Chartered Institute
of Linguists
NEWS & VOICES
By Hiba Bayyat
These questions may seem absurd to established linguists, but are often asked by many bilingual and multilingual individuals seeking to invest in their language skills with no prior industry knowledge.
Do you recall the initial steps taken in your career as a professional interpreter and/or translator? How easy or how difficult was it for you? Did you feel that the...
By Rob Beswick
CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development. It looks at the process of tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge and experience that you gain both formally and informally as you work, beyond any initial training (according to Google). For many CIOL members, training and self-improvement can be tough. Many are freelancers, which, while it offers a...
By Nicole Fenwick
Nicole Fenwick BA MA MCIL French to English Legal Translator / Editor / Proofreader
I have always loved languages and while my English and French law degree initially steered me into the mainstream legal profession, I always sought out every opportunity to use my languages. After pursuing an MA in Translation Studies, I decided it was time to...
By John Barry Haywood
John Barry Haywood MCIL English / French Business owner of study abroad programmes
At the Eurolingua Institute in Montpellier, South of France, we offered group language courses for students and clients of all age ranges from 16 to 75+ years. Class numbers were limited to between 8 and 12 participants at the same language level, determined...
John Barry Haywood MCIL English / French Business owner of study abroad programmes
I founded the Eurolingua Institute in 1993 but the inspiration and skills were born out of my teenage interest in French, my early career in export marketing, and my twenty years as an International Management Consultant.
At an early stage, I realised that a professional...
Raheleh Ghiasvand Ghazvini FCIL CL Farsi to English Translator / Interpreter / School parent governor
My translation work has varied across a number of fields, which include: science, environment, web, oil and gas, court documents, contracts, company disputes, educational degrees. I have also done interpreting at courts, notary public offices, arbitration centres and conferences...
I always wanted to work as a translator and to translate books. My work has encompassed non-fiction translation but I have completed a memoir that is awaiting publication and I have proofread fiction work. In addition, I have completed a variety of translation projects for the media and for business.
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As translators, we chose to work in one (or more) areas of specialism – this may be due to an existing relationship with the field, or just a particular interest or curiosity. Sometimes it is a matter of opportunity as you think you’ve spotted a niche, as may be the case with translating the large sphere of Ocean Sciences, which can place you aboard a very exciting vessel! However,...
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...
Have you ever noticed that multilingual people, whether through formal teaching or due to social factors, are perfectly suited to, or naturally gravitate towards, some not-so-immediately obvious careers?
Allow me to give you some food for thought. I’ve just returned to study for a Translation MA at the University of Surrey after a ten-year hiatus; as much as I would have loved to have...