Happy Linguist

You should learn a language because...

2012-10-26T08:00:00.000+01:00

❝Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.❞
‒Oliver Wendell Holmes

Guest Post - Undergraduate Degrees in Translation

2012-10-12T08:00:00.000+01:00

From my time spent working in the translation industry, I am well aware of the negative perceptions that exist in regard to translation degrees. They’re hugely expensive (three detailed below each add up to £27,000 over three years), and for such a massive amount of money it has been questioned just how much you get out of them. A common argument is that once you have the language skills – perhaps gained instead from the seemingly more logical route of a straight language degree – what else worthwhile is there to learn that warrants such a huge burden in terms of time and finances?

There are many who disagree with the above sentiments, however, which I’ve been made particularly aware of since taking up my new role at London Translation Agency. I have the pleasure of interacting with translators and interpreters more closely than I did at sister agency Quick Lingo, giving me the chance to hear in more detail about their experiences. A significant proportion of linguists we work with in their 20s are graduates of undergraduate translation-related degrees, some of whom I’ve had the chance to talk to about their experiences good and bad. In about half of these examples, the translators have gone on to do relevant master’s degrees and have cited their undergraduate degrees as beneficial preludes at the very least.

I have detailed five of the degrees I’ve heard first-hand and second-hand accounts about from professional linguists. All are four-year courses if you include the either highly recommended or compulsory third year working abroad in a country where a student’s language of choice is spoken.

Cardiff University – Translation BA

I’ve heard good things about the master’s degrees on offer in various elements of translation at Cardiff, but last year was the first time they taught an undergraduate course that a few associates of our translators experienced. Students are required to undertake the course in conjunction with a major language and a minor language (yes – it can be Welsh!), studying a broad overview of translation theory, principles and methods. The Politics and History modules that the course combines are apparently very interesting, if not wholly relevant to a career in translation.

Aston University – Translation Studies BSc (Hons)

Aston is another university that is without a doubt serious in dedicating energy and resources to translation and interpreting degrees. A total of six are available that enables a student to study French, German or Spanish as their main language or combine the two of them. A 90% satisfaction rate pretty much mirrors accounts I’ve heard about the courses, again offering a range of modules ranging from detailing specialised types of translation to advice on starting out in the translation industry.

University of Surrey – Translation BA (Hons)

Guildford’s close proximity to London has made these courses combining two major languages quite popular with international students. The second year does genuinely allow you to build further on language skills rather than taking the emphasis too far away from linguistics, as can be the case with some degrees. High-tech facilities available allowing students to put their studies into practice have received rave reviews, although the undisputed highlight of the course for most is the placement year that offers opportunities to work at major firms overseas including EDF and Volkswagen.

University of East Anglia – Translation and Interpreting with Double Honours Language BA (Hons)

If anything, these three courses (Japanese and French, Spanish and French, Spanish and Japanese) serve more as language degrees than translation degrees, not that that is necessarily a bad thing even for a budding translator. By the time the fourth year comes around where the proper focus on translation and interpreting really starts, students will have reached a level of proficiency in their chosen languages that makes the modules a natural progression, rather than bringing them in too early before they are at an ultra-advanced stage with their language.

University of Westminster – Translation BA (Hons)

Nothing in terms of course content makes Westminster’s three BA translation degrees stand out particularly, although having Mandarin as one of the three main language options alongside French and Spanish does make that degree one of the few undergraduate courses to specialise in such a currently in-demand language translation-wise. As with the degrees at Cardiff, part-time learning options are available.

Robert Davies is Editorial Executive at London Translation Agency.

http://www.london-translation-agency.co.uk/

You should learn a language because...

2012-10-05T08:00:00.000+01:00

❝You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.❞
‒Geoffrey Willans

You should learn a language because...

2012-09-28T08:00:00.000+01:00

❝Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.❞
‒Rita Mae Brown

European Day of Languages

2012-09-26T08:00:00.000+01:00

Did you know that today is the European Day of Languages?

Join in the fun marking the 10th anniversary of the the EU's celebration of linguistic diversity. Europe is rich in languages and language learning can open the door to many opportunities - even if all you want to do is use a few phrases while on holiday!

The European Day of Languages website can be found here.

Find out why the European Day of Languages is so important
Evaluate your own language skills
Learn some interesting language facts
Try a quiz to test your knowledge about different aspects of language

❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela

Work experience that will help your translation career

2012-07-27T08:00:00.000+01:00

Not so long ago I received an e-mail asking for some advice and it just got me thinking about the challenges facing new translators making that jump from student to professional. The enquiry was along the following lines:

I’m a second year student studying German and Spanish and hope to work in translation once I graduate. Do you have any advice on summer jobs or work placements that would help me to improve translation skills before I head off on my year abroad?

