Vol/51 No/2 2012ApriL/MAYTheLinguist21FEATURESlabel for multilingual European companywebsites translated into more than fourlanguages, and support for the Europeancompany Statute. the writers of the studyfelt that measures and recommendations infavour of multilingualism in business shouldbe promoted both at the European level aswell as locally, as the repercussions ofmultilingualism in business are both local andstrategic, involving various operational levels.thus, multilingualism is a global as well as atransversal issue in the organisation, mainly asa result of borderless digital communication.in addition, the authors detected thatneeds and practices in multilingual businessare not centralised, and therefore thatmultilingual business practices are not fixed.the people involved are not dedicated tomultilingualism in the company; rather theyare in charge of one function in the companywhich has links with multilingual issues.Although there are no official multilingualstrategies, companies 'act multilingual' intheir management choices to integratecultural and linguistic diversity into theirbusiness development.on the language management side, thethreat of machine translation was alsoaddressed, with reassuring results. Even ifmachine translation and semi-automatictranslation tools continue to improve, humanresources will be needed to validatetranslations. Multilingualism implies themanagement of human relations in thebusiness area, and it is directly linked tomobility and business opportunities.As to the use of Business English, themessage was somewhat encouraging too.English may remain the language ofreference in many companies doing businessin Europe, but there are a number of linguafrancas in pan-European companies. inNestlé, for example, all documents from itsSwiss headquarters are published in fourlanguages: English, French, German anditalian. Documents distributed worldwide aretranslated and distributed locally in variouslanguages, according to local interests. this line of thinking is confirmed in one ofthe company logos -'think global, actlocal' -which sums up the main findings ofthe study. Multilingual business is here to stayand companies need to be versatile to beable to cope with it.Notes1'Mapping Best Multilingual Business practicesin the EU', 2011, European commission,Directorate-General for translation. Freedownload available at http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/mapping-best-multilingual-business-practices-in-the-eu-pbhc3111018/2 'Study on the Size of the Language industry inthe EU', 2009, European commission,Directorate-General for translation. Freedownload available at http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/study-on-the-size-of-the-language-industry-in-the-eu-pbhc8009985/several corporate languages. in meetings,they encourage employees to speak inwhichever language they feel comfortable,without the use of interpretation, andconsider this form of intercomprehension tobe beneficial for everybody, creating aflexible, multilingual atmosphere. the issue of outsourcing translation andother language services was raisedrepeatedly in the interviews, although somebigger companies, such as GDF Suez hadtheir own translation departments. thesedepartments often act as intermediariesbetween the experts and freelance translatorsor localisers. they are also in charge ofmultilingual terminology and informationmanagement, which help multilingualcommunication, both internal and external. insmaller companies, outsourcing is naturallymore common, as limited resources mean itis not possible to have staff covering all thelinguistic needs of the company.As a consequence of outsourcing andoperating in multilingual markets, thelanguage industry has been experiencing anupward trend in business opportunities.According to a study carried out by the DGtin 2009,2this emerging sector, producingtranslation, interpretation, localisation andother linguistic services, was one of the raresectors with positive growth prospectsdespite the economic downturn. this trendwas confirmed by the Multilingual Businesspractices study: every company interviewedstated that they did business in severallanguages and outsourced at least some oftheir language services needs. Recommendationsthe study contains a set of recommendationsto enhance multilingualism in business. theseinclude the development of cross-cuttingmultilingual business strategies, a qualityMultilingualism is asensitive issue in thebusiness environment.It can be consideredas confidentialThe language industrywas one of the raresectors with positivegrowth prospectsdespite the downturn© DrEAMStiME

