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
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thelinguist.uberflip.com DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 The Linguist 5 The famous Brummie 'G' – as in 'Birmin-gam' – will be also wiped out in the next 50 years if the Sounds of 2066 report is to be believed… Over the next five decades increasing communication with machines will bring about a universal form of informal spoken English, according to the report. The study claims that as keyboards become obsolete, communicating with voice recognition technology will reduce diversity in English dialects. 'Muvver Tongue', 29/9/16 What the papers say… Hodor's name [was] revealed to be a contraction of the English phrase "hold the door", presenting a problem for foreign broadcasters… [Solutions] range from the ingenious – French: Pas au-dehors! ('Not outside!') and Italian: Blocca l'orda! ('Block the horde!') – to the pretty clunky – Polish: Zahamuj dwych, ill możesz! ('Hold the dead as long as you can!')… The OP admitted to having sourced a lot of the translations from Open Subtitles. 'How Game of Thrones got Around the Hodor "Hold the Door" Translation Issue in 21 Languages', 10/8/16 Although the proportion of translated fiction is still "extremely low", at 1.5% overall, the sector still "punches well above its weight", said the book sales monitor, with that 1.5% accounting for 5% of total fiction sales in 2015… "We've now reached a stage where not only are people happy to read fiction in translation, they are positively seeking it out," agreed Waterstones fiction buyer Chris White. "Currently 25% of our top 20 fiction titles are translated." 'Translated Fiction Sells Better in the UK than English Fiction, Research Finds', 9/5/16 The latest from the languages world IoL Educational Trust (IoLET), the Awarding Organisation of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, is collaborating with the Institute of Tourist Guiding (ITG) to assess the language skills of tourist guides as part of their initial and on-going training. The ITG provides White, Green and Blue Badge qualifications for tourist guides. To qualify to guide in a language that is not their mother tongue, candidates are required to undertake an oral language exam. According to Ela Kwasny-Spechko, IoLET's Head of Qualifications, "The ITG's decision to entrust IoLET with their language exams recognises the benefits of our dedicated language expertise and independent, robust assessments." ITG language exams will be available in the core languages English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as a wide range of non- core languages, including Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese and Russian. "This is made possible due to IoLET's capability to examine in many languages, which also enables us to offer our own professional exams in translation and interpreting, as well as bespoke exams for government departments in more than 40 languages," she continued. Simon Bennett, President of the ITG, added: "We are delighted to be able to work with IoLET to ensure our language examinations are conducted to the highest possible standards." The first ITG candidates will take the exam at the end of November. NEWS & EDITORIAL UK universities have received £15 million in funding for language-related research. The four projects, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Open World Research Initiative (OWRI), will run for four years, each receiving £3-£4 million. Professor Andrew Thompson, Arts and Humanities Research Council Chief Executive, commented: "As a major, multi-million pound investment to 2020 in our priority area of Modern Languages, OWRI seeks to raise the profile and visibility of modern languages and the crucial role they play – within their universities, within the arts and humanities, and within society more widely." The projects range from a joint research programme led by the University of Oxford, looking at the intrinsic connection between multilingualism and creativity, to the Cross- Language Dynamics project led by the University of Manchester, which aims to demonstrate the UK's critical need for modern languages research and teaching. King's College London was awarded a £3 million grant for its Language Acts and Worldmaking project, while the University of Cambridge is heading an interdisciplinary investigation into the vital insights gained from being multilingual. See www.ahrc.ac.uk for further details. IoLET delivers tour guide exams £15m language research boost © SHUTTERSTOCK