A short history of Communicate! (1999-2018)
From Issue 1 in December 1999 to Issue 73 in October 2018 the AIIC webzine has published 530 articles, facilitating information on conference interpreting for people around the globe.
101 articles found:
From Issue 1 in December 1999 to Issue 73 in October 2018 the AIIC webzine has published 530 articles, facilitating information on conference interpreting for people around the globe.
Acceptance speech by Luigi Luccarelli upon receiving the Danica Seleskovitch Prize on 17 March 2018.
A dedication to multilingualism and lexical diversity cited in the award ceremony at ESIT in Paris.
Multilingual conferences with expert language interpretation foster participation and effective communication.
Testimonials, interviews, books and videos touching on the development of interpreting over the last 100 years occupy a place of distinction on the AIIC website.
These seemingly disparate topics have two things in common: both are needed and both have been examined often within AIIC.
We kick off this exploration of AIIC online publications with a review of articles on quality and new technologies.
Online video library aims to elucidate the intellectual processes that underlie interpreting and offer examples of how professionals go about their job. Does it live up to expectations?
Two AIIC members active in the ISO Working Group on Interpreting discuss new international standards in the works.
Athletes and others involved in the highly visible world of sport sometimes speak through interpreters and sometimes don’t. Who are the winners and losers?
Preparation is the invisible work that contributes to the success of meetings large and small – and one of the main reasons why interpreters are so often heard but not really noticed.
Linguists working in conflict zones and certain other contexts face various risks. Maya Hess believes that a paradigm shift in how translators and interpreters are perceived and treated is needed.
Don't throw professional values out the window when you're having a good time online.
This community-driven website is the place to go for any and all questions about spoken language translation.
A NATO staff interpreter for more than 20 years (and Senior Interpreter for fifteen), Chris is also co-director with Julia Poger-Guichot de Fortis of the “CCIC” – the Cambridge Conference Interpretati
A flawed procurement process, no proper dialogue with practitioners, and conflict of interest are just a few of the snags spotlighted in AIIC’s written statement on interpreting services under the Fra
Mastery of the medium leads to peak performance - and sometimes more.
Comparative study of interpreter-mediated interrogation introduced at Paris conference.
Interpreting is a creative act. Is improvisation part of the process?
AIIC activities and projects aim to help individual practitioners and the worldwide community of interpreters meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
Facebook and Twitter teams make cyberimpact in first year
What drives AIIC’s new president? What does she see as the main challenges facing our profession today? What would she like to accomplish in her 3-year mandate? We delved into these and other matters in a recent talk with Linda.
The data has been processed and up-to-date pictures of how, where and how much AIIC members work are now available.
The Language Industry: it’s a term we can’t escape but exactly what does it mean? I’ve started to wonder to what extent practitioners are really a part of it. And if we are, what role do we have – lead, supporting cast or bit players?
Books in translation and videos about translation, podcasts on language and articles about interpreting, plus AIIC voices in the social media await just a click away.
When I read that the Westminster MA Conference Interpreting course had been shut down, I was struck dumb. Should I offer my condolences to all who had worked hard to make it a premier choice among post-grad interpreter training programs? Or should I feel vicariously relieved that a group of hard-working colleagues would no longer have to deal with bureaucrats incapable of grasping the import of what they were doing?
We begin with research on the origins of language and end with how improvisation is mirrored in the brain. In between we explore campaigns in defense of professional rights, endangered languages, linguistic roadblocks, and blogs from interpreters.
Our searchlight shines on the controversy surrounding certification, books, webcasts, blogs and apps, and much more in the wide world of words.
You’re nearing the end of the morning session and you feel good, even optimistic. Lunch is welcome and you follow it with a coffee, not that you feel in need of a pick-me-up, but it certainly won’t hurt. Then back to the booth, where an hour later it hits you with a sucker-punch: your eyes sag, a fog envelops your mind. That old nemesis - jet lag - is back with a vengeance.
A spate of web watching and our band of LIN irregulars have uncovered stories on EULITA, a Nuremberg interpreter speaking out, a campaign against the blight of office-speak, language workers demanding recognition, and literary translation.
Freelancers often don’t think of getting sick until they do. When one is taking those first tentative steps in the profession, health matters seem at worst a short-term inconvenience – get a cold, get over it, get back to work. But if you’re planning to make a career of freelancing, a long-term view is needed.
In this issue we highlight another interpreter casualty in Afghanistan, insight into how language may affect thought, a radio program on language and culture, and a growing need for foreign language education.
Do you know how much you work? Not just the number of days you bill, but how much of your time is actually dedicated to all things related to work? Let’s look into it.
We’re back with videos and radio programs by and about interpreters, books translated and sometimes not distributed, and opinions about how new communication technologies are reshaping our gray matter.
An interpreter is an interpreter is an interpreter. The proliferation of titles and categories is often nothing more than a marketing ploy - create a niche and occupy it. Employers play the game too, searching for ways to corner markets and cut expenses. What's a freelancer to do?
