The Linguist

You will notice in this issue that we have removed the Institute Matters section and brought its regular articles into Features and News. The Editorial Board noted that the section felt neglected at the back; we hope the change will make organisational updates (p.4 & 6) and our members' inspiring stories (p.17 & 23) accessible to more readers. The board has always been one of The Linguist's key strengths, offering a wide range of expertise and experience, and enabling me to work with some brilliant, insightful linguists over the years. Our board members are dedicated to making the magazine the best it can be, and three of them have contributed fascinating articles to this issue: Karl McLaughlin shares his experiences of translating inflight magazines and the surprising challenges they bring (p.10). James Hughes reports on the situation in British universities since the end of Covid restrictions (p.18). Which changes have they kept and has this led to any notable improvements? Jessica Oppedisano writes a thoughtful piece on the challenges of interpreting for an international trial with speakers of multiple languages (p.8). The family courts have traditionally lacked transparency, but a pilot scheme has lifted reporting restrictions in some areas, subject to strict rules of anonymity. In the first of our series 'The secret…', we examine the UK courts' response to jurors who are not proficient in English and the implications for justice (p.33). If you would like to write anonymously about a particular aspect of your work, please email the address below. Miranda Moore 4 The Linguist Vol/62 No/3 thelinguist.uberflip.com NEWS & EDITORIAL CHAIR OF COUNCIL'S NOTES How has your 2023 been so far? For CIOL, the weather report may be summarised as: overcast at first but with a much-improved outlook as the weeks have passed. We have now exited our rented offices in Fleet Street, which we no longer need thanks to remote and hybrid working, and sold our investment property in Southwark, both of which had become drains on CIOL's finances during and since the Covid-19 crisis. There have been other operational changes to boost efficiency, too. While challenges remain, CIOL is in better shape than at any point since the start of the pandemic, something Council was quick to acknowledge when we met in July. It's been a busy 2023 for me, and what our members think about their lives as linguists has been very much on my mind. Fair enough – it comes with being Chair of CIOL Council, especially a new one. When I took this role on, I applied a familiar mantra from my past professional life: find out what keeps people (managers, clients – and now linguists) awake at night. Of course, what's insomnia-inducing for one group may be less relevant to another with other priorities and concerns. Within CIOL, translators, interpreters, educators and other language professionals all share a common home but those broad categories mask important differences in practice, outlook, working conditions, client expectations and more. The easiest way to understand how people think and feel about anything is simply to ask them. So, I embarked on 100 Conversations, a research study to get a clear sense of how translators first imagined life as a translator, what the reality has been, and how they see the future for themselves and for their practice – taking the profession's pulse with sufficient rigour to help me gather some meaningful insights to share with CIOL Council, members and our wider community of linguists. I presented the first cut of findings at our very enjoyable Translators' Day in London in March. These seemed to resonate in the right way with many who were there. In July, I presented the findings again – to an international audience of PR academics in Slovenia – with an expanded data set (more survey responses, more conversations). When the study is complete, I'll share the full findings via The Linguist. Interpreters, education professionals and BPG (business, professions and government) linguists may say "What about us?" I plan to expand the study to encompass all four principal branches of our membership. By the end, I should know our membership well, members will feel they've had a chance to add their voice, and CIOL should gain something of value from the overall study. Time – and a lot of conversations – will tell. Steve Doswell EDITOR'S LETTER Share your views: linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk

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