Chartered Institute
of Linguists

NEWS & VOICES

Category:
Blog

By Karine Chevalier-Watts MCIL CL

I became a self-employed translator and language teacher in 2011 when I created a small language services business in Wiltshire, offering teaching, translating and interpreting services in various languages to local small businesses and private individuals. However, as I started receiving more and more enquiries for certified translations and for more...

Published on Wednesday, 11 January 2023 - 4:07pm
Category:
Blog
Category:
CIOL Voices

But where are you from? 

Where are you really from? 

Yes, but where were you born? 

I mean where did you grow up? 

Yes, but where are you originally from?

If you happen to be a person that was born in one country, moved to another, and was raised in a third, with parents from different cultures or countries, you know the struggle. If you happen to...

Published on Tuesday, 3 January 2023 - 4:54pm
Category:
CIOL Voices
Category:
The Linguist

When we hear about fixers for the media, it is often about supporting foreign journalists in conflict zones. However, another area of the media that makes extensive use of bilingual fixers is TV (and radio) coverage of sports events. This can represent a rich opportunity for work and memorable experiences for linguists – especially if, like me, you’re also a sports fan.

A translator and...

Published on Friday, 23 December 2022 - 10:14am
Category:
The Linguist
Category:
The Linguist

Bokani Hart considers how language gaps are impeding the UN’s peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo.

Once again, the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are on a knife edge. And, once again, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) is in the firing line for allegedly not doing enough to protect civilians from the armed groups that have...

Published on Wednesday, 14 December 2022 - 11:49am
Category:
The Linguist
Category:
Blog

By Mark Thompson

The call came out of the blue in November 2015, when I was least expecting it. Thrown in at the deep end, I literally became a linguistic services project manager overnight.

First interpreter called in to the site of a mining dam disaster in southeastern Brazil, to assist English speaking executives and specialists flying in from all around the globe, I very...

Published on Wednesday, 7 December 2022 - 4:31pm
Category:
Blog
Category:
CIOL Voices

It was two years ago that I took my final leave of CIOL’s offices in Fleet Street, caught my last commuter train home and entered what the French call “le troisième âge”, the successor to childhood and a working adult life.

So what is life as a retired linguist really like? Well, the retired bit is easy – newfound time to read, an abundance of hours spent cycling, days out, art...

Published on Tuesday, 6 December 2022 - 5:02pm
Category:
CIOL Voices
Category:
The Linguist

The sports journalist and broadcaster explains how his knowledge of French, German, Spanish and Mandarin gives him the edge in a brutal industry.

Could you tell us a bit about your language background, Chris?

Well, it’s pretty unremarkable actually, John. I’d have loved to have been raised bilingually, or had a parent from another country, but they were both British and there...

Published on Wednesday, 30 November 2022 - 10:55am
Category:
The Linguist
Category:
Blog

Lots of people need to take periods of time off work to care for their children or, increasingly, a vulnerable parent. In some cases, this can be a significant career break. When someone has had a lengthy break from work it can be more difficult than you might think to restart a career.

Yet, people returning to work can have a significant impact on the economy. PWC recently reported...

Published on Tuesday, 29 November 2022 - 4:05pm
Category:
Blog
Category:
News

The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) offers degree courses and language short courses in 18 languages of the region. The school’s research is supported by the SSEES Library, one of the major research libraries covering the whole of the Central and East European region and Russia.

PROLang, is a newly established research group in the school, which supports and...

Published on Wednesday, 23 November 2022 - 4:46pm
Category:
News
Category:
Blog

“There is something you should understand about the way I work. When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go.” These words were famously uttered by Nanny McPhee. 

Published on Thursday, 17 November 2022 - 1:51pm
Category:
Blog