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/1277318
Dennis Baron's What's Your Pronoun? (p.28) reflects the challenges of translating grammatical gender discussed in our lead story (p.8). The book traces the development of gender-neutral language – something transgender authors of earlier times might have appreciated. Emily Rose considers how such writers subverted grammatical gender to reflect their own gender identity, and the difficulties this poses for translators into languages such as English, which have less gendered grammatical systems. At the same time, I have been reading up on the debate over the gender of coronavirus for an article in our October issue. Our focus section on the pandemic in this issue looks at the difficulties of keeping up with rapidly emerging vocabulary (p.14), and how public service interpreters, who were identified as key workers early on, have been affected (p.18). Four linguists consider the ways in which CIOL membership can help in these difficult times (p.16), while the Midlands Network reveals how it is managing the challenge through some fascinating online events, including virtual film nights (p.32). We would like to find out how our readers are coping, including positive, negative and neutral changes in your circumstances, so please share your experiences via linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk. Given the crisis's impact on mental health, our article about interpreting at inquests should, perhaps, come with a trigger warning as it deals with a tragic case of suicide, focusing on the challenging environment and emotional toil on the interpreter (p.12). An insightful, if heartbreaking, read. Miranda Moore 4 The Linguist Vol/59 No/4 2020 thelinguist@uberflip.com NEWS & EDITORIAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S NOTES After seven highly enjoyable years with CIOL and CIOL Qualifications, I will be standing down from my role as CEO in the autumn. These are therefore to be my last CEO Notes. It was a hard decision to reach as I have always been, and will remain, passionate about languages and culture, and their value in bringing people together to enhance understanding and in supporting economic activity to promote growth and prosperity. CIOL's members – whether translator, interpreter, teacher or other language professional – have an invaluable role to play, alongside those who lead and manage the organisation, in raising the profile of linguists, as well as in seeking the recognition we all believe they deserve. Since 2013, CIOL has travelled a transformational journey, increasing its reach across all sectors, swelling in size and providing a much wider range of benefits for its members (p.16). In 2013 there were fewer than 20 Chartered Linguists; today there are almost 800. I hope to see the day that all eligible members will choose Chartered status, as this is the strongest signal we can give to demonstrate our professionalism. In the last seven years, the organisation has adopted a hugely successful mentoring scheme, built a network of language partners across education, renewed its CPD offer, launched new exam activities, conducted sector research, and most recently introduced partnerships for businesses and corporations. We now engage more fully with policy, with a much greater external presence across all parts of the profession. That is not to say the job is done, nor should it ever be. A successful organisation is one that travels a journey of continuous improvement and is constantly reflective in terms of its aspirations and ambition. Looking ahead, Brexit will demand global reach from the UK that will be dependent on languages and expert communications, while Covid-19 will be the driver for doing much of our work in ways we may not previously have anticipated. Both, I hope, will open up opportunity and serve to guide CIOL in new directions. I leave the organisation in very good hands and I'm sure my successor, when appointed, will continue the journey. As a Fellow, I will continue to support CIOL however I can, and I'm sure that although on a new journey, our paths will continue to cross. Which leaves me only to thank members, partners, staff colleagues and friends of CIOL for their unstinting support. Ann Carlisle EDITOR'S LETTER Share your views: linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk I will continue to support CIOL however I can, and I'm sure our paths will continue to cross