The Linguist

Thanks to our cover story (p.10), 'The Girl from Ipanema' has become the soundtrack to this issue, seemingly ushering in the warmer weather. It is always fascinating to learn about the decisions song translators make, and how creatively rendering lyrics in another language can potentially make or break a track overseas. Following a strong AI 'theme' at this year's Conference (p.7), we look at how one university is using virtual reality in positive ways for students – closely developed and overseen by faculty staff (p.16). Elsewhere in this issue, we report on new research into the hazards of working in booths and what interpreters can do to protect their health (p.18); and consider whether inadequate translations have impacted our understanding of autism (p.22). Drawing on her research into diaspora Singophone writing, Ursula Deser Friedman considers why some writers choose to translate their own work, and what that means for the quality, ethics and messaging of the resulting work (p.14). Rather than bringing you an update from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modern Languages in each issue, we will now publish a round-up of the group's activities at the end of the year, alongside occasional pieces that aim to illuminate the workings of government on language issues. In a Q&A with Philip Harding-Esch, the new APPG Chair, Darren Paffey MP, provides insights into both his parliamentary work to promote languages, and how his fascination with languages and sociolinguistics led him into politics in the first place (p.12). Miranda Moore 4 The Linguist Vol/65 No/2 ciol.org.uk/thelinguist NEWS & EDITORIAL CHAIR OF COUNCIL'S NOTES It is a real privilege to write my first Chair's Notes, and I want to begin by thanking my predecessor, Steve Doswell, for his steady stewardship of Council over recent years, not least at a moment when the questions facing linguists have rarely felt more pressing. I am also delighted to welcome Mariam Aboelezz as our new Vice-Chair. A number of you will have been with us at King's College London's wonderful Bush House building for the 2026 CIOL Conference (see pages 7-9 for an overview). For those who weren't able to make it, the conversation we had across the streams, in the breaks and in our closing roundtable felt to me like a genuine and very positive moment of re-connection and stocktaking for us all. I won't pretend it was always an easy conversation. Many of us are working under real pressure: from AI, on rates, due to geopolitics and the state of the wider world. We didn't try to avoid any of that on the day, and I don't want to avoid it here. But what struck me, listening to Andrew Simpson, Vasiliki Prestidge, Ibrahim Kadouni, Mariam Aboelezz, Josephine Murray, Diana Sigureaunu, Sabine Braun, Maria-Elena Metaxes, Lucas Nunes Viera and our closing panellists, was that the profession is adapting rather than retreating. Linguists are moving into deeper specialisation, as well as diversifying in their work, and with renewed focus. People are growing in their confidence and clarity in their professional identities, and finding more continuity in their work than they had a year ago. A theme I keep coming back to, both in the panel and since, is that AI is a tool. It is genuinely useful in expert hands, and genuinely problematic in untrained ones. To return to an analogy from my own world of working with dogs and horses: a harness is a tool, but only useful if you know how to use it. What we offer our clients and organisations is not only linguistic skill, but judgement, cultural awareness and a real-life person they can trust. Those are not things a machine can easily replace. CIOL's job, as a professional body, is to keep working alongside you: setting standards, advocating for the value of linguists and language work, and making space for honest conversations like the one we had at Bush House. Thank you for the welcome you have given me as CIOL Chair. I look forward to working through continuity and change with you in the months ahead. Anita van Adelsbergen EDITOR'S LETTER Share your views: linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk AI is a tool. It is genuinely useful in expert hands, and genuinely problematic in untrained ones

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