Chartered Institute
of Linguists
NEWS & VOICES
by Heather Watson
Heather Watson outlines the challenges of working as a multilingual press officer for the motor-racing industry
The Superbike World Championship is an international racing series for production-derived motorcycles. Founded in 1988, the championship is contested over roughly 13 rounds, which are held at some of the world’s most famous racetracks, from Australia...
Traditionally coaching and mentoring have sometimes been viewed as tools that are used to help with career advancement, but that isn’t their only use. They can be used very effectively to support users in many other aspects of working life, including supporting well-being and mental health.
As remote working and technological advances means that the line between work and home life...
An experienced European Commission linguist outlines the strategies she uses as a visually-impaired interpreter
I am a visually-impaired (VI) interpreter and have been on the European Commission staff since the early 1990s. There were already some VI interpreters working as freelancers for the EU Institutions at that time. We have certain challenges in common, but have devised our own...
by Maurice Varney
Writing on the body can be a covert form of communication, says Maurice Varney
‘Every picture tells a story’ has been used many times to explain art which at first seems inexplicable. There may be art that has no intended meaning, but it will always have meaning for the viewer. The same applies to tattoos. Someone who has HATE tattooed on one hand and LOVE on...
On X/Twitter, we asked our followers to tell us what advice they would give to their younger selves before starting a career in translating or interpreting.
Below are some of their responses:
1. Work hard and study 2. Have a business plan 3. Make sure your skills are up to scratch...
by Megan Bowler, Student Affiliate member
Though many translators find it helpful to make use of translation tools as they see fit, the possibility of clients misunderstanding the contributions of these tools can lead to translators being devalued. Responses to the CIOL’s 2021 translation survey indicate that technological developments are changing not only the way translation...
by Isabelle Heyerick
The interpreter selects strategies in real time, but little is known about this process. Isabelle Heyerick asks how signed language interpreters make such decisions
Any interpreter can attest that the cognitive work we perform entails more than merely rendering words from language A into language B. There is context to consider, the social rules and norms of...
As we gradually see the pandemic restrictions being lifted, it is clear that life will never return to the same ‘normal” as pre-pandemic. The workplace has undergone a quiet revolution in terms of the way people now want to work and it has been proven that new ways of working can be implemented.
For many, home working or partial homeworking has become the norm and is likely to remain...
by Michal Glowacki
Michal Glowacki considers the challenges of translating for the cycling industry and why it can sometimes be an uphill ride.
Imagine an amazing day, sunny, with hardly any wind – the perfect day for my first ride with a group of fellow cyclists (Polish zgrupka), some six years ago. I was enjoying the ride and learning the various hand gestures cyclists use to...
by CIOL
In response to the crisis in Afghanistan, we have recently published an interview with Mehdi Bahrami MCIL CL, an experienced interpreter and translator as well as a language and cultural advisor.
In this video, Mehdi talks to CIOL's CEO John Worne to discuss the professional opportunities that exist for working in Dari and Pashto in...