To be honest, while this student might have expected some information about possible translation opportunities, my advice was that he should spend the summer working in a non-translation environment and although that might sound strange, here's my reasoning.

At this stage students don’t need to focus so much on language skills. During the year abroad students develop their language skills more than they can ever imagine possible, so over the summer it’s enough to keep up their language skills by reading, watching and listening to stuff in their foreign languages – and by the end of second year they should be doing that anyway!

Neither do they need to worry about their translation skills. During their 3rd and 4th years their translation technique will get better anyway, helped along by peers and tutors - especially if they do translation classes at university during their 3rd year abroad, because many European T&I courses have a different focus from that of Heriot Watt and they'll have the chance to learn heaps of great stuff related to different translation styles, CAT tools, linguistics and so on.

BUT if they want to work professionally in translation when they graduate they need to specialise! Freelance translators get work because they are subject specialists - they are technical translators or legal translators or specialise in marketing or biotechnology etc. The biggest challenge after leaving university is that students are language specialists but unless they have come from a previous career or have studied another subject in depth, they're not subject specialists, and that’s what makes the transition from student to professional difficult.

That doesn't mean they need to be a technician or a lawyer or a biochemist but it does mean they need to know about their chosen speciality - and that's where the summer job comes in! So students who want to work as translators should start to think about the type of translation that might interest them professionally (their specialist subject) and try and get a summer job in that area so that they can start to build up their specialist knowledge. (The process never really stops for the professional translator.)

So for example, if you want to get into technical translation, a summer job working in an engineering firm's office would be a bonus. It might not have the same allure as teaching kids at summer camp in the south of France. While it might seem that you’re wasting the summer making tea and photocopying, you are actually learning industry-related terminology, finding out how the industry works, who your clients might be, what sort of documents they might need to translate, you’re learning about document types, genres and linguistic style, you’re creating networking opportunities - exactly the things you'll need when working professionally.

For students in today’s economic climate career planning has to start early, and being a passionate linguist is only half the battle. You need to take practical steps that will make you stand out from the crowd so that you are the freelancer of choice for a particular translation job. Developing a translation specialism is a step in the right direction and getting the right summer job is a good way to achieve this.

(This blog post was recently posted on Heriot Watt University's lifeinlincs blog.)

Don't Feed the Monkeys!

2012-07-02T08:00:00.000+01:00

Due to the prevalence of low-cost translations providers, we often hear the phrase “If you pay peanuts you get monkeys”. While it is true that such providers tend to pay well below the rate a professional translator would accept, and turn out work well below the quality a professional would expect, I can’t help thinking that the translation profession has, to a certain extent, only itself to blame. In other words “Don’t Feed the Monkeys”. Let me explain why.

The basic law of supply and demand means that there will always be someone willing to do translations on the cheap. This will always be in the form of “translators” with no credentials or training who are looking for a quick buck, students, people who are “doing a bit of translation on the side” while they look for a “proper job”, people who live in countries where the cost of living is considerably lower than in Europe or North America etc.

One solution is simply not to accept this type of work. Ask for decent rates and look for clients who appreciate translation as a profession. Personally I feel that a professional job deserves a professional wage, after all I haven’t spent years at university for nothing. I haven’t invested time and money into my business just for fun. In short, I expect to be paid for my professional service.

In reality it isn’t that easy and that’s why I think part of the problem is actually caused by the translation industry per se. A fundamental problem is that the profession is largely dominated by translation agencies who rely on freelancers. That allows agencies to pick the “best” translators, which is logical because that produces the best results and generates the greatest income. In doing so however, agencies tend to wash their hands of any responsibility for the development of the profession.

Unlike accountancy, for example, the translation profession does not involve a defined career path such as in-house mentoring and training leading to a recognised, professional qualifications. Until agencies see their role as something more than “language service providers” there will always be a core group of agencies looking for a cheap fix.

The issue though is rooted in the nature of the profession. A new translator can cope with sending out hundreds of CVs to agencies who never bother to reply, with endless requests to complete test translations or application forms, with agencies who want 5 years translation experience or even with an NGO who wants volunteer translators to have 2 years translation experience as long as they can afford to do so. The problem is that entry into the profession is so difficult and drawn out that some new translators have no alternative but to accept peanuts!

