News

Inspiring Insights from an EU Interpreter

This week, our Honours and MSc interpreting students had the privilege of learning from Beth Black, an interpreter from the English-Irish booth of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Interpretation (DG SCIC). Her visit brought a wealth of expertise, practical advice, and inspiration to our MA and MSc interpreting classes. Throughout her time with us, she […]


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MLD 2025: “This House believes that screens are detrimental to the development of young people’s cognitive abilities.”

“This House believes that screens are detrimental to the development of young people’s cognitive abilities.” This provocative statement framed our annual Multilingual Debate (MLD) on Thursday 5th June, when experts, academics, and community representatives gathered on campus to explore the cognitive impact of screen use among young people. The event, held in the James Watt Centre, […]


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Mentoring a new generation of language learners

Wiktoria Majerowska, a student in her final year of the Master of Arts in Languages (Interpreting and Translating) programme shares her experience mentoring Scotland’s next generation of budding linguists  Outreach to schools is crucial at a time when securing Scotland’s next generation of budding linguists is more important than ever before. Heriot-Watt’s Department of Languages […]


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LINCS 2025 online MLD  

Over 60 participants, including pupils from a number of schools from across Scotland, the UK and as far as Spain, joined this year’s online version of the LINCS multilingual debate. During the debate, our current interpreting students were key in facilitating communication across languages.   This year’s panel included Mr. Paillet, French Consul, and Mr Muller, […]


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LINCS Multilingual Roundtable: Discussing AI and its impact on society, through the lens of Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Will AI ever become sentient? Are AI-based companions the future for children? How dangerous is online-only education for young people’s social and emotional skills development? Could AI become a viable way to tackle loneliness and even grief?   All these questions, embedded in celebrated author Kazuo Ishiguro’s recent novel Klara and the Sun were discussed at […]


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Watching Democracy in Action: A field trip to the Scottish Parliament

Our M.A. and MSc students who specialise in conference interpreting were able to get first-hand experience of democracy in action last Thursday afternoon; a group of them attended a live parliamentary debate in the main Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament. This type of immersive experience is crucial for future expert linguists, as they need […]


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LINCS welcomes EU Commission Interpreter

The Languages and Intercultural Studies Department of Heriot-Watt University was delighted to welcome Ross Noble, EU Commission staff interpreter, for a 3-day pedagogical assistance visit at the end of January. This visit is part of a long-standing partnership between the Department and the EU Commission interpreting services. Through this exclusive scheme, LINCS has benefited from […]


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14th successful Starting Work as a Translator or Interpreter

On Wednesday 29th January, the Languages and Intercultural Studies Department held one of its two flagship career events: the now well-established SWATI – Starting Work as a Translator or Interpreter. This event, co-organised by Fanny Chouc and Maria Capobianco, from Career Services, has been running for 14 consecutive years! Learning from the successful adaptation of this […]


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Heriot Watt Translation Student Gains Recognition in Translation Prize 

Emily Francis, who is currently one of our MSc Interpreting and Translating students was awarded a commendation in the Stephen Spender Translation Prize. Entrants, who submit from across the globe, translate a poem from any language into English and attach a commentary on their work. Emily was names one of the Commendees in the Open […]


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