Atlas Translations: About Atlas

Atlas News - November 2009

· Success for Atlas at the Language Show
· Why not learn something new?
· 2013 Deaflympics in Athens!
· Hausa Language
· We offer Notariased and Apostilled Translations

· Scottish Court Service Lost in Translation
· Other news…

Success for Atlas at the Language Show

Atlas would like to thank everybody who came to visit our stand at the Language Show. The exhibition took place in Olympia over three days and was a great success. Not only did the Atlas Team get to meet many of its translators and interpreters in person but it was also an opportunity to meet new translators and interpreters and to launch its new training programme, which includes a range of tailor made courses from Trados to voiceover.

“I really enjoyed the Language Show, it was a great fun! I was very happy to see so many people interested in Atlas. It was a great opportunity for me to learn about the translation industry and about Atlas in more detail, outside of the office. For me, one day at the Language Show was like a week in the office when it came to learning about new things.”

Jakub, Work Placement

“The Language Show was a great experience! I enjoyed informing the public about our services and courses. I met some very interesting people and learnt a lot from them with regards to making a career out of translation, translation software and the translation industry as a whole. In general it was a very enriching experience.“

Marta, Work Placement

First of all, it was interesting to meet so many people! There were mainly students but experienced people too. I was still at University a few months ago and it felt good to be able to give students tips now that I have real experience working in the translation business! I was surprised to meet lots of teachers wanting to become freelance translators. I even met one individual who translates from Hausa into English!

Gilles, Project Manager

Find out more about Hausa later on in the newsletter!

Question of the month! Test yourself with our November question: What comes after once, twice, thrice? (Answer can be found at the bottom of the newsletter)

Why not learn something new?

Atlas is pleased to announce that it is launching a wide range of training courses to cater for all your needs, whether you are a graduate wanting to start out as a freelancer, or a professional translator looking to expand your skills. The effectiveness of training is largely down to the ability of the trainers. All our trainers have been selected for their particular discipline and they all have practical, real life experience in the areas they train. Below you can see what people thought about some of the courses we’ve run to date:

“You began the workshop with some breathing exercises that would help us before a voiceover, to relax, open up our chests and let us project our voices properly. You also taught us other exercises … I found your comments extremely useful and constructive... a good sense of humour and that always helps to create a relaxing atmosphere and loosen inhibitions.”

“I was able to complete several long and tedious translation projects in 30-40% of the time – even with an adjusted Trados price scale I still made a profit, since the work was done quicker and I had time for new contracts! I even updated my system to the latest version.”

Hausa Language

Hausa is is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family and is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers. It is spoken as a first language by about 24 million people and as a second language by about 15 million people. Native speakers of Hausa are mainly found in the African country of Niger and in the north of Nigeria but the language is widely used as a lingua franca in West and Central Africa, particularly amongst Muslims. Radio stations like BBC, Radio France Internationale, China Radio International, Voice of Russia, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, and IRIB broadcast in Hausa. It is taught at universities in Africa and around the world.

2013 Deaflympics in Athens!

The Summer and Winter Deaflympics are among the world's fastest growing sports events. More than 4,000 deaf athletes and officials from 77 nations participated in the 21st Summer Deaflympics in Taipei, China in September 2009 and over 600 athletes and officials participated in the 16th Winter Deaflympics in Salt Lake City, United States in February 2007.

The games are built on 85 years of tradition, first founded in 1924 by the Comité International des Sports des Sourds, CISS (The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf). The first Summer Deaflympics were held in Paris with the Winter Deaflympics being introduced in 1949.

The need for separate games for deaf athletes is not just evident in the numbers of participants. Deaf athletes are distinguished from all others in their special communication needs on the sports field, as well as in the social interaction that is an equally vital part of the games.

Atlas would like to congratulate Clarion, one of its BSL interpreting providers, on its sponsorship of the 2013 Deaflympics in Athens. Working with UK Deaf Sport, Clarion aims to raise a staggering £500,000 for the British team. On the 8th November, Clarion's Director Sally Chalk ran a marathon of over 26 miles from Nice to Cannes and she plans to run the same distance around Barcelona in March next year. Sally really is going the extra mile so please click here to make a donation.

We offer Notarised and Apostilled translations

Notarisation is the certification of a document as authentic and true by a notary public. A notary public is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters. A notary, besides other functions, witnesses and authenticates the execution of certain classes of documents. These documents include:

·marriage certificates
·birth certificates
·death certificates
·diplomas and degrees
·important company documents, such as memorandum and articles of association, minutes etc.

Atlas also provides apostilled translations. This involves certification from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, verifying the authenticity of a document's notarisation for use in another country pursuant to the 1961 Hague Convention. Click here if you require these services.

Scottish Court Service Thrown into Chaos

Scotland's justice system is facing a revolt from professional interpreters, which could throw the nation's courts into chaos. In an increasingly bitter battle over pay and conditions, the interpreters claim they are faced with severe cuts to their contracts as well as serious concerns over the increasing use of unqualified and inexperienced subsitutes that could lead to serious miscarriages of justice. Consequently, they have rallied together to form a new professional body – the Scottish Association of Interpreters & Translators (SITA) – with some members threatening to boycott court hearings and hold demonstrations to highlight their cause. They say that inadequate translation services could lead to foreign nationals either being wrongly convicted or escaping justice.

SITA has condemned a new contract, which came into force earlier this year, which allows only one agency to provide the majority of work for the Scottish Courts Service (SCS), the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service. This arrangement means that even those freelance interpreters with years of experience are guaranteed only £36 for a day's work, inclusive of travel costs. As a result, many say they are being forced out of their profession and are being replaced by individuals with insufficient training and a potentially dangerous ignorance of the legal system. They claim that many of the agency's interpreters do not possess the industry benchmark qualification, known as a Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI).

Melanie Beaumont, a Spanish interpreter with 12 years' experience, said "It's a scandalous situation. The new government contract has basically dealt a death blow to our profession, and there are going to be several miscarriages of justice, not just one."

The director of the agency argues that a "fair number" of the 1,700 interpreters on his books do not possess the DPSI, but stressed that the industry is not a "nice, simple, logically structured profession".

"The DPSI is not available in every language," he explained. "It can be a very expensive qualification for interpreters, so we look for equivalences … but we're talking about a profession which isn't as formalised as the legal or medical professions."

Asked about the danger of miscarriages of justice resulting from the use of inexperienced interpreters, he said "I suppose there could be mistakes, but generally this is not the case. It's a bit like driving a car. You could be a driver for 20 years with no problems and occasionally go over a white line or go faster than you should. It doesn't mean it's fundamentally erroneous”.

Other news…

Atlas would like to welcome new work placement Jakub Menet. Jakub is from a small town in Poland called Krosno. He came to the UK to study a BA in Translation and TEFL at Middlesex University and he graduates next year.

Atlas is also proud to announce that it is now on Facebook! Become a friend of Atlas and check out all the latest news and pictures!

Answer to November question:

Nothing, I'm afraid. These three are the only words of their type and no further terms in the series have ever existed. Presumably the language has not felt the lack of them.

Compiled by Sara Roden-Scott

Thank you for your interest in the Atlas monthly newsletters. We welcome your feedback and ideas for future articles.

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