The translation profession needs to accept that it itself passively encourages low-price agencies to operate because it makes it so difficult for new translators to break into the profession often leaving them no alternative but to earn peanuts. If you’re going to feed the monkeys peanuts, is it any surprise that they’ll eat them?

3 Great Reads on Spanish Society

2012-06-18T08:00:00.000+01:00

A vital part of the skill in translating comes from the translator’s ability to understand cultural references in the source text and transmit them accurately in the target text. These cultural references come in many forms: historical facts, comments about political parties or individual politicians or references to music, art and other forms of popular culture. This knowledge helps the translator avoid embarrassing mistakes which could change the meaning of the text or even worse, cause insult to the reader.

Yet how do you develop a knowledge of culture? One way is to spend time living in the country - not just a holiday - but real time spent in daily activities with real people. Working with them, watching their TV, reading their literature and spending your spare time with them. Enjoying their downtime and even feeling their frustrations as the most simple task becomes a bureaucratic nightmare!

If you want to capture the essence of Spain and Spanish society you can do it by reading some excellent books on the topic. Here are my favourite 3 books on Spain - they aren’t academic texts, but they are all very readable and extremely interesting! Spain by the horns is a more light-hearted read but all 3 books make fascinating reading.

The New Spaniards, John Hooper, Penguin Books 2^nd edition, 2006

Ghosts of Spain, Giles Temlett, Faber and Faber, 2007

Spain by the horns, Tim Elliott, Summersdale, 2007

Hope you enjoy reading them too!

Egressive and ingressive airflows

2012-06-16T08:00:00.000+01:00

All speech sounds are formed by some movement of air. In European languages for example, the air flows outwards from the lungs and through the oral cavity (egressive airflow) but in some African languages certain sounds are articulated by sucking air (ingressive airflow).

Homophones

2012-05-22T08:00:00.000+01:00

When two different words have the same pronunciation they are known as homophones. They can be spelt differently (for example air and heir) or have different functions ( for example bear as a verb and bear as a noun).

Congratulations Noam Chomsky

2012-05-21T08:00:00.000+01:00

A few days ago it was announced that the respected linguist and political activist Professor Noam Chomsky is to receive an honorary degree from Scotland's oldest university, St Andrews.

Chomsky is one of the most respected linguists of modern times - and his ideas have shaped linguistic theory and fuelled the fire of linguistic discussion for over 50 years. For example, his exploration of language acquisition in children has led to heated debates about whether or not humans have innate language learning abilities (universal grammar) which facilitate acquisition.

You can love his ideas or hate his ideas, but you definitely have to admire him! Congratulation!

Scottish Government wants children to learn 2 foreign languages - better late than never!

2012-05-18T08:00:00.000+01:00

“The world is changing rapidly and radically and the Government has a duty to ensure that Scottish schools prepare young people so they can flourish and succeed in the globalised, multi-lingual world we now live in. One indisputable aspect of modern life is that more people travel widely for jobs and leisure and we must respond accordingly; we will not be as successful as a country and economy if we remain essentially a mono-lingual society."

Congratulation to the Scottish Government for finally catching up!

Today's announcement from Minister for Learning Alasdair Allan is a welcome one even though it is a bit late! The Scottish Government has finally adopted a plan to try and help school children learn two foreign languages, one of which should start when children are in Primary 1.

As his statement goes on to mention, the EU suggests that member states should encourage citizens to adopt a 2+1 approach to language learning- two foreign languages + native language - so that they can function in a multilingual Europe where labour markets are fluid and ever-changing.

The only problem is that this goal was set by the EU back in 2002! Now I don't want to be one of those people who try and turn every positive into a negative, but the proposal is hardly ground-breaking and comes at a time when language education in Scotland - and indeed in the whole UK - is in an appalling state.

As we grapple to rebuild the economy and guarantee prosperity for future generations, we have a largely monolingual population with poor communication skills and a general ignorance of European culture and affairs, never mind Chinese, Indian or Brazilian culture. If we can’t already communicate with Europe how can we begin to communicate with developing economic powers?

As usual, the policy is too little too late. Instead of investing a small fortune into Gaelic education (for a language which was never the language of Scotland as a whole) the Scottish Government should have spent it on modern foreign language education. When we have a nation that can communicate with the outside world then we can afford the luxury of learning minority languages like Gaelic. Don’t get me wrong, we should protect minority languages, but we also need to establish our priorities.

So well done Scottish Government, a step in the right direction, albeit a few steps behind the rest of Europe!