Let's take a look at markets - their size, potential, components and rankings - and speculate about the role of freelance interpreters. Along the way we visit some ideas on how language shapes the way we think, a new gadget, and paying attention to enhance quality of life.
Murky concepts of business overpower clear thinking in this business-dominated world. No, I'm not about to rant about blind faith in the rationality of markets; rather let's try to apply a smidgeon of rationality to the business of making a living as a freelance interpreter.
Is the good work of interpreters ever recognised? What do Anfillo, Bung and Hoti have in common? Will learning a language contribute to healthy senior years? What is left after you've read the OED? So much to learn and so little time!
A conversation with a veteran Chinese/English interpreter about biculturalism, discovering one's vocations in life, conference interpreting and teaching.
Freelance interpreting: Career move or temporary fix for hard times? Gateway to participation in the major debates of our age or a permanent seat on the sidelines? Dream or nightmare? Right for you or not?
Mr. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former Foreign Minister of Germany, assiduously promoted the use of languages in international discourse. In the opening ceremony of the 2009 AIIC Assembly in Nice (France)
Videos, various ways to visualize language, a Brussels recruitment campaign and follow-up to past postings are just a click away.
Are you fed up with finding the hackneyed headline "Lost in Translation" atop every media report vaguely related to language? I am. How far has this plague spread? I googled the catchphrase and came up with 3.8 million references. Food for thought.
Radio, press, films and books are on display in this tour of the Internet. Borges and translation, an interview with a former interpreter in Iraq, and a recent documentary on two scientists traveling in search of disappearing languages are just some of the offerings.
Nobody likes to wait and nobody really enjoys a waiting room. I'm sitting in one next to a man pointedly punching the keys of a sleek handheld wireless device. I'm curious and tempted; my cell phone only handles calls and text messages on its tiny black and white screen. It's starting to look like a hand-me-down.
We offer you pages on language diversity and cooperation in South America and northern Europe, official multilingualism in a growing EU, a video from Afghanistan, and controversy surrounding a trial in the USA, plus an introduction to interpreter websites not about interpreting.
Worldwide ramblings on translation/interpretation as a profession, the conundrum of interpreting in situations/zones of conflict, craft in a commercialized world, and censorship run rampant. Read now before sites are blocked!
AIIC has chosen professional secrecy as a subject for special discussion at its next assembly. There may be a lot of time before we meet in Nice in January 2009, but to lubricate our mental gears for the run-in, let's take a look at websites with something to say about ethics and interpreting in general.
Let's get one thing clear: I have no problem recognising that people - and interpreters are clearly people - work to make money. In fact, I think it is so evident that it doesn't need repeating. I prefer to take the proposition a step further: interpreters are often underpaid.
Translators and interpreters as literary creations, language and identity, how to read a translation, what email and interpreting have in common, freelance writers on strike, and Chinese slogans for a score of situations.
I'm at work: a spacious booth at the UN Conference Center in Bangkok. The door behind me opens onto an internal hallway, another entrance separating our area from the public space outside. Before me a desk-to-ceiling window allows for a good view of the room while providing acoustic isolation.
An Internet search for interpreter + conflict renders more results than one might expect, and in turn makes one wonder why such bounty should be unexpected these days. Here is a selection of what I found.
What can we infer from the ways in which others talk about translation and interpretation? Here are a few thoughts on some common misperceptions and clichés.
Radio and video, interviews with interpreters, translation in the media, and a featured author are all just a click away.
The purpose of an inter-regional meeting is discovery. AIIC funds are used to help members travel great distances in order to meet with colleagues they might not otherwise get to know. Examination of the usual list of pressing issues acquires greater depth of field with new participants from multiple cultures. You look around the room and you realize there is no majority, only various minorities contributing on an equal basis. It's a perfectly comfortable setting for an interpreter.
L'AIIC a édicté des normes professionnelles, consciente de ce que les conditions de travail ont une incidence sur la qualité - et donc sur la communication. Dans les années 70, l'association a collaboré avec l'UE et l'ISO à l'élaboration de normes techniques, tant pour les cabines fixes que pour l'équipement électro-acoustique (ISO 2603), puis a étendu sa collaboration aux cabines transportables (ISO 4043). L'AIIC a ensuite poursuivi ses efforts de définition et promotion de la qualité en finançant des projets tels que l'Etude sur la Charge de travail (Work Load Study, en anglais seulement) . Cette préoccupation collective en faveur de la qualité est également ressentie par bien des membres, ce qui peut prendre une tournure parfois inattendue.
The speaker’s role in multilingual communication, news from the EU, recent research, and interpreters as fictional characters are on the roll call.
These days all enquiries regarding work reach me by email. This might not be the case if I lived in a European or North American meeting metropolis, but living in Asia, my phone is quieter and the answering machine long retired. It's positive that individual interpreters can make themselves more visible on the Internet (e.g. through the AIIC directory), but what to do when the result is a feeler from an unknown source?
