SEPTEMBER'LANGUAGE ANDECOLOGY'Saturday 22September Holiday Inn Express,Edinburgh, 2.15 pmProfessor M K Verma onlanguage extinction anddeforestation.Holiday Inn Express, 16-22 Picardy Place,Edinburgh EH1 3JT.OCTOBERSTUDY WEEKEND5-7 October Brixen/Bressanone(South Tyrol)Learn about the languageand culture of the Ladinpeoples. For details, emailGuglielmo Fittante 'WORKSHOP Saturday 27 October Frankfurt am MainFor details, email Gabriele Matthey & 'SCOTSLANGUAGE'Saturday 17NovemberQueens Hotel, Perth,1.45pmDr Caroline Macafee willtalk on aspects of Scots. Best Western QueensHotel, Leonard Street,Perth PH2 8HB.NETWORKINGLUNCH Saturday 24NovemberWig & Mitre, Lincoln,midday-4pm To attend, call CandiaHillier on 01522 526695by 17 November.Steep Hill Room, Wigand Mitre, Steep Hill,Lincoln LN2 1TL.CONTACT DETAILSJudith Ridgway,@googlemail.comHeather Fulford, Ray, Matthey, Lee,, Candia Hillier, Sharma, Katrin Hiietam, Withers, Caine,/51 No/4 2012AUGUST/SEPTEMBERTheLinguist33INSTITUTE MATTERSKEYDIVISIONSBusiness, Professions & Government: Education: Interpreting:Translating: SOCIETIESCambridge: German: Hong Kong: Lincolnshire: London: North West: Scottish: Spanish: BPGEDUTDCAMGERLINCNWSCOTLONSPHKIDBasque in GlasgowAN INTRODUCTION TO THE LANGUAGEAND CULTURE FOR THE SCOTTISH SOCIETYOn 8 June, members of the LondonSociety were given a guided tour of theHouses of Parliament, passing throughWestminster Hall, where The Queenhad attended a Diamond Jubilee luncha few days earlier. The 11th-century Hallhas a magnificent hammer-beam roofand is the oldest part of the building.Rebuilt after the fire of 1834, thePalace of Westminster has a number ofhighly decorated rooms with some veryornate ceilings. We followed the routetaken by The Queen during the StateOpening of Parliament. Our guideprovided fascinating historical andprocedural details throughout the tourof both houses. We then went across the road to theJewel Tower, which survived the fire.The winding staircase is a challenge, butworth the effort to really get a feel ofthe place. Seat of powerTHE LONDON SOCIETY VISITS THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENTAt their meeting in Glasgow on 12 May, members of theScottish Society were treated to an informative andrichly illustrated presentation on Basque (or Euskarian).Dr Bernar Morote, a native Spanish speaker brought upin the Basque homeland, discussed the origins, identity,language and culture of the Basques and touched onissues of conflict with the Spanish and French authorities.To illustrate his talk he used films depicting the historyof his home region and aspects of daily life, especiallysport, music and food. The audience was impressed bythe beauty of the area and the vitality of his countrymen.The Basque homeland today consists of three Frenchdépartementsand four Spanish provincias. Palaeolithicinhabitants included the Vascones, who were mentionedby both Strabo and Pliny. During the Roman occupationmost tribes became linguistically assimilated, but theBasques retained their own language. The origins of Basque remain a mystery because ithas not yet been linked to another language, but theBasques have their own legends to explain its history,variously involving the Tower of Babel, Noah's grandsonand even the devil. There are many dialects of Basque,all with a rich oral tradition. Euskara Batua acts as alingua franca throughout the region and enjoys officiallanguage status in Spain. An Euskaldun is a person,regardless of race or residence, who speaks Basque.The lecture was both enjoyable and interesting. The Spanish Society celebrated its 25th anniversaryon Saturday 12 May, with a meeting and lunch. JackSellen, CIOL Professional Development andMembership Services Officer, travelled from SaxonHouse to join a group of 27 members in Madrid.The event started with a talk by Andrea Manfrinatoon the European pensions crisis. Using a videopresentation, he argued that the falling birth rate andhigher life expectancy in Europe necessitate raisingthe retirement age, and that the cost of treating theinfirm in the last ten years of their lives is bankruptinghealth services. A lively discussion followed.The group then enjoyed lunch at a nearbyrestaurant, where Spanish Society President, BillRobinson, made a speech welcoming our guest andremembering past members.Jonathan Beattie MCILA SILVER JUBILEE