EU Translation Memory - Available to Everyone

2012-05-15T07:00:00.000+01:00

Did you know that you can download the European Union's translation memory?

This is is biggest parallel corpus in existence covering the 22 official languages of the EU and the entire body of EU legislation, known as the Acquis Communautaire.

This body of text is useful if you are translating texts related to European institutions or legislation; checking translation consistency across several languages; testing your own CAT tools or building up your own TM's. Given the huge range of subjects covered by EU legislation it can be a fantasic source of standard terminology helping you in your research to build glossaries

It can be found at: http://langtech.jrc.it/DGT-TM.html

Thanks for visiting!

2012-05-08T19:27:00.002+01:00

Today I'm pleased to say that I have a blog post published in the online version of the Guardian newspaper. Despite a great demand for qualified linguists in the UK the job marker remains tough and getting the job (and indeed career) you dream of can take a lot of hard work, as well as tears and frustration. Then again you have to see it as a journey and not a one-way trip! (Sorry I hate that "journey" metaphor - it's very over-used!)

As you can see from the post I've recently started a new job so posts here on Happy Linguist have been a bit sparse this month - I can only apologise.

I've also had a blog post published on Heriot Watt University's lifeinlincs blog, written from a translator's perspective, please feel free to read and comment on that.

I hope to have some new and fresh blogs for you soon, so please bookmark the page and visit again soon!

Dentals

2012-05-05T08:00:00.000+01:00

A dental sound occurs when there is contact (or near contact) between the teeth and another articulator. For example in Spanish and most Romance languages the /t/ and /d/ sounds are produced by pressing the tip of the tongue against the top teeth. If the articulation is between the lip and the teeth, we call that a labiodental sound.

Time and Tense - English, what a wonderful language!

2012-04-20T08:00:00.001+01:00

The common idea of tense is often used to cover all forms of the verb in relation to both form and function and springs from different basic premises. Firstly most language learners think of verb formation and usage with the obvious relationship between tense and time. In fact in many languages, such as Spanish or French, time and tense are synonymous. Secondly, like many concepts in English grammar – such as avoiding split infinitives for example – the idea of tense develops from the historical approach of trying to harmonise English grammar with Latin grammar. This motivated grammarians to look for corresponding forms between “tenses” and many language learners do the same in an attempt to understand how English works.

In most cases, we would normally represent time by means of a timeline concept marking the past, the present and the future. While time is a universal concept, not all languages express time in the same manner. Linguists now make a distinction between tense and aspect. Tense is defined as the “absolute location of an event or action in time” and is generally marked by inflection in the form, in other words it can be considered as a grammatical form, while aspect “refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with respect to time.” [i]

While we might be accustomed to think of expressing time according to the past, the present and the future, it can be said that English only has two tenses – present tense and past (or non-present) tense since these are the only forms that show inflection:

John walks to work – Mary is ill (Present tense)

John walked to work – Mary was ill (Past tense)

As a general rule the third person singular of the present tense is inflected –s (I sing but she sings) and the past tense is usually formed by the stem + -ed (talk – talk +ed = talked.) English does not have a future tense in the sense of having an inflected form, equivalent to the French parlerai or Spanish hablaré but expresses the future in a variety of ways, such as by using constructions like will + infinitive or be going to + infinitive.

In the case of aspect, it is generally held that an action can be viewed as progressive (sometimes known as continuous), perfective or perfect progressive. Since this refers to the manner in which the verb is viewed or regarded, the question is how to teach this to an English language student since the differences are often slight, ambiguous or context dependant.

The formation of aspects is as follows:

The progressive aspect is formed by using the construction to be + verb + -ing : He is + sleep + -ing = he is sleeping

The perfective aspect is formed by using the construction to have + past participle :

He has + eaten = he has eaten

The perfect progressive aspect is formed by the construction to have been + verb + -ing :

He has been + sleep + -ing = he has been sleeping

Both tense and aspect can be combined in various ways to form the following paradigm:

	Simple	Progressive	Perfective	Perfect Progressive
Present	walk	am walking is walking are walking	have walked has walked	have been walking has been walking
Past	walked	was walking were walking	had walked	had been walking

From the above we can see the variation in verb forms and contrast their various uses. In general terms, the progressive aspect refers to something which is still in progress during a temporary period, such as a planned action. The perfective aspect links two events at different times, one of which is generally in the past, but the other may still be ongoing.

