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
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2 Hope: persevering towards goals and redirecting paths to goals 3 Self-efficacy (self-belief): having confidence to take on challenging tasks and put in the effort to succeed at them 4 Resilience: the ability to 'bounce back'. Translators regularly talk about work being detrimental to their mental health. Discussing an assignment about child soldiers, Nicole Fenwick confided: "We so often work under the cloak of confidentiality but for projects of this nature it is really important to talk about the content during the process so that you are properly able to disassociate the content from your everyday reality." 4 In this context, a lack of psychological capital can have a devastating impact on a JUNE/JULY The Linguist 9 FEATURES practitioner's health. Linguists have reported migraines, blurred vision, headaches and other physical symptoms when working on traumatic or complex materials. The pandemic has created additional challenges, but for many linguists it has also brought a renewed sense of self-worth, as they report feeling proud to work on documents such as patient surveys and ventilation manuals. Finding meaning in the work and taking regular breaks is vital. Building soft skills How can we ensure professional sustainability in the long-term? CIOL's Insights Report concludes that "a commitment to continuing professional development will be critical as a means of responding to the rapid changes taking place in the sector and adapting to external events – for example, by acquiring new technological and soft skills, and honing specialist knowledge of specific subject areas." Soft skills are often forgotten, yet an understanding of one's own strengths and weaknesses, and an ability to leverage these, will become as critical as specialist knowledge for linguists in the coming years. So how can one develop psychological capital? 1 Engage with your professional community; make an effort to form relationships. Studies show that being connected with other professionals helps you to learn and grow. 2 Reflect on what meaningful work entails for you. We often jump from one task to the next, but it is vital to gain an overview of what we're doing and why. Taking time to reflect is not self- indulgent; it's key to a healthy lifestyle. 3 Take a preventative approach and incorporate wellbeing into your routine. Exercise and yoga are often mentioned but something else may work for you. Having a regular work schedule can help you to set aside time for other activities. 4 Commit to relevant CPD. PsyCap can be trained; it is important to undertake CPD in soft skills as well as in other areas. Research areas There remains a number of avenues for further research and training. For instance, we need to identify which personal traits and resources are most predictive of professional success in the language professions. Could self-belief be more important than optimism in some types of language work? It would also be useful to understand how the PsyCap needed by linguists might differ from that required by other professionals. Research could also identify potential facilitators and barriers: what helps us to grow and what doesn't? In this way, the findings could inform training. I'd like to encourage the creation of more space for psychological reflection regarding what is sustainable for linguists. Fostering PsyCap can encourage a more sustainable construction of language-related careers, and help to achieve the UN's people-centred development agenda. As Robert Jones noted in this sobering but motivating observation: "By understanding our psychological limitations, we will be able to realistically make the best of things, whether by successful adaptation or by preparation for extinction." 5 Notes 1 Leporello, E and Santi, G (2019) 'From Psychology of Sustainability to Sustainability of Urban Spaces: Promoting a primary prevention approach for well-being in the healthy city designing. A waterfront case study in Livorno'. In Sustainability, MDPI, 11(3), 1-18 2 ciol.org.uk/ciol-insights-languages-professions 3 Luthans, F and Youssef-Morgan, CM (2015) 'Psychological Capital and Well-being'. In Stress and Health, 31(3): 180-8 4 coleytranslates.com 5 Jones, RG (2020) The Applied Psychology of Sustainability, Routledge, 2 This is a short version of the Threlford Lecture. To access the full lecture, visit cutt.ly/Threlford2021.