Atlas Translations: News

Atlas Newsletter – June 2008

Atlas Accountant Cycles for Charity – Well done Maggie!

Atlas accountant Maggie Ely, together with a team of 6 friends, recently cycled 20 miles for “The Rotary Club of St Albans - 2008 Charity Cycle Ride”. The event took place on Sunday, 18 th May and was organised to raise sponsorship and donations for Grove House Hospice Day Centre, The Wheelchair Foundation, ShelterBox, Youth Talk, Parkinson Disease Society, WaterAid and various other charities backed by the Rotary Club, including Maggie's own chosen charity: The Hospice of St Francis.

The route took the cyclists through the Hertfordshire countryside, passing by some famous beauty spots such as Shaw's Corner (once the home of George Bernard Shaw) and Brocket Hall. Maggie not only survived the experience without the help of the St John Ambulance staff on hand (pictured below), she even reported to have no aches or pains the next day!

Maggie

The event was a great success, with Maggie and her team managing to raise an impressive sum of £2,700.00.Maggie has sent a big thank you to Atlas Translations for their sponsorship.

Atlas advises budding translators and interpreters how to break into the industry

The Atlas team recently attended a one-day seminar on Translation and Interpreting, organised for people interested in working as a translator or interpreter but unsure how to get started. The seminar was chaired by Stella Cragie of the University of Westminster, and amongst those invited as guest speakers was Atlas' very own Senior Project and Quality Manager, Anna Davies, who did a presentation on “What companies want”.

Atlas team members Justine and Maria also attended and said of the event:

“It was really interesting and I really enjoyed it…it was good to have presentations from freelance translators who know what they are talking about and who can give you some tips! It really encouraged me to be a translator and to continue my studies.”

Justine

“I found it very useful. In my book, there should be more informative sessions like this in every university where translation/interpreting courses are run. The different presentations highlighted several key aspects of the job, such as the importance of qualifications and the need for freelancers to manage their work as if they were running a company - giving feedback on their job, setting objectives and planning strategies to achieve them.

I was especially interested in the presentations about Interpreting: One presenter described her job as interpreter in the UK, providing guidance on what it is needed to work here, the pros and cons, the different fields, etc. Anna's presentation about the realities of working in the translation industry was great – it got loads of attention and many hands were raised after her speech.”

Maria

The seminar was held on Saturday, 7th June 2008, at the University of Westminster, and offered advice on the qualities and skills needed for the job, how to get organised and where to find help, breaking through the ‘no experience = no work' barrier and areas where language skills are in demand.

Congratulations to Clare and family

The Atlas team would like to wish huge congratulations to director Clare Suttie on the birth of her baby girl, Madeleine Elizabeth. Clare and husband Ed are adapting to life as parents after Madeleine's dramatic birth, seven weeks early. Clare says:

“We were very surprised and totally unprepared, we didn't even have any clothes for poor little Madeleine Elizabeth so she started life in hospital clothes!!”

Madeleine

After several weeks in the Special Care unit, Madeleine Elizabeth (pictured above) is now fighting fit and arrived home at the end of May, where she has established herself as the boss!

Atlas girls raise a glass to Madeleine

Atlas Girls!

Justice system compromised by unqualified interpreters

It has recently been alleged by one Scottish newspaper that Scotland's legal system could be allowing miscarriages of justice to take place, due to the use of unqualified linguists as interpreters for migrant defendants and witnesses in courts.

The increasing number of migrants appearing in Scottish courts has led to greater demand for interpreters. However, it seems that foreign language speakers without the necessary professional training and qualifications are now being drafted in to make up for the shortfall.

Both those in the legal and interpreting professions have raised fears that the use of unqualified interpreters is leading to situations where the words of defendants and witnesses are misinterpreted or not correctly conveyed in English. In some cases the linguistic errors are so serious in their nature that they could lead to wrongful convictions or acquittals.

The underlying problem, it seems, is the lack of knowledge of the skills and depth of knowledge and experience required to carry out the task of interpreting, particularly in a courtroom, where cultural context and specialised understanding of the country's legal system is a must. One official was quoted as saying:

"It is not good enough for an agency to say that the interpreter is a native speaker of Polish and that he is fluent in English. It does not make him or her a competent interpreter."

Fortunately Atlas only works with fully experienced and qualified interpreters for court work - we certainly agree that being bi-lingual is not enough. Our clients rest assured that any one we send to a court assignment has worked with the police, court services and legal system for a number of years, as well as being bi-lingual.

Welsh set to become an EU language?

Some unexpected but nevertheless positive news for Welsh translators and interpreters - it seems that the EU has recently entered into talks over the possibility of holding some of its meetings in the Welsh language. This follows on from requests by the Welsh Assembly, who, incidentally, would be responsible for paying the costs for any translation in the EU parliament. It is not however thought that at present there are any plans for the UK to press for it to become the Union's 24th language.

Atlas regularly works with the Welsh language and feels that it should be promoted. We are pleased that many of our clients recognise the importance of providing information in English and Welsh to include all of the communities

Newsletter/Press

Atlas Translations Ltd
Anna Davies or Clare Suttie
Phone: +44 (0)20 7240 6666

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