Thus:

John sleeps soundly (Present simple – states a general fact, John is not sleeping at this moment in time)

John is sleeping soundly (Present progressive – the action is ongoing, John is sleeping at this moment in time)

They have lived in Spain for five years (Present perfective – action started in the past and they are still living there at the present)

Peter had been walking the dog when he slipped (Past perfect progressive – he was in the process of walking the dog when another event took place, his phone rang)

Some textbooks will make the distinction between the two concepts, tense and aspect, while others will use the general term “tense” to cover all forms of the verb. This former option is chosen by Quirk et al in A Grammar of Contemporary English which differentiates between time, tense and aspect and deals with the simple present and the simple past together as tenses, before moving on to aspect, while Parrott’s Grammar for English Language Teachers follows the latter option.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Parrott, Martin (2000) Grammar for English Language Teachers Cambridge University Press

Quirk et al (1989) A Grammar of Contemporary English Longman, Essex 18^th edition

The Internet Grammar of English

[i] Both the definition of tense and aspect are taken from the Internet Grammar of English.

Profit before passion - what the ALS / MOJ fiasco teaches us!

2012-04-09T08:00:00.000+01:00

Very often freelance translators and interpreters are accused of being a little bit naïve when it comes to business – after all our passion is all about language and so that’s what we want to concentrate on. Yet it’s easy to forget that we are also in business – taking care of the accounts, advertising, marketing and much more. But what happens when the business becomes more important than the passion? Well the ALS fiasco is what happens.

If you don’t know what that’s about (have you recently been abducted by aliens??) let me explain. Applied Language Solutions (ALS), was a successful translation agency run by Gavin Wheeldon. Gavin, who appeared on Dragon’s Den and has a penchant for expensive cars, sold his company to Capita for megabucks. (There we have the first clue as to where his passion lies.) Anyway ALS won a contract from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to provide interpreting services to the police and court system in England.

ALS managed to do this by promising to cut costs while maintaining standards – something they could only hope to achieve by riding roughshod over the national framework arrangements for Public Service Interpreters and slashing rates of pay to such a low level that professional linguists would in some cases earn little more than the national minimum wage. Despite the fact that all the professional translation and interpreting bodies in the UK voiced their concern, and despite the fact that the majority of qualified interpreters refuse to work with ALS, the plan went ahead.

The result? Absolute chaos within the legal system – court cases have been adjourned, people have sat in jail cells waiting for an interpreter that never shows up and in some cases when the interpreter does manage to turn up – they either can’t actually speak English well enough to know what they are supposed to interpret or they have no knowledge of the process they are involved in!

Despite well documented evidence showing the MOJ agreement is a farce, ALS continue to claim that things are “getting better”; the Minister responsible, Crispin Blunt MP, does what a politician does best – stubbornly defend an unworkable policy while quoting incorrect figures about interpreters’ earnings; standards fall because professional interpreters will not work under such atrocious conditions and innocent people are being denied their basic legal right to a fair trial.

The lesson? ALS is a business, and Gavin Wheeldon has shown that his passion is not for language or linguistic excellence. He has made a bucket load of money by cashing in on the translation industry so that he can indulge his passion for fast cars and good luck to him if that’s what he’s worked for. But why do it on the backs of the very individuals who have helped you become what you are?

Those of us who work as linguists have a true passion for what we do. We know that we need to be good in business, but our main motivation is that we love what we do. Call me naïve but I’d rather put passion before business any day!

Will language skills help you stand out in the job market?

2012-04-02T08:00:00.000+01:00

That was the question posed by the Guardian newspaper in a Q & A Discussion that took place on Thursday 29 March. What resulted was a lively discussion that raised a lot of good points and highlighted some great career advice for language graduates. It's well worth a read, but here are a few points that came out:

The idea that the British are rubbish at languages is actually a bit of a myth. True, linguistic ability is not nearly as common as it should be in the population, but these discussions (and lots like them) demonstrate that there are some very capable linguists out there, and we're not just talking about holiday French, we're talking high levels of linguistic ability.

A language degree in itself is not enough for a career using languages. If you want a job where you are using your language skills as an integral part of the job you need other skills to complement your languages. That takes us to another point...

Universities that offer language degrees need to do more. Employers see language ability as an additional skill but still want graduates to be skilled in other areas. This is hugely frustrating for language grads. Maybe universities should offer more elective modules in topics such as marketing, business administration, engineering etc so that graduates can sell themselves more positively to potential employers.

And finally, one of my greatest pet hates - employers need to stop paying rubbish wages for language skills. If an employer truly values the language skills of their workforce they will pay a wage that reflects that. None of this nonsense about advertising for highly qualified staff for little more than the minimum wage. You do not just pick up a foreign language - it is learnt and it requires hard work over a long period of time.

