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/288462
April VISIT TO SPENCER HOUSE Sunday 6 April Green Park, London Trip to the only surviving 18th-century private palace in London. For details email julie.hobbs@iol.org.uk. May DAY VISIT TO TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE Saturday 10 May Cambridge Including lunch and a language-themed talk. For details email julie.hobbs@iol.org.uk. LINCOLNSHIRE SOCIETY AGM, TALK & LUNCH Saturday 10 May Wig & Mitre, Lincoln, Midday-4pm The AGM will be followed by lunch and a talk on 'Translation and Desktop Publishing: Problems and pitfalls, tips and tricks' by translator and typesetter Chris Thompson. To attend email candia@ chezhillier.freeserve.co.uk by 3 May. Steep Hill Room, Wig & Mitre, 30 Steep Hill, Lincoln LN2 1TL. June ANGLOPHONER TAG 20-22 June Mercure Hotel, Potsdam Following a get-together on Friday evening, the BPG BPG LINC GER 32 The Linguist APRIL/MAY www.iol.org.uk INSTITUTE MATTERS On the wing JUDITH RIDGWAY ON THE BPG DIVISION TRIP TO THE AIRBUS FACILITY IN WALES DIVISIONS & SOCIETIES The BPG Division had the privilege of visiting the Airbus facility at Broughton in North Wales recently. With locations in Germany, France, Spain and the UK, Airbus is one of the two most successful civil aircraft manufacturers in the world. In 2012, it received 833 orders and made 588 aircraft deliveries to 89 customers. The company employs approximately 10,000 people in the UK directly, with a further 100,000 involved through a supply chain of 400 UK suppliers. It inputs £2 billion a year to the UK economy. Our guide – a former Head of Security for Airbus in the UK – explained that Airbus takes training (including language training) seriously, with an annual UK training budget of £8 million. Its North Factory was built to be 'the best it could be in terms of environmental standards' and, through its Corporate Foundation, it has partnered with the North Wales Wildlife Trust to help local children to discover the wildlife living in their playgrounds. In the last 18 months, the Airbus Charity Challenge has raised more than £200,000 for its partner charity, CLIC Sargent, for children and young people with cancer. Employees chose the Alzheimer's Society as the next partner charity. Following an extremely informative presentation, tempered with just the right amount of humour, our guide took us on a tour of the West Factory – a £350 million facility opened in 2003 by Prime Minister Tony Blair. This factory is dedicated to the manufacture of wings for the A380, the largest commercial aircraft in history. Airbus A380 planes carry 1.25 million passengers each month, and one takes off or lands every six minutes. Typically seating 525 passengers in three classes, the A380 can fly 15,700km non-stop. It is the quietest long-haul aircraft, making up to four times less noise on landing than comparable aircraft. The BPG group followed the assembly of an A380 wing from the moment the aluminium plate or component parts arrive in the plant, right up to the point when the wing is ready to be transported to the Final Assembly Line in Toulouse. Each wing consists of more than 25,000 components, and each one bears its own unique identification number, ensuring that each component is fully traceable. Following this unique and uplifting experience, the group networked at a restaurant in nearby Chester. There is little doubt that the BPG Division will request another visit in due course – perhaps next time to the environmentally-friendly North Factory to see the manufacture of wings for the new A350 XWB family of aircraft. More than 50 percent of the wing is made there from new high-strength, lightweight composite materials. How would that be for an opportunity to learn new vocabulary 'on the wing'? ASSEMBLY LINE Manufacturing the A380 wing in the West Factory © AIRBUS SAS