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
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/262810
4 The Linguist FEBRUARY/MARCH www.iol.org.uk NEWS & EDITORIAL FROM THE CHAIR OF COUNCIL The start of a new year always brings with it resolutions to ring the changes and do things better. In order to guide us in trying to do that, we have been running a members' survey, and we are delighted that so many of you have responded – several hundred on the launch date alone. It is important to listen to members' views about the Institute and what we offer you, and your feedback will help us in our strategic planning in 2014 and beyond. Our current strategic plan covers the period 2012-2014, and as part of our work on renewing the plan, we are holding an away day for members of the CIOL Council and IoL Educational Trust (IoLET) Board at the beginning of March. This is the first time we have held such an event for some years, and it coincides with several other important milestones in our development as an organisation. Not the least of these is our governance review, which is being led by our President Nick Bowen. The recommendations of the review are due to be presented to Council in February, and we will want to hear the views of our members as this work progresses. The review has been looking at issues such as streamlining our governance structure, introducing limited terms of office for members of Council and other Institute committees, and greater involvement of what, in the jargon, are referred to as 'external stakeholders'. We hope to be able to present key features of our new website at our AGM on 15 March. The redesign work is focusing not only on the 'look and feel' and content of the website, but also on improvements to interactive elements, such as Find-a-Linguist, and on progress towards bringing membership applications and registration for examinations online. One of my key areas of work as Chair of Council has been my involvement in Professional Interpreters for Justice (PI4J), the umbrella group campaigning against the implementation of the Ministry of Justice's Framework Agreement on interpreting. PI4J is also taking stock of the way it works and its future role. Lastly, I wish to pay tribute to Professor Tim Connell who, after nearly ten years in the role, recently stepped down as Chair of IoLET, our examinations arm. Tim has, in conjunction with Hilary Maxwell-Hyslop and, more recently, Ann Carlisle, steered the Trust through some challenging times. At the same time, he has played a wider role in the affairs of the Institute as a very active Vice-President, assiduously attending meetings of Council, and as a member of our Finance and Executive Committee. Tim's knowledge of the world of languages is positively encyclopaedic, and his role in representing the Institute on bodies such as Speak to the future has been invaluable. I am therefore delighted that Tim wishes to continue in his role as a Vice-President. Tim's successor as Chair of the Trust Board is Professor Chris Pountain, who joins the Board following his retirement as Professor of Spanish Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London. Chris has served on the Trust's Examinations Review Board and as Chair of its Quality Assurance Panel for the last 10 years. I look forward to working closely with him as the Trust embarks on a new era. Keith Moffitt EDITOR'S LETTER Today's school- run conversation was all about language: my six-year-old announced that she wanted to learn five more so that she could speak to people from all over the world. We quickly switched to Spanish, something we need to do a lot more often if she is to become fluent. Vocabulary-boosting Post-it notes, known as FlashSticks, have become a handy reminder in our household to change to Spanish – just one use for this new learning tool (p.26). In this issue, we have a mini focus on French-language events in the UK capital, with a look at how theatre company Tamise en Scène established itself in the city (p.10). In a candid interview, comedian Ian Moore reveals his struggle with the language, and why it led him to a 'terrifying' French- language gig at London's Comedy Store (p.12). I was interested to find a healthy offering of Spanish shows for a box on 'Comedy in your language'; we also have cultural suggestions for those living in other parts of the UK. Diversification has become a buzzword for those in the language professions and among freelancers more widely, yet there is little research into the concerns and needs of linguists looking to branch out into new fields. A recent survey by the Translating Division, which asked participants key questions about diversifying, uncovered some pertinent issues (p.20). Unsurprisingly, transcreation and the games industry featured highly among possible avenues to explore, and many will find Isabella Dal Santo's research on the translation of video game humour helpful (p.8). Miranda Moore