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/393748
In this issue, we commemorate the centenary of WWI. Men who had never left their home shores went off to fight in foreign lands alongside allied soldiers from around the world. Amid the death and destruction, new connections and friendships were made across the language divide. British conscripts studied French from local people, often for the first time (p.8); while interpreters supported refugees fleeing conflict areas, communication between troops and, later, politicians drawing up the peace accords (p.10). The impact on conference interpreting was particularly important. A century later, and the multilingual approach of the European Parliament has given rise to complex and extensive interpreting needs. How it manages this requirement is both interesting and informative (p.26). On page 16, Shirley Lawes continues our examination of changes to the schools curricula with a look at the proposals for A-levels. There has been a focus on encouraging greater take-up not only among 16-year-olds but also at university. Motivating young people to study languages is a continual concern and, on page 20, one teacher asks whether music workshops can enthuse students while raising their confidence and attainment levels. As usual, I write from my home office and, after talking to a range of translators about their use of a shared office space, I find myself increasingly weighing up the pros and cons of coworking. I hope you find their experiences as helpful as I have (p.18). And if you're still unsure whether to make the leap to a shared environment, why not dip a toe in the coworking water with a one-off event, many of which are free? Miranda Moore 4 The Linguist OCTOBER/NOVEMBER www.ciol.org.uk NEWS & EDITORIAL CHAIR'S NOTES Many of you will have received my recent emails encouraging members to put themselves forward for election to Council, the Institute's governing body. Council gives CIOL members a voice in setting the strategic direction of the work of the Institute, as regards services for members, its internal organisation and the important part it has to play in the wider world of languages. Membership of Council is a role that often appeals to members who have been involved in the work of one of our divisions or societies, or have played a similar part in another organisation. The closing date for nominations is Saturday 18 October. If you are interested and have mislaid the nomination form sent out with the previous issue, do contact Adam Ladbury at Dunstan House. Much of Council's recent work has focused on updating our strategic plan and progressing our governance review. We will shortly be launching the new strategic plan, while significant progress has been made with the governance review, following which some changes will be recommended to our next AGM. As we went to press, we launched our new website (see www.ciol.org.uk). It is a significant improvement on the old site both as regards design and content, and I would like to thank Council member Karen Stokes and the staff at Dunstan House, in particular Jack Sellen, for all the hard work they have put into making the new website such an excellent shop window for the Institute in the digital world. Jack will look further at the development of the site and how it benefits users in the next issue. Autumn is a busy time for the Institute and I would like to remind you of two important events in October. Our annual Members' Day takes place at BMA House in central London on Saturday 11 October, with a wide range of seminars and the Threlford Memorial Lecture, this year to be given by Eleanor Sharpston, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Members' Day is an ideal opportunity to network with fellow linguists. Another important event in our calendar is Language Show Live, on the weekend of 17-19 October at London's Olympia. If you are able to attend, do visit us at Stand 409. In the last issue, our departing Executive Director CIOL, Alan Peacock, said farewell after seven years with the Institute. I would like to thank Alan very warmly for the important part he played in the work of the Institute over that time, not least during the period when he was our Acting Chief Executive. We wish Alan the very best in his new post. I am very grateful to our Executive Director IoLET, Ann Carlisle, for agreeing to head up interim arrangements following Alan's departure, in conjunction with Adam Ladbury, our Office Manager and Company Administrator. At the time of writing, we are working on new senior management arrangements, which will enable us to implement our new strategic plan covering both the Chartered Institute and the IoL Educational Trust, and I look forward to telling you more about these exciting changes soon. Keith Moffitt EDITOR'S LETTER