The Linguist

@Linguist_CIOL FEBRUARY/MARCH The Linguist 9 CIOL AWARDS shoulder and some grenades fastened to his belt came in and said: "Are you the BBC? Well I'm your bodyguard for the week." I had the most amazing week; they did look after me. The president summoned me so he could be interviewed. We had to have the postmistress up at midnight connecting my hotel room to Moscow, who plugged me through to London so I could file my report. And you know none of this would have been possible without speaking Russian. You just couldn't have had that adventure really. You've also worked with interpreters – what do you value most in an interpreter? A good interpreter or translator is someone who has empathy and can understand the person both who they are translating from and who they are translating for, so they can be that bridge which is emotional as well as rational. It's not just about literally translating the words; it's about understanding nuances which might need to be explained or conveyed in another way. We'd be going through battle zones or interviewing politicians together, so it was really important that they could 'fill me in' on who everyone was – the culture, the history. These were fantastic people. Many journalists would tell you that the quality of their reports often relies on the quality of the translator who's helping them. Looking back, when did you first know you wanted to study or work with languages? I think in my early teens. In my day, you studied French at primary school. I liked French but I wasn't very good at it. Then at the age of 12, I started Latin, which I liked a lot, and a year or so later I began Russian. They're both quite 'analytical' languages and Russian had the added attraction that it was a different alphabet, which was very exotic. With French I was always behind the girls who'd been to France on holidays; with Latin and Russian it was just a matter of how hard I worked. And we all know, if you work hard at a language, you get a long way! So I completely fell in love with Russian and became fascinated by the ways in which, even though it's an Indo-European language, it doesn't operate the way English does. It treats verbs very differently for example, dividing them into verbs of motion or lack of motion, of action or inaction. I became fascinated with the idea of how far the language you speak shapes your thoughts, and that's when I started reaching for books by people like David Crystal. The interest in linguistics came through learning a very different language, which opened my eyes to the realisation that not everybody thinks in the same way. What advice would you give a young person considering a career in languages? Try to get a good grounding early on. You never know where it might lead. I never had any idea I'd end up interviewing the President of Russia. Reading a lot in a language is a very good way to expand your vocabulary. You can do that even if it's hard to travel. And now you can go online and there's lots to immerse yourself in. Then if you have the opportunity to go somewhere, go! Immerse yourself in that place, this can open so many doors for you! Renowned linguist, author and CIOL Vice- President David Crystal OBE FCIL donated the trophy given in his name to recognise a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of languages. He congratulates the 2020 winner. "A really great choice for the award. I well remember Bridget's reporting from those glasnost times. The linguistic abilities and achievements of international journalists so often go unrecognised. People take in the content without realising the amount of language expertise that lies behind it. It's inspiring to have occasions like this, when the linguistic background stops being in the wings and becomes centre stage. Through her distinguished career, Bridget has made an invaluable contribution to our understanding of world events, and has offered us insights and analyses of critical moments in the history of Britain, and the wider world, which have helped to explain and influence our relations with other nations over some 30 years. In all of this, her outstanding ability as a linguist has shone through and offers a living example of the importance of languages that is sure to inspire future generations of linguists." * Clear as Crystal BRIDGET KENDALL (Clockwise from left) At Peterhouse; with children in Tomsk prison; reporting from Chechnya; interviewing President Putin in 2001; and presenting The Forum ясно как кристалл *

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