Speak Proper English! - What a wonderful language is English!

2012-03-19T08:00:00.000+00:00

There is no doubt that language and language usage is a highly emotive subject which gives rise to many forms of debate. This is especially true when discussing the effect of language policy on the education of our children and whether or not schools should teach Standard English.

Standard English has been defined as the “variety of English which is usually used in print, and which is normally taught in schools and to non-native speakers of the language. It is also the variety spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts and other similar situations.” (Trudgill 2000:5) Standard English is only one of the many varieties of English found in Britain, and as the above quote suggests, it is the variety which has gained the prestige as being the “best” form of the language.

Although the concepts of “good” and “bad” English are questionable from a linguist’s point of view, for some sections of society they are seen as important markers of “good” and “bad” education and cannot be ignored. Many business leaders, employers and academics openly complain about the falling standards of written and spoken English, and the apparent inability of students, graduates and potential employees to use their own language “properly”. So while a linguist might accept that all forms of language are linguistically equal, that same linguist would not write an academic thesis in anything other than Standard English. Some sections of society are not interested in the linguistic value of such variety within the English language(s) but do want to see an adherence to Standard English.

Professor John Honey argues very passionately that Standard English should be taught by virtue of being the standard against which other varieties can be measured. He disagrees with what he calls the myth of “linguistic equality” (Honey 1997:6, 7) which would place Standard English on an equal footing with other varieties of English and states that students expect to be taught Standard English as the “correct” form of the language. (Honey 1997:199-201) If we accept that educational standards are to be maintained then there must be a means of measuring such standards and Honey’s arguments would seem logical.

Having acquired the status of being the acceptable form of the language within educational and higher social circles, schools should encourage the use of Standard English as a means of helping students achieve their future goals and aspirations by equipping them for greater academic and social mobility. To do any less would be to place an unnecessary obstacle in front of students that might endanger their chances in the future to compete either in the world of academia or employment. As Honey comments Standard English is not so much the possession of the privileged but rather the key to obtaining privilege. (Honey 1997:53) It could be argued that by focusing on the teaching of Standard English as the “best” form of English, we are in fact reinforcing negative stereotypes that promote those who use Standard English as being “educated” and of a better “class” within society.

The linguist Peter Trudgill claims that 88 percent of students do not use Standard English and by encouraging them to do so we are causing some form of psychological and social distress because we are trying to influence their inherent identity as individuals within a social group. (Trudgill 2000:200,201) In sociolinguistic terms, it is clear that there is a link between social class and language variation; the further up the “social ladder” a person goes the more standard their language, and conversely the further down the “social ladder” the more non-standard their language becomes.(Holmes 2001:133)

If a person is born, educated, lives and works in a geographical area where one of the non-standard varieties of English are used, why (or indeed when) does he or she need to use standard English when the vast majority of his peers, social circle or workmates use the same non-standard variety as he or she does? That person can function normally without having learnt Standard English. Following Trudgill’s previously mentioned argument, that person would be happy with their form of language since it forms part of his or her social and psychological identity.

Thus rather than imposing a standard form of language on the vast majority of the population who have no need for it, would it not be more productive to encourage non-standard forms of English? This would lead to a greater variety of language use, a richer linguistic culture and may even lead to some very exciting literary developments which would add depth to our linguistic and cultural heritage.

However, in the case of schooling can we really apply the same argument? Should education elevate the individual to greater things or bring them down to the lowest common denominator? Firstly, students increasingly desire social and economic mobility rather than feeling bound by social class or geographical location. They require an education that prepares them for that and at the moment that means leaning Standard English. That is what business leaders and employers want. Secondly, the more students learn the standard form the less it becomes associated with a particular social class and the related social stigmas associated with standard and non-standard forms would also change. Thirdly, at the level of school education students need a solid academic base from which they can develop. Only by teaching them a standard form of English can we really equip them for future study, which in some cases could include non-standard forms of English.

In conclusion, whether or not Standard English should be taught in schools depends on whether we examine the issue from an educational or a linguistic viewpoint. Honey, from the viewpoint of an educationalist is correct to expect that Standard English be taught in schools since it allows students to acquire the basic skills required for future success. We cannot escape the widely held perception that Standard English is “correct English”. However, his attacks on ideas such as linguistic equality are harsh and unnecessary. Linguists like Peter Trudgill have, from a linguistic point of view, correctly highlighted many sociolinguistic features of language which have opened up valuable fields of investigation.