Around and around it goes - taking you to language resources that too few know.
I have always thought that if I can see something in my mind's eye, I'll be able to describe it. Or in another sense, if I can see what a speaker is saying, I'll be able to interpret it. My orientation is acutely visual, although I will say that certain places have imprinted an olfactory rather than a visual image. But I haven't yet found a use for smell in my interpreting practice while I have for visualization.
I’ve seen it year after year. A pall of wintry worry and agitation settles over the interpreting community almost before anyone has realized that the holidays are no longer so recent nor the break from work so restful. Projects are in danger of going missing in inaction. Anxiety sets out its mirrors reflecting only itself ad infinitum: When will offers of work start arriving? Is the phone broken? Has AIIC mail lost my messages? Should I be more pro-active or less pushy? I call it February Syndrome. Fortunately, February is the shortest month of the year!
From 1999 to 2000 – just one short year - the number of new members admitted to AIIC doubled (from roughly 75 to about 150), and since then the annual figure has remained substantially above 100. That means that some 700 colleagues have swelled the ranks of the association since the turn of the century. Communicate!, in collaboration with VEGA, decided to interview some of our newest members during assembly week. Here’s what we heard.
Facts, figures and photos from Brussels and beyond
The assembly comes around only every third year. AIIC conference interpreter traveling to Brussels for the 2006 event will have many activities to choose from.
I've found renewed energy in my work by examining a factor that had been a source of frustration: the rise of global English and the subsequent decrease of work in the English booth.
This documentary portrays the day-to-day working lives of four generations of conference interpreters.
Monitor language trends and endangered languages, refresh you knowledge of how English developed, and get a glimpse of interpreters who participated in historical events.
A look at the International Association of Conference Interpreters through statistics.
Does an interpreter know a little about a lot, but a lot about nothing? Is he a jack-of-all-trades and master of none?
Interpreters want to keep up with world event but the big question is – how do they manage to? I asked a few and here are their answers.
Training opportunities abound and AIIC groups and regions are more involved than ever before.
Information on hyperpolyglots, the translation of humor, the roots of alfalfa and algebra, those not-always-innocent shifts in usage and the rise and fall of language.
Find out who has published memoirs, why top prizes can’t be awarded, and what rats, monkeys and humans have in common.
Standards and principles underlie all professions. Translation and interpreting are not exceptions.
A miscellaneous selection of news on language trends and events from around the world.
There is no need to make minute distinction between working in a booth inside a conference hall or television studio, or doing consecutive for a negotiation, a dinner speech or an individual in whatever setting. It's all interpreting.
Updates on endangered languages and community interpreting, a day in the life of an EU interpreter and tidbits on this interpreting life.
Interpreters know that thought is not always linear and well organized. How often we encountered a chaotic speaker who never makes a full stop before turning right, left or perhaps full-circle … and then speeding off again!
EU enlargement and it's ramifications, intangible heritage, dragomans, and Hollywood movies with interpreters all make their way onto this issue's honor role.
Mastery of the medium leads to peak performance - and sometimes more.
A look at what is being said around the world about language use, translation and interpreting.
Translation and interpretation are about about context, message, sense; it's not just a matter of words.
Recalling our history should move from celebrating notable achievements to defending all translators and interpreters who face problems today.
Interpreters often go unnoticed but to what extent is that a good thing?
This issue revolves around the senses – how we use them, how we can take care of them, even how we might go beyond them in difficult situations.
Ever wonder what conference interpreters read in their leisure time? Here's a sample across four continents.
Many would say that one’s 50s is hardly the prime of life, but those who have passed the half-century mark would hardly agree. AIIC started to celebrate its birthday a bit early – it won’t officially turn fifty until November – with the recent assembly in Porto - and except for a few squeaky joints, showed that maturity has its advantages.
These web sites offer interesting pieces on translation, interpretation and other language-related issues.
The AIIC webzine enters its third year with feature articles on workplace research and renewed energy to inform the interpreter community.
A short review of Conference Interpreting: Principles and Practice by Valerie Taylor-Bouladon , with an excerpt from the book.
This snapshot of AIIC consultant interpreter groups shows organisational variety within a context of common goals and practices.
How interpreters organize on the private market, what staff interpreters are up to, and a bit of humor featured in this issue of the AIIC webzine.
A quick look at the US-based National Writers Union website shows how one group of fellow freelancers is defending legitimate intellectual property rights in the information age.
Training is essential to the interpreting profession. Learn more about what the AIIC Training Committee does.
A conversation about research and conference interpreter training.
Technology, new business models, globalization - all are part of the challenge that professional associations such as AIIC face today.
Interpreting the Internet is a monthly service aimed at helping AIIC members get the most out of the Internet. This month, we're offering some thoughts on your choice of a starting point for surfing the Web
After reading this issue's interviews, do you want to know more about what is going on in the world of translator and interpreter training?