Vol/51 No/1 2012FeBRuaRY/MaRCHTheLinguist31OPINION & COMMENTExceptional measures requiredas i am not a legal interpreter in the uk ihad no reason to concern myself with theMoJ expert rates implemented in october2011 until they were referred to in thegeneral transnet online forum just beforeChristmas. What appalling rates forinterpreters as compared to everybody else!among the around 100 expert qualificationslisted for criminal and civil cases, interpretersare the very bottom of each list, togetherwith the non-academic and semi-skilled jobsof process server (de facto a postman andfiling clerk), private detectives andphotographers. even a lip reader, which is askilled job, gets three times, and ahandwriting expert, which probably is not,four times the rate of an interpreter. these lists were published at the sametime as europe's largest employer oflinguists, the european union, stated that itcould no longer find native english speakertranslators and interpreters. against theobserved behaviour of supply and demandmarkets, scarce supply of qualifiedinterpreters and translators in the uk clearlydoes not raise prices. that is a mostexceptional situation, which requiresexceptional measures to counter it. i have to say that when the CioL createdyet another membership category, its fourth(excluding students), for its 6,000 members afew years ago i thought that this seemed abit of a sectarian, inward-looking exercise -no disrespect to any chartered linguists -andthat time and effort might have been betterspent on protecting the labels 'translator' and'interpreter', for instance by allowingeverybody who is a CioL member to callthemselves 'chartered'. this seems to haveworked well for my other chartered institute,the iCaeW, which has more than 130,000members, only two membership categoriesand all protected by that label 'chartered'. this streamlined approach, which upgradesand hence tries to protect each member fromthe moment they are 'in' also seems to workwell for other chartered institutes, eg the RiCswith its 150,000 members. if i read the tableof uk expert rates correctly, a secretary orunqualified accountant (general staff) in anaccountancy firm is charged out at morethan double the rate of a CioL member.as part of a wider 10-20 year policy to savethe profession in the uk, the CioL wouldprobably also have to spend more time onhighlighting, to the outside world, the realvalue added by employing or instructingCioL members, and to do this before googletranslate & co and the MoJ have sidelined itfor good. the market for translating andinterpreting is there and will grow. But onlythe CioL can create the demand in themarket for CioL members.Thomas Martini MCILLMAAWDEDALUMNUSEQUATORNZOTLSCECEZANNELATEENSILRKSTSAMEDAMNEEHYENAUPERGEXPOSEDTEENAGESOTETPASTECOLESLAWSRAROAATEQUALLYBOUNCERSNIIIRHASTETTINAWAREOFOSZGLLNFCrossword solutionLudwig Lazarus Zamenhof (LLZaMenHoFl-r) wasthe inventor of esperanto, probably the mostfamous artificial language. He first published hisscheme in 1887 under the pseudonym Doctoresperanto (DoCesPeRantor-l).Having read the article 'interpreting Justice?'(TL50,6) i wonder if readers might beinterested in the subject from the perspectiveof one dispensing justice: a magistrate in a citywhere more than 100 languages are spoken.the cost of running the courts is high yet it isnot uncommon before a case starts tooverhear questions like 'What kind of kurdishdoes he speak?'. in one case no one, includingthe defence solicitor, could determine whatlanguage the defendant was speaking. iadjourned another case until an interpreter ofMandarin could be brought from London.in court, i am at a loss to understand how asimple question can produce a lengthydiscussion between the defendant and theinterpreter, resulting eventually in the answer'Yes'. i am in doubt about the ability of manyinterpreters used and have never been giveninformation as to their qualifications.the Chairman of our Bench instructedassembled magistrates that it was our duty toensure that interpreters were interpretingcorrectly in our courts. When i asked 'How ami supposed to do that? i have no chanceunless the language is spanish', the Chairmanreplied, 'Well, just do your best'. How do youdispense justice under such circumstances?L A Hobsbaum JP ACILIs this justice?© istoCkPHoto

32 TheLinguistFEBRUARY/MARCHwww.iol.org.ukINSTITUTE MATTERSJoining the divisionDR HEATHER FULFORD, CHAIR OF THE TRANSLATING DIVISION, OUTLINES THE BENEFITS, INCLUDING CPD AND NETWORKING EVENTSFebruaryGERMAN SOCIETYAGM Saturday 25 February Restaurant Maestro,Hanover, 11am-1pmTo attend, Maestro,Gastronomie imKünstlerhaus, Sophienstr.2, 30159 Hanover.MarchNETWORKINGLUNCH & 'CATS INTHE OFFICE' Saturday 3 March Wig & Mitre, Lincoln, midday-4pmTranslator Adam Ramsey(www.ramseylanguages.com) will talk on translationmemories and increasingyour productivity'. Non-members welcome. Fordetails or to attend, callCandia Hillier on 01522526695 by 25 February. Steep Hill Room, Wig &Mitre, Steep Hill, LincolnLN2 1TL (01522 535190).GERLINCDIVISIONS & SOCIETIESThe Translating Division is the largest of the fourdivisions of the Institute, with some 4,000 members. It isopen to all CIOL members who work as professionaltranslators, as well as student members interested in acareer in translation. We aim to provide a range ofservices to members in the form of professionaldevelopment (CPD) events, networking opportunities,informal peer-to-peer support through our various e-groups, and resources for practising translators.Our CPD programme caters to the needs of bothexperienced translators and new entrants to theprofession. Through these events, we explore keyaspects of working as a professional translator, includinglinguistic and terminology matters, technology tosupport translators, business resources and skills, andissues associated with freelance work.Last summer, we launched a series of local 'bite-size'CPD and networking events because we recognise thatbusy translators are not always able to give up a wholeday for such events, but that they do enjoy meeting upwith colleagues face-to-face. Each Translators' Armsevent focuses on a specific, practical aspect of workingas a translator, such as a particular technological orbusiness issue. They are held on Fridays and follow asimple pattern of tea/coffee, a presentation of 45-60minutes, time for discussion and then lunch nearby foranyone who wants to join in. We started with a series ofTranslators' Arms events in London and were sufficientlyencouraged by the interest to plan more for 2012 (seewww.iol.org.uk for details). In time, we would like to seeTranslators' Arms opening in as many towns and citiesas there are members willing to act as 'landlords'.As well as CPD events, we endeavour to includeevents on language and translation-related cultural orliterary topics. Typically our events provide opportunityfor socialising and networking. Details of forthcomingevents are publicised in The Linguist,on the Institute'swebsite, and via our e-groups and divisional mailing list.The Translating Division's e-groups - branded underthe 'TransNet' banner - are online discussion groups formembers to exchange information on a variety oftranslation-related topics. Posts cover subjects such astranslation technology, working as a freelancer and arange of business issues. TransNet also has a number oflanguage-specific e-groups for terminological queriesand support. For details or to join visit www.iol.org.uk.A key resource the division offers is the Translator'sPack. This comprises a series of factsheets and is full ofuseful information for practising translators. The pack isfree to Institute members and can be obtained byemailing . Please alsoemail us any suggestions for events, speakers, topics fordiscussion, networking opportunities and resources. NETWORKING: Translating Division members network over coffee (above)KEYDIVISIONSBusiness, Professions & Government: Education: Interpreting:Translating: SOCIETIESCambridge: German: Hong Kong: Lincolnshire: London: North West: Scottish: Spanish: BPGEDUTDCAMGERLINCNWSCOTLONSPHKID