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/271849
I'm in my second term of studying Spanish at university and whenever I tell people, they reply "oh, how nice… so what are you going to do with that?" It's almost as if people have made languages degrees less important in their minds… Graduates with language degrees are sought after by recruiters, but for whatever reason, our society nowadays is determined to ignore this fact. Surely we need to change this stereotyping of language degrees being thought of as 'useless'… Perhaps the issue is all about the promotion schools provide? 'Why Aren't Languages a More Popular Choice at University?', 15/1/13 Vol/52 No/1 2013 FEBRUARY/MARCH The Linguist 5 The latest from the languages world Students are increasingly choosing language add-ons at UK universities Uni's report growth NEWS & EDITORIAL As this interview is being conducted in French, through an interpreter, it seems worth asking whether Koné has any communication difficulties with the rest of his team. The answer is both surprising and revealing. 'The problem doesn't really arise at Wigan because more than half the team speaks Spanish and the manager talks to me in Spanish. I know that language quite well from my time in Spain so I don't have any conversational difficulties.' 'Wigan's Arouna Koné: "Wherever in the world I play I can find goals"', 23/11/12 What the papers say… Cases were delayed, hundreds of translators failed to turn up, and many more refused to work for Applied Language Solutions (ALS), which was taken over by Capita at the end of last year, the Commons Committee of Public Accounts said. But Capita has only been fined a 'risible' £2,200, sending the message that the ministry allows private firms 'to get away with over promising and underdelivering,' the report warned. '"Total Chaos" after Pet Dog Counted on Translators' Database', 14/12/12 A new survey shows robust growth in students from non-specialist language courses choosing to add a language to their portfolio. A majority of University Language Centres report stable or increased numbers. Some have registered twice as many students as last year, according to the survey of Institution- wide Language Provision in Higher Education, carried out by UCML (the University Council of Modern Languages), AULC (Association of University Language Centres) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Spanish and French remain top choices, followed by German and Italian, then Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, which have seen the fastest growth in demand. A few universities are reducing their support for language provision across all disciplines, but most now perceive a thriving Language Centre as a competitive advantage. For the full report, see www.ucml.ac.uk/news/155. Poetry prize Entries for the Times Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation are now open, with cash prizes of £1,000, £750 and £500 in both the 'Open' category (for adults) and the '18-and-under' category. Open to all British residents and citizens, the prize will be judged this year by translation theorist Susan Bassnett, classics scholar Edith Hall, poet and novelist Patrick McGuinness, and poet and translator George Szirtes. The closing date is 24 May and winning entries will be published in The Times. For further details, see www.stephen- spender.org/spender_prize_2013.html. Critical matters The Critical Link 7 conference on community interpreting will be held in Toronto, Canada, in June. Held every three years by the non-profit organisation Critical Link International, the conference this year takes as its subject 'Global Awakening: Leading practices in interpreting conference'. More than 300 delegates attended CLI's last conference, held in the UK in 2010, which included 160 presentations, 10 panels and seven workshops. Delegates, presenters and keynote speakers from across the globe are set to attend the 2013 event. For details, see www.criticallink.org. © I S TOCKPHOTO