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The research has been carried out, the tattoo design, colour and subject matter chosen. Next step: check with linguist or native speaker that the text is correct. Wrong! According to an article on CNNGo.com about the Hanzi Smatter blog (a website ‘dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in western culture’) often this step is…

As any language learner will tell you, idiomatic phrases are extremely difficult to master and to use in the correct context. And for translators, cultural transposition is often the only way forward as these phrases do not directly translate. In a bid to overcome this language barrier and improve patient care, a hospital in Norfolk…

In November 2010, the British Library will showcase an exhibition called Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices, that charts the 1,500-year history of the English language. The exhibition has been a three-year work in progress and will offer such gems as the first English dictionary; received pronunciation guides from the BBC; and ‘listening stations’ demonstrating…

Increased mobility in Europe has led the European Commission to launch a multilingual awareness-raising campaign informing passengers about their rights when travelling by air or rail. Covering 23 languages and unveiled on 29 June 2010 to coincide with the holiday season, the two-year scheme shall enable passengers throughout Europe to access this legal information in…

Improving access to language services is a vital component in tackling social exclusion and two new linguistic initiatives in the field of education are proving just how important a factor this is. Bilingual school children in the US are volunteering to translate and interpret in order to bridge the language gap between parents and teachers….

Speak Dating is a new method of language learning that has proved a hit in the United Arab Emirates. It is a similar event to speed dating, but languages are the main pull as opposed to romance. The first event took place in May in Dubai, and boasted an impressive eleven different language combinations including…

The British Museum was the place to be this weekend for the live translation event. The format was simple, but nonetheless exciting: one text, two languages (French into English), two different translations, and two translators justifying the linguistic decisions behind their translation choices. And if this wasn’t enough, joining them on the stage was the…

The profession of translating came under an unexpected spotlight when the film ‘Letters to Juliet’ was released earlier this month. Verona, Italy, (the setting of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’) provides the backdrop of the film and it is the city which is also home to The Juliet Club – a group of 15 volunteer translators…

For three weeks in 2010, football will be the lingua franca uniting millions of people throughout the world. But this does not mean that language issues have been pushed to the sidelines. Far from it. The provision of translation and interpreting services has been booming both by the host nation and further afield. In May…

China’s economic foothold in Africa and Latin America has been growing for many years. The upward trend in Chinese outward direct foreign investment has meant that an increasing number of schools worldwide are incorporating the teaching of Mandarin Chinese into their syllabuses. In Indonesia, lessons in Mandarin Chinese are compulsory in some schools, whilst in…