The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/1124479
Languages have been placed at the centre of a new malaria awareness campaign fronted by David Beckham. In a short film for the 'Malaria Must Die, So Millions Can Live' initiative, the voices of people affected by the deadly disease can be heard speaking in nine languages as the former England captain lip syncs. The video urges people to speak out about the mosquito-borne illness, which kills more than a million people a year. "Malaria isn't just any disease. It's the deadliest disease there's ever been," says Beckham, before appearing to 'speak' in languages including Spanish, Arabic, Hindi and Mandarin, ending with a final message in English: "One voice can be powerful, but all of our voices together, then they will have to listen." For details, see petition.malariamustdie.com. 6 The Linguist Vol/58 No/3 2019 ciol.org.uk/tl NEWS & EDITORIAL In the media MIRANDA MOORE Interpreters made the front page of The Daily Mail in April as it continued its 'Betrayal of the Brave' campaign in support of Afghan military interpreters "abandoned" by the government. None of the 50 linguists promised sanctuary nearly a year ago had made it to the UK. As the mental health of British school pupils continues to decline, The Telegraph reported on one apparent cause of stress: modern foreign languages. "Children find foreign languages so stressful they are being signed off by a GP" came the headline. Of course, there was no mention of other contributing factors, including cuts to child mental health services, increasing academic pressures and a growing exam culture. In a more nuanced article, The Guardian asked 'Language Exams: How hard are they and is there a crisis?'. Meanwhile, in Wales, there was anger over missing Welsh-language revision guides. According to BBC sources, pupils in Welsh-medium schools had to wait months for guides in certain subjects, putting them at an unfair disadvantage. In more light-hearted news, several papers picked up on the story that more than 100,000 Brits are learning High Valyrian, one of Game of Thrones' made-up languages. Since the language-learning app Duolingo introduced a course in the language in April, 830,000 people have signed up worldwide – which, as The Telegraph pointed out, is more than the global number of Welsh speakers. Another conlang was in the press as actor Nicholas Hoult showed off his skills in Elvish at the premiere of his latest film. Tolkien tells the back story of the Lord of The Rings author, who created the invented language. Canada's indigenous languages were also in the spotlight, with reports of a "film in a language only 20 people speak": Edge of the Knife is acted entirely in Haida. The Guardian told how a "fashion designer is reviving indigenous languages one garment at a time", praising Brandi Morin for adorning her Mixed Blood Apparel line with words and phrases in Mohawk and Cree. German has usurped French as the language of UK business, a new report has found. According to the job agency Indeed, roles requiring German language skills have risen by 10% since 2016, while those with a need for French have only seen a small increase. French is still the second most sought-after language, followed by Chinese. The study also pointed to a "worsening language shortfall", as demand increases and A report on India's internet boom and the potential for the language services industry has estimated that the country's localisation market could be worth $7.75 billion. Only 1% of internet content is available in India's 22 official languages, yet it is predicted that 90% of the population of nearly 1.4 billion will soon be online, following the launch of the 4G network Jio and the development of affordable smartphones, according to the analysis by EUATC (the European Union of Associations of Translation Companies). For the full report, visit euatc.org/news A local official in Texas has been forced to apologise to a judge after he called her "a joke" for speaking Spanish during a press conference. Judge Lina Hidalgo serves Texas's largest city, Houston, which has a Hispanic population of 2 million, and the surrounding area. She had been answering questions in both English and Spanish when County Commissioner Mark Tice told her to "speak English". After a public outcry, he later said he "regretted" the remarks. The incident follows an increase in anti-Spanish abuse in the US since the election of President Trump, with reports of citizens being challenged, detained and arrested for speaking Spanish. US judge told "speak English" Beckham fronts multilingual ad German now #1 for UK business Linguists eye up Indian market the number of applicants with the necessary skills decreases. Indeed's UK Managing Director, Bill Richards, blamed Brexit and the decline in language learning in UK schools: "Many UK employers who require multilingual staff are becoming increasingly unsettled as a perfect storm brews – fewer linguists are emerging from our education system just as Brexit uncertainty looks to be deterring workers relocating here from the EU." TWITTER #M ALARIAMUSTDIE