34 TheLinguistAUGUST/SEPTEMBERwww.iol.org.ukINSTITUTE MATTERSCONTRIBUTORSJim ColemanDr Jim Coleman FCIL is Chair of theUniversity Council of Modern Languages(UCML), Professor of Language Learningand Teaching at the Open University, and a former member of Council of the CIOL. Seep.14Silvia FerreroFreelance translator Silvia Ferrerospecialises in games localisation and is aDirector of MediaLoc (www.medialoc.net).She also works as a quality assurancespecialist and editor, and is Chair of the North-WestTranslators' Network. See p.18Bill MaslenTranslator and copywriter Bill Maslen isManaging Director of the Word Gym, asmall but well-known craft firmspecialising in transcreation, which heestablished in 1990. See p.20Jessica MooreFreelance journalist and editor JessicaMoore is a former Acting Editor of TheLinguist. She has worked for nationalnewspapers, including The GuardianandThe Independent, and for various magazines. See p.26Jeremy MundayA member of TheLinguist Editorial Board,Jeremy Munday MCIL is Professor at theCentre for Translation Studies, Universityof Leeds, where he teaches on the MA inApplied Translation Studies. See p.24David SmithThe Head of DG Interpretation's EnglishUnit, David Smith has worked for theEuropean Commission in Brussels since1977, when he was recruited as aninterpreter. He first learnt languages atsecondary school in Bedford. See p.10Adriana TortorielloTranslator, subtitler and lecturer AdrianaTortoriello is a lecturer in AudiovisualTranslation at Imperial College London. Her main research interests relate tosemiotic cohesion in subtitling. See p.16From theChair of CouncilThe meeting of Council on 31 March was the firstfollowing the AGM. This meeting traditionallyelects the officers of Council and agrees on themembership of the various committees andboards that do so much important work on behalfof the Institute.I was re-elected as Chair of Council, andChristine Pocock was elected Vice-Chair, as thisrole had become vacant. Christine is very wellknown to members of the Institute as Chair of theInterpreting Division and an active member of the Translating Division Committeefor many years; more recently she played a key part in the Rates and SalariesSurvey carried out jointly with the ITI (Institute of Interpreting and Translation).Tony Bell, my predecessor as Chair of Council, was elected Honorary Treasurer,an important role given the challenging financial circumstances we find ourselvesin. Council thanked Paul Shipman, the outgoing Treasurer, for his hard work in thisrole over several years. I look forward to working with Christine and Tony; they willbring a wealth of experience to their respective roles.Other committees whose membership we agreed included the Finance and Executive Committee (which combines two important but previouslyseparate committees, and brings together the executive and non-executiveofficers of the Institute and the Educational Trust), the Editorial Board of TheLinguist,the Applications Committee, the Chartered Linguist AdmissionsCommittee, the Equality and Diversity Committee, and various disciplinary and appeal committees. I would like to place on record Council's appreciationof the voluntary and unpaid work done by the members of these variousbodies. We plan to put further details of membership of these bodies on thewebsite in the near future.Council devoted time to a wide-ranging discussion about priorities for thecoming year. We agreed to carry out a formal review of the Chartered Linguistscheme, a review that is to be carried out by a small working party includingrepresentatives from the ITI and AIIC (the international association forconference interpreters). Other important areas we discussed were theestablishment of closer working relationships with other relevant professionalbodies, innovative ways of involving our members more in the affairs of theInstitute, the development of new examinations and qualifications, governance,the need to put our finances on a more robust footing, and the futureaccommodation requirements of the Institute.Council had a detailed discussion of recent developments following theMinistry of Justice's outsourcing of interpreting services for the criminal justicesystem and the role of the Institute in representing its public service interpretermembers. Both Tony Bell and I have written to ministers and officials outliningour position. In June, I again wrote to the relevant Justice Minister requesting ameeting to discuss the situation and expressing our concerns relating topossible miscarriages of justice, the incurring of unnecessary costs, and adecline in the quality of interpreting in the courts. An important development inthis area, since the last meeting of Council, is the news that the National AuditOffice is considering conducting an investigation into the MoJ LanguageServices Contract.Finally, we are looking forward to the relaunch of our website, including a newmembers-only area. Keith Moffitt MCIL