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/99426
NEWS & EDITORIAL FROM THE EDITOR���S CHAIR OF COUNCIL LETTER The Institute has had its offices at 14 addresses since 1910. Saxon House has been its home since 1997, and the decision we have taken to sell the building and move to more suitable accommodation has not been taken lightly. When it was purchased, Saxon House was described as a ���striking-looking former warehouse which had been completely modernised internally��� a fitting home for the Institute and all its activities���. Sadly, no one would now describe the interior as modern, and Council has decided that the building, with its seven rather cluttered floors, is no longer fit for the purposes of a 21st-century organisation. We plan to move to modern, serviced accommodation for the immediate future, while taking appropriate steps to protect the value released from the premises. We intend to stay in London, and in the longer term the decision may be to acquire our own premises again. There is no doubt that the move, which we aim to make in the spring, will absorb a considerable amount of time and energy, not least on the part of Adam Ladbury, our Office Manager, but we do not intend to lose focus on other important issues. Still top of the list is the continuing controversy surrounding the Ministry of Justice���s legal interpreting contract. The Institute submitted evidence to the Justice Select Committee inquiry into interpreting and translation services under the Capita/ALS contract, and I have been attending the Justice Select Committee and Public Accounts Committee hearings, which have drawn heavily on the recent National Audit Office report ��� highly critical of many aspects of the new arrangements. Also in the legal field, CIOL Vice-President Ann Corsellis and I took part in the Antwerp workshop organised by EULITA (the European Legal Interpreters and Translators Association) in October. It considered the EU directive on interpreting and translation in criminal proceedings that is due to be implemented in October 2013. Many of our colleagues in other EU countries were dismayed to see how the public service interpreting qualifications and register created by the Institute, which Ann herself played a key role in establishing, were in danger of being undermined. On page 28, there is a detailed account of Members��� Day, which many participants told me was one of the best they had attended. I am deeply grateful to Baroness (Sue) Garden for her excellent Threlford Memorial Lecture (see page 14), and to all the other speakers and members of staff who helped to make it such a successful and memorable day. Lastly, I am sorry to report that Hilary Maxwell-Hyslop, our Director of Examinations and currently our Joint Acting Chief Executive Officer, will be leaving us at the end of January 2013. Hilary has served the Institute and the Educational Trust with great skill, graciousness and good humour for many years, and she will be hugely missed in both roles. Keith Moffitt 4 I was interested to read the latest research about the use of Scottish Gaelic in the Hebrides, where it is most widely spoken. Although younger generations predictably use the language less than older Scots, the study ��� conducted at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) ��� found that many adults who normally speak English use Gaelic in conversations with children. This bodes well for the language, which gained official status in Scotland in 2005, generating new work for linguists and boosting the revival effort (p.22). A separate UHI study shows that Gaelicspeakers are actively promoting the language using social media, indicating the influence of online networking sites. Interpreting for Europe is harnessing this power to encourage language learning more generally, and has some useful advice on how to use Facebook effectively (p.12). The professional rewards can be great, but most people still under-use social media for business purposes. So our three-article focus looks at the professional internet, with tips on how to write web content from Jonathan Stockwell, DG Translation (p.8). Our three-part series on language and song concludes with an interview with classical-pop crossover artist Mary-Jess Leaverland. It was refreshing to interview someone so passionate about language learning, and so aware of the limits of her own linguistic and cultural knowledge (p.18). We launch a column following a recent MA Translation graduate as she starts her career (p.25); and also hear from an interpreter/translator who is a little further along the career path and rapidly making a name for herself in the profession (p.20). Miranda Moore The Linguist DECEMBER/JANUARY www.iol.org.uk