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 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 The Linguist 31 INSTITUTE MATTERS new membership pathway with Jane Galbraith, CIOL Head of Membership. Bull Street, B4 6AF. 'A VISUAL WORLD: RESEARCH ON SIGN LANGUAGE' Saturday 25 February Dundee With speaker Professor Jemina Napier of Heriot- Watt University. May 'BREXIT IN OTHER LANGUAGES' TALK AND AGM Saturday 6 May Wig & Mitre, Lincoln, 12-4pm The AGM this year will be accompanied by a lunch and talk. Speaker LINC SCOT Inside the machine MARIA PILAR HOSKINS LEARNS HOW AGENCIES VIEW MACHINE TRANSLATION – AND HOW TO CREATE HER OWN ENGINE – AT A RECENT EVENT Both the subject matter (Machine Translation) and the format (two lectures separated by lunch) could have made the Translating Division's workshop in November slightly daunting. However, thanks mostly to the ability of the lecturers and some relevant audience participation, it was a very satisfying and informative day. Following a brief introduction by Nigel Goffe MCIL outlining the history of Machine Translation (MT), Anna Norek, MT Programme Manager for the translation agency STP, delivered an informative talk on MT from the point of view of language service providers. Agencies are stuck between two approaches: the idealistic, which postulates that savings can be made by using MT to replace linguists, and the realistic, which uses MT to boost productivity in tandem with linguists. Anna carries out a balancing act between these two options. In general, her view was that there are considerable gains to be had from MT for agencies, translators and clients in terms of productivity and quality. However, such advantages cannot be obtained without effort; MT engines and databases have to be carefully curated and improved, translators have to learn to work with MT and carry out MT post-editing, and clients need to be more receptive to the advantages and limitations. Anna's final message: "Keep calm and use MT." The afternoon session, 'Setting Up an MT Engine', was presented by Dr Dragoș Ciobanu, a Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Leeds. He explained how to build your very own MT engine, meticulously going through each of the groups of components starting with a large Translation Memory, followed by a monolingual target-language corpus and glossary, and finally an empty MT program which can be used to assemble all these parts. This was a thought-provoking workshop, made accessible by Dragoș's well-honed presentation skills and ability to offer various options adjusted to different skill sets. Although the prospect of creating your own MT engine might be intimidating for most, participants could also make use of the sources in a more direct and less challenging way. For the lectures notes, see www.ciol.org.uk/td > past events. Martyn Bond is a CIOL Vice President, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the European Business School and a Founder Governor of the English College in Prague. A freelance lecturer, journalist, editor and author, he has worked at the BBC and as Head of the European Parliament Office in the UK. He has published several books on European Affairs. 30 Steep Hill, LN2 1TL. 'DO LANGUAGES REALLY MEAN BUSINESS?' Saturday 20 May Glasgow With speaker Professor Paul Bishop FCIL from the University of Glasgow. SCOT CONTACT DETAILS bpg@ciol.org.uk Judith Ridgway id@ciol.org.uk Christine Pocock td@ciol.org.uk Pavla Dohnalova cambridgesociety @ciol.org.uk Leslie Ray germansociety@ciol .org.uk Stephanie Tarling hongkongsociety @ciol.org.uk Francis Lee lincolnshiresociety @ciol.org.uk Candia Hillier londonsociety@ciol .org.uk Rannheid Sharma midlands@ ciol.org.uk northwestsociety@ ciol.org.uk Katrin Hiietam scottishsociety@ ciol.org.uk Eneida García Villanueva spanishsociety@ ciol.org.uk Jean Boyd BPG ID TD CAM GER HK LINC LON NW SCOT SP MID TEACHING CHALLENGES At the Lincolnshire Society's meeting on Saturday 19 November, Lady Brigitte Peach spoke on 'The Challenges of Teaching Foreign Languages'. Focusing on the English Baccalaureate, becoming a languages teacher and the decline in modern foreign language examination entries, she argued that we need far more of our young people to learn languages in order to boost their own job prospects and ensure that the UK stays competitive on the world stage. She is pictured (left) with the society Chairman Candia Hillier (right). September 'CONFIDENTIALITY ISSUES FOR INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS' Saturday 30 September Perth By Sue Leschen MCIL CL. November 'THEATRE TRANSLATION': TALK AND LUNCH Saturday 18 November Wig & Mitre, Lincoln, 12-4pm With Dr John Whittaker. For details call Candia Hillier on 01522 526695. 30 Steep Hill, LN2 1TL. LINC SCOT