22 TheLinguistAPRIL/MAYwww.iol.org.ukFEATURESMelanie Florencewas awarded a contract to translatePascal Garnier's L'A26 after winning a summer schoolcompetition in July.The newcomer explains her methodsFor his short roman noirabout the traumatisedrecluse Yolande and her brother Bertrand, aterminal cancer sufferer turned murderer,Pascal Garnier relates the 'now' of the narrativein the present tense. The past of L'A26 isconstructed using the passé composé andimperfect. There is extensive use of internalmonologue and free indirect discourse.Largely static passages of thought andmemory alternate with others of dramaticaction, which include direct speech of afamiliar nature. In language and style, thenovel is deceptively straightforward. Itstranslation challenges lie not in understandingvocabulary or untangling syntax, but in doingjustice to the nuances and mood of Garnier'sspare prose, in which every word counts.When starting my translation from theFrench, the most fundamental decision I hadto make was whether to keep the presenttense for the narrative. It did not seem strangeto me to read, or indeed to translate, it in thepresent, and the tense seems to contributeto the novel's atmosphere of claustrophobia.Since having her head shaved for fraternisingwith the enemy during the Second World War,Yolande has been trapped both in the pastand in her home, with only a peephole to theworld outside. It is arguably less appropriatefor the more narrative passages, however. I was introduced to L'A26at the 'Use yourLanguage, Use your English' summer schoolin July. Course participants were evenlydivided in their choice of tense; my decisionto use the past tense for a competition extractwas dictated by the fact that the publisherhad never published a book in the presenttense. It proved to be a good one. My versionwon, leading to a contract with Gallic Books;my translation is due out later this year. The present tense and narrative perspectivebrings the reader so close to the characters itis as if we are 'inside' them. This led me touse a more familiar style than mightotherwise have been appropriate.Son chef,ses collègues, il sait qu'il ne les reverra jamaisbecame 'As for his boss and his colleagues,he knew he wouldn't be seeing them again',which also conveys Bernard's down-to-earthapproach. Equally, on ne pouvait jamaissavoirin Yolande's thoughts became 'you [not"one"] could never tell'.Getting in characterThis nearness to the characters makestranslating their direct speech easy and oneof the most enjoyable aspects of my work onthis novel. I would describe it as speakingtheir part in English, with the guidance of theoriginal French, although naturally I aim for thenearest equivalent. The speech is often simpleand laconic. It has to sound absolutely naturalin English and of particular concern here arethe 'fillers' (ie, features of informal speech), andthe swear words. I translated 'OK! Mais c'estparce que je souffre' as 'True, but it's becauseI'm suffering', and tried to convey the familiarsyntax of 'Où ils habitent tes parents?' with'Where d'your parents live?' To give sufficientemphasis to Bernard's rejoinder to Roland'sassertion that he knows death, I rendered 'Pasencore' as 'Not yet, I don't.' Bearing in mind the age of the charactersand the 1980s setting, I am keeping thetranslated expletives mild, and have made theodd change where it seems appropriate. Dansla merdesounded fine as 'in deep shit', but Iextended 'Oh, merde, merde'to the moreEnglish rhythm of 'Shit, shit, shit!' and altered'Merde, t'es dur!' to 'Bloody hell, you're cruel!'.A novel approachWhere the switch to the past could lead to astiff or hyper-correct impression, I am makinga conscious effort to lighten the translation,and English has the flexibility to allow this.The verb in 'Elle était en train de copier unecarte.' might have been rendered as 'hadbeen busy', for example, but I used 'was busy'. Another characteristic of which I havebecome increasingly aware is the degree towhich the novel is told from the perspectiveof one or other of the characters. I am careful,therefore, to ensure that my translation reflectsthe appropriate person in terms of age, socialclass and setting. In the passage whereYolande remembers childhood holidays at theseaside, I initially translated robe légèreas 'thindress' but revised this to 'thin frock' to reflectYolande's modest background; and I chose'bathing suit' over 'swimsuit' for costume debainsince the scene is set in the 1930s. 'Use your language, Use your English' isa training project for native Englishspeakers who wish to develop theirtranslation and editing skills. Both theworkshops and free online courses aredelivered by leading professionals. The five-day Summer School 2012 willbe held at Birkbeck University, London,on 9-13 July. There will be courses onediting and translation from Arabic,Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish,Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, as wellas a competition, meet-the-publishersand guest lectures. For details seewww.bbk.ac.uk/european/about-us/use-your-language-use-your-english.SUMMER SCHOOL