Every craftsman begins by learning how to use the tools of their trade before moving on to bigger and better things and language is no different. Schools should teach Standard English as a variety of English suitable for formal situations, academic and economic progress. In doing so students would be equipped to face the realities of the economic and social demands of modern life. They would also have a solid foundation from which they could further explore the linguistic diversities of non-standard varieties.

Bibliography

Honey, J. (1997) Language is Power, The Story of Language and its Enemies. First edition. London, Faber.

Trudgill, P. (2000) Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society. Fourth edition. Harmondsworth, Penguin

Holmes, J. (2001) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Second edition. London, Longman.

Fortis and lenis

2012-03-09T08:30:00.000+00:00

Some consonants are perceived as being produced with more force than others. A fortis consonant (p, t, k) is thought to be articulated more strongly than the lenis consonants (b, d, g).

Minimal pairs

2012-02-24T08:30:00.000+00:00

Minimal pairs are pairs of words used to contrast phonemes - they are words where a single phoneme differs and this allows a comparison to be made. This helps establish a set of phonemes for a language.

Shortage of Language Skills - Is it time for employers to pay up or shut up?

2012-02-10T09:48:00.000+00:00

It seems that every week we either read a newspaper article or report bemoaning the poor language skills of graduates or the economic folly of failing to teach languages in schools. Old news I’m afraid - stop telling me what I already know and start telling me what you plan to do about it! Don’t get me wrong - I’m all in favour of businesses employing language graduates but at the end of the day employers need to get real and put their money where their mouth is!

Employers - If you really do value the abilities of linguists, if you pay language graduate a decent wage that reflects their skills you will attract high calibre candidates. Let me give you an example, using a job advert I saw recently:

Senior Payroll Specialist
Assigned for a defined area of responsibility. (France/Italy/Spain/Portugal)
To ensure timely processing of the monthly Payroll to Payment for respective area of responsibility

Education: Educated to standard grade equivalent
Languages: Good oral and written knowledge of English, Italian, French and Spanish.
Experience:
Two (2) years related experience in a computerized accounting environment preferably within a payroll function or finance
Solid understanding of and experience with ADP Payroll System and or other Payroll Systems i.e. ADP, VISMA, Datev, SAP
Good attention to detail.
Excellent IT and communication skills.
A willingness to learn and develop.

Here we have a vacancy that expects a candidate who is “educated to standard grade equivalent”, roughly the equivalent of GCSE’s to have a “good oral and written knowledge” of THREE foreign languages! Are you having a laugh?

Firstly, unless you were brought up in a household where those languages are commonly used, no-one educated to GCSE level has that degree of competency.

Secondly, most undergraduate courses teach TWO languages to a high level of competency and perhaps a third language as a minor subject of study. So how many potential applicants will this job have?

But surely the wage must be fantastic? The salary range is £17k - £20K, so a new start would more than likely start at the lower end of the pay scale - £17K. Shameless. How can this employer claim to offer a career to any of the job applicants? I used to earn £17k working in a call centre!

Part of the problem is that the employer needs to take a reality check. For example, payroll is not rocket science - believe me, if I can do it anyone can (and I have worked in payroll too!). After a month someone who has never done the job would be trained up. Compare that with a month of language instruction - how skilled would you be? It’s a point I’ve made before - it is far more effective to train a linguist to do a job (like payroll) than it is to take the job holder and train them to be a linguist! So the emphasis needs to move from the job (payroll) to the skills required (the languages) and the wages need to reflect that.

Employers need to drop this fantasy idea that language skills are something that you just “pick up”. To achieve a “good oral and written knowledge” of a foreign language the candidate may well have spent five years at secondary school studying the language to A level or Higher Grade standard; four years at university honing their language skills and cultural knowledge of the societies where those languages are spoken; time spent abroad living in a country where those languages are spoken; and after graduation they will have spent hours maintaining their language skills.

The investment made by a language graduate is just as strong as the dedication of a medical or engineering graduate. Why does the wage not reflect that? When employers start paying decent salaries to language graduates, students will start to see languages as viable subjects to study. Employers: Stop moaning about the lack of language skills and start showing that you value them! Quite frankly: Pay up or shut up!

Functional translation and translation technology: A clash in paradigms?

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000+00:00

Today I'm pleased to publish an English version of last months Guest Blog by Dr Elisa Calvo from the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, Spain. Dr Calvo is an experienced translator, lecturer and researcher.

