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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NEWS & EDITORIAL The latest from the languages world What the papers say… © SCARAMAX | DREAMSTIME.COM Five years ago, [archaeologist David] Stuart started up Maya Decipherment, a blog for scholars and amateurs to post new inscriptions, refine translations and debate the subtleties of Mayan language, all in an effort to fill out the history of the civilisation. The work will take years, but with the help of the internet, the pace is quicker than it has ever been. 'How the Internet is Fast Unravelling Mysteries of the Mayan Script', 28/5/13 'Arbitrary' deal for Afghan interpreters described as 'cruel' Interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan will be allowed to resettle in the UK, if they meet certain criteria. This follows a lengthy campaign by the Avaaz group in support of around 1,200 Afghan interpreters, many of whom face the threat of being killed in their home country. Although the £60 million package will enable around 600 interpreters and their families to settle in Britain, it was condemned as 'inadequate', 'arbitrary' and 'cruel', with Avaaz estimating that hundreds of interpreters would remain at great risk in Afghanistan. To qualify, interpreters must have been working for the British on 19 December 2012 for more than a year, which excludes around half. Announcing the package in June, which he described as 'generous', the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, said up to 3,000 Afghans could settle in the country as a result. Some of those who are not eligible are already threatening legal action, with their lawyer, Rosa Curling, commenting: 'The Taliban do not determine who to target by their commencement or redundancy dates. Under this scheme, Afghan locally employed staff still get a much worse deal than their Iraqi counterparts, simply because of their nationality.' After the Iraq War, Iraqi interpreters were offered either a one-off payment or indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Local interpreters who remain in Afghanistan will be offered a choice of five years' training with a 'living stipend' or a severance payment of 18 months' pay. Rewarding literary translation Six publishers have received awards for books in translation from English PEN. Arc, Peirene, Haus Publications, And Other Stories, Portobello Books and Harvill Secker were awarded grants to promote published books and finance the translation of planned titles. Grants were made available to enable a further 16 books, in languages as diverse as Vol/52 No/4 2013 Farsi, Tamil, Occitan, Hebrew and Spanish, to be published in English, including the Portuguese Hotel Brasil by Frei Beto and the French Théorème Vivant by Cedric Villani. • Philip Boehm was announced as the winner of the 2013 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize, on 6 June, for his translation of The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller. An interpreter was not sent to translate for a murder suspect – because the company said it was 'not worthwhile as they will not make enough money'. Judge Julian Flaux blasted the decision not to send a mandarin translator for Anxiang Du, 53, which forced him to adjourn the case for two months. Du had been due to answer four charges of murder at Nottingham Crown Court today. 'Judge Hits Out at Firm after it Refused to Send Interpreter to Translate for Murder Suspect Accused of Killing Familyof-Four', 10/5/13 Nearly 9 per cent of marriages in the UK include a foreign-born spouse. In many of those relationships, the partners have different native languages… Different cultures have different degrees of direct or indirect communication strategies. They also have varying ideas of what is considered appropriate or taboo. Your partner might make a comment that sounds crude or hurtful, when in fact that wasn't the intention. In these situations, ask for clarification before getting upset. Sometimes the problem was really just a poor choice of words. Learning for Love: Romance through the language barrier, 5/6/13 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER The Linguist 5