A blog about translation, writing and language in all its glorious aspects
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has published a survey calling for more training in foreign languages to help boost British exports. The BCC calls for: the National Curriculum to be revised so that studying a foreign language is compulsory until AS level additional financial incentives such as tax credits for small and medium-sized businesses …
Continue reading “Language learning matters. Word of the British Chambers of Commerce.”
In my last post, I gave some tips on “How to Be a Good Translator”. Good translators (editors, web designers, accountants, insert profession of your choice) tend to be even better when they’re working with good clients. The tips listed below (from my website article How to Be a Good Client) were written with translation …
I’m glad the UK government and big businesses have got the work experience issue sorted out. (Very briefly: businesses can offer unemployed young people unpaid work experience, during which the youngsters continue to receive their unemployment benefits. After protests claiming that the scheme amounted to unpaid forced labour, and criticism of the government’s threat of …
Continue reading “Work experience schemes. Not just for big business”
Yesterday’s post was about publishing fees on your website. I’ve had my say, now it’s your turn. Take our poll and let us know what you think! (Or — especially if you select “Other” — tell us in the comments). By Marian Dougan
After much humming and hawing, I’ve finally taken the plunge and published my fees on my website. I know that many translators and other small-business owners prefer not to do so. Some say that as they provide a service, not a product, their fees are not — should not be? — easily quantifiable. Others feel …
Word geeks like translators and editors are always wittering on about poor translations or badly written web material being bad for business, because they make a company look sloppy or unreliable. Well, I saw this belief in action during our recent trip to Lisbon. We needed to hire a car, and I asked my 16-year-old daughter, …
Continue reading “Want to look trustworthy? Write it right.”
As you’ll know if you’ve visited this blog in the last month or so, the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Glasgow University is threatened by drastic funding cuts. There’s been a temporary reprieve, in that the decision has been postponed until after the Scottish elections. Michael Russel, the Scottish Education Minister, called for a moratorium on …
Continue reading “Saving Modern Languages at the University of Glasgow”
The Institute of Translation and Interpreting, in association with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation (DGT), is hosting a full day’s conference in early April for both freelance translators and translation companies interested in bidding for DGT translation contracts. The aim is to demystify the tendering process (which seems daunting but is by no means the …
Continue reading “Linguists for the EU: the market ain’t working”
One of the messages I try to convey to school pupils when I talk to them about language learning is that languages are relevant and might actually help them in later life. So I was delighted to read about a study (by Panos Athanasopoulos of Newcastle University, and others) on how language affects the way we see …
Continue reading “Yet another business case for teaching the language love”
I recently spent 2 days interpreting in Birmingham for an Italian delegation from Italia Lavoro and Regione Marche. They were here to find out more about the work being done by Sue Veszpremi’s Employer Engagement team at Jobcentre Plus to help the long-term unemployed back into employment. Wonderful work, in my opinion – Mr. Osborne, please don’t …
Continue reading “Blowing the nation’s trumpet: languages and public diplomacy (1)”