The Linguist

34 The Linguist Vol/65 No/2 ciol.org.uk/thelinguist OPINION & COMMENT Amalia Agata Maria Amato Amalia Amato MCIL is a conference interpreter and Associate Professor of English language, linguistics and translation at the University of Bologna, where she teaches simultaneous, consecutive and dialogue interpreting. See p.18 Alan Dobson Dr Alan Dobson FCIL is a former lead inspector for modern foreign languages for England. He has represented the UK on EU and Council of Europe expert groups, chaired the Governing Board of the European Centre for Modern Languages, and been involved in bilingual education projects globally. See p.28 Vivian Federicci Vivian Federicci MCIL CL is a creative translator and localisation specialist who supports global companies in connecting with Brazilian audiences through translation, localisation, UX and transcreation, helping to deliver culturally aware communication. See p.10 Ursula Deser Friedman Ursula Deser Friedman is a creative writer and scholar of modern Chinese literature and Translation Studies at Harvard University. She adopts a reparative approach to literary translation, whereby author, translator and reader jointly engage in collective world-making. See p.14 Lorie Ann Halliday Lorie Ann Halliday MCIL is a UK-based freelance interpreter and translator for English- Filipino/Tagalog, as well as for English-Cebuano (Bisaya). She has worked as a professional journalist for over a decade covering Southeast Asia, culminating in her role as Senior News Editor at CNN Philippines. See p.24 Aiman Khan Aiman Khan is an Assistant Professor at Integral University, Lucknow. Her work centres on translation studies, blue humanities and prison writing, exploring questions of language, coloniality, memory, and literary representation in South Asian and postcolonial contexts. See p.26 Sue Leschen Sue Leschen FCIL CL is a lawyer-linguist and the director of niche-market company Avocate Legal French Services (www.avocate.co.uk). She is a member of CIOL's Interpreting Division Steering Group and Professional Conduct Committee. See p.20 Gabriele Mack Gabriele D Mack is a translator, conference interpreter and associate professor in German language, translation and linguistics at the Department of Interpreting and Translation of the University of Bologna. She teaches simultaneous and consecutive interpreting to beginners and advanced MA students. See p.18 Alícia Moreno Giménez Dr Alícia Moreno Giménez is a Senior Teaching Associate in Hispanic Studies at Lancaster University whose research spans translation, exilic literature and innovative pedagogies. She led a VR‑AI project on reducing language‑learning anxiety. See p.16 Elizabeth De Zoysa Elizabeth De Zoysa MCIL CL works as a German/Dutch to English translator of financial and legal texts, with over 30 years of experience, and describes herself as an autistic ally. Her research interest is in how language shapes experience, and how the language of autism impacts our understanding of it. See p.22 CONTRIBUTORS H 1 A H 2 A R 3 I 4 C K 5 S H 6 A W 7 O U M 8 N A A I N 9 A N K E E N N 10 A T A L G A N A J C D K 11 E N Y A T 12 A I C H I O G E E D 13 N 14 A S 15 S E R A 16 V 17 A T A R G I L 18 L A B 19 E A U 20 T Y A 21 Z T 22 E C S 23 S G C A O H W 24 A T E R H 25 O M O N Y M A A I E S E A B 26 A S S C L E F I 27 S I S Crossword solution Puzzle page 33 On other occasions, assignments have been cancelled because the patients have not turned up. So you can see why it is difficult to get interpreters, especially for medical appointments. Another chronic problem is that in medical environments the timesheet is usually signed by a receptionist, which I believe is wrong as they are not present at the consultation. I once had an incident when my booking was cancelled but the receptionist graded my performance as 'satisfactory', even though I was not able to provide a service. When I confronted her she became very aggressive and accused me of abusive behaviour towards her. Maybe there should be a legal requirement that timesheets are signed by persons present at the consultation, so they can give a true picture of the service provided by the interpreter. After all, it only takes a few seconds. On another occasion, in a legal setting, I was booked for 1 hour and the booking lasted 11 minutes. The probation officer put 11 minutes on my timesheet so that's what I was paid for. The agency pays 0.25p/min so it's not difficult to work out how much I received for that job. The agencies send out many offers for the same jobs and if they cannot find anyone for face-to-face work, these jobs are converted into telephone interpreting, which is not ideal within medical environments. But unless something changes and we, as interpreters, get standardisation, the issue will persist. Elvira Varey MCIL CL

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