelsbergen considers the many challenges of specialising in canine and equine translation
When you are working on a translation and can’t find a certain word, Google will usually find your answer. But as an interpreter in the middle of a field, arena or paddock, that is a bit more difficult. And when it comes to equine interpreting, just...
Frank Gardner tells Miranda Moore how his passion for Arabic drives his work as BBC security correspondent
Frank Gardner talks about languages the way an explorer might talk about his most exciting voyages. To him, they are the start of an adventure: “the wardrobe that leads to Narnia… the door to someone else’s world”. It’s not just that the renowned Arabist found his passion for...
As CIOL launches a new mentoring platform, translator mentor Helle Gulowsen considers why people mentor and how it benefits them
When CIOL launched its mentoring platform earlier this year, the decision to sign up was an easy one. Partly, of course, in the hope that the knowledge and experience I have built up over many years working as a freelance translator could be of some benefit to...
An Intelligence Analyst* in the RAF Specialist Recruitment Team explains why language skills are so vital to the work
An Intelligence Analyst (Linguist) or Int An (L) plays a vital role in protecting the security of domestic, national and international interests by interpreting, analysing and disseminating intelligence through the interception of foreign voice transmissions using state-...
How a seemingly simple public service interpreting assignment can get dangerous. A cautionary tale by Sue Leschen
Here’s what can happen when an interpreting job suddenly goes off piste. I was booked to interpret for Social Services after concerns were raised about the father of a French-speaking family, who had allegedly been beating his children. Attendees at the child safeguarding...