No-one would deny that new translation related technologies are here to stay. Translation memories, automatic translation, auxiliary software and the internet are ever present in the activity of the professional translator.

As a teacher of translation, I try to equip students with the necessary professional skills for a future career in translation. As such I try to teach "translation" in the wider sense, not just conveying words from one language to another but to use text editors, management tools, translation memories and to develop relevant translation related documentation using the internet.

For almost three decades now the academic world of translation has enthusiastically embraced functionalist translation theories (e.g., Reiss, Vermeer, Nord, Holz-Mänttäri) precisely because it was a theoretical discourse that linked translation studies with the real life activity of professional translation. Functionalism is separated from previous translation study theories for two essential reasons: 1) it contextualises translation as a communicative act; and 2) it highlights the role played by translation in the context of the target text, which may or may not be the same as in the context of the source text. Šarčević (1997) explains: “The era of modern translation began when the translator was released from his/her commitment to reproduce the source text, thus ending the predominance of thus ending the predominance of retrospective translation and sheer fidelity to the source text”. As a consequence, translation is now considered as a process carried out with a target: to keep the recipient in mind.

With the acceptance of this paradigm a new role for the translator opens up, not as a static intermediary obsessed with the source text but as an active communicator. The translator analyses the text, its context, its difficulties and professional constraints in a critical way so as to decide the best strategies to apply to the translation. The translator can work openly, developing creative strategies to resolve these problems and produce a target text that fulfils its desired purpose. It is a job that moves away from traditional methods of literal translation. At times the translator decides to adapt and expand the information, on other occasions they decide to omit information or reformulate a paragraph, create new sentences or join together existing ones.

The students in my third year translation lectures come well prepared. They can offer a critical analysis of the translation process so as to better convey the desired function of the text. If I give them a single text but set it in three different communicative frameworks (with the goal of producing three different target texts with different communicative purposes) they can apply different strategies so that each translation is different. However, there is something that doesn't quite fit. Once they have developed an ability for critical analysis we introduce them to the use of computer assisted translation tools, where as you know translation units are created according to punctuation signs. We return to a micro-textual view of the text based on individual sentences. By asking them to concentrate solely on segments in the original text they move away from a global and more functionalist view of the text. The student concentrates on overcoming the technical difficulties of the translation tool and leaves in second place the process of being a translator. A sense of obedience to the source text (literal translation) returns and the student looses the confidence they had achieved to make critical and creative decisions about the translation.

Is functionalist translation theory compatible with the technical realities of present day professional translation? From my perspective it's not only compatible but necessary. But it requires a specific training adaptation.

IT skills cannot be taught in isolation from the translation process: 1) both skills should be integrated in teaching so that the student does not separate the two processes. Translation should be done with computer assisted translation tools rather than just learning about how translation memories work. Theoretical decisions would be more realistic and the handling of the tools would be more expert if they replicated the challenges faced by the professional translator. 2) the student should learn the basics of project management. This will not only help them in their professional development but will teach them not to lose sight of the bigger picture and the overall communicative purpose of each translation project. 3) the student should learn to identify the functional variations of each element of a translation project, moving beyond the words found in the translation memory to understand what function each segment plays in the overall function of the text. Is the segment the title of a manual? Is it a software command? Is the text part of a software help file? The same segment might require several translations according to the context even when the translation memory tells us differently. 4) the student should know revision strategies, which again, help them to tackle the project from a general perspective which can be lost during the computerised translation process.

In conclusion, it is not possible to translate without computers and neither is it possible to learn to translate without them. This reality requires a training adaption. This implies a new application of consolidated functionalist theories and a focus which helps the future translator understand that their role is as necessary and as critical as ever, given that they have to adapt different strategies to different projects.

Sarcevic, S. (1997): New Approach to Legal Translation, The Hague/London/Boston, Kluwer Law

International.

Fricatives

2011-12-28T08:30:00.000+00:00

This sound is produced (or realised if we are to use the technical term) by a partial obstruction of the air stream so that air is forced through a narrow gap, causing a hissing sound. Most languages have fricatives, in English they include [f] and [z]. fricatives are known as continuant consonants because you can produce a fricative sound as long as you have air in your lungs.

Plosives...

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000+00:00

Plosives: sounds which are produced by obstructing the flow of air from the mouth or nose, causing a build up of air pressure. When released this pressure causes an explosive or popping noise.

Examples of plosives in English are /p/ and /b/ - place your hand in front of your mouth and say “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper” - you can feel and hear the /p/ make a popping sound.

Plosives are also known as stops.