Two eminent figures have recently issued a familiar challenge to UK plc. Will Hutton writes powerfully in the Guardian: “The crisis in our foreign language studies is part of something much larger and why the coalition government’s rhetoric and programme are so very, very misguided. There is a poverty of vision about what Britain needs […]
News
New Speakers of Minority Languages: A Dialogue
Heriot-Watt University and Edinburgh University are pleased to announce this one and a half day event to bring together scholars working on ‘new speakers’ of minority languages in different parts of the world where traditional communities of speakers are being eroded. In these contexts, new speakers often emerge as a result of revitalization efforts and […]
Court Interpreting: Is it worth it?
The title of this post is purposely meant to be controversial. At a time when Public Service Interpreters are meeting together to pressure the government to drop the proposed new framework agreement for interpreting in English and Welsh courts, it seems that some subjects are still to be addressed fully. Take, for example, the whole […]
Police academy: Interpreting research makes sense of investigative processes
A recent development in LINCS is the establishment of a Police Interpreting Research Group within the Centre for Translation & Interpreting Studies in Scotland (CTISS). LINCS was one of the first in Europe to offer postgraduate training in Public Service Interpreting (PSI). PSI covers all parts of the public sector, prominently including contexts like police […]
Language Rights … and Wrongs
Should it be a human right to be able to use your native language wherever you are? Should states protect linguistic minorities, even when resources are right? What is the best strategy to help people see that linguistic diversity is a good thing? These were just some of the subjects covered in a talk by […]
Scotland Needs Languages
In late November last year, we let you know about an event called Who Needs Languages? The purpose of this event was to raise awareness of linguistic diversity in Scotland and foster better understanding of Scotland’s language needs. More than 30 people came and made the event a great success. Every speaker was keen to […]
What that means to me: The Tireless and Tiresome Search for Meaning
Part II Should empathic responses be an expected skill of the community interpreter? As part of our development as interpreting professionals, we should actively seek to develop empathy for people and in our practice, display empathy – even to ourselves. Our emotional reactions to the people we work with are best not repressed but considered […]
BSL Interpreting: A Profession with Potential
On Friday, we announced the beginning of undergraduate BSL courses here at Heriot-Watt. This is the first time that BSL has been taught at undergraduate level at a Translation and Interpreting school. To celebrate this breakthrough, here are three excellent reasons why BSL interpreting is a profession with potential. 1. There is lots of work […]
LINCS Lines Up British Sign Language
From 2012, undergraduate students at Heriot-Watt will be presented with an opportunity never before available in the UK: to study British Sign Language (BSL) in a Department specialising in translation and interpreting. (Click here for details.) Why might you find this exciting? Here are six good reasons. 1. It’s cool to sign. Don’t believe me? Checkout […]
What that means to me: The Tireless and Tiresome Search for Meaning
Part I “This is a conservation area and so there’s no bins or double-glazing.” This is just one of the many sentences spoken to me since moving to Edinburgh two months ago where I had no idea what the person meant. And, mind you, English is my first language! What that means to me: I […]