Translation news
ISSUE 11
In this issue:
It is with great sadness that we announce the death from cancer of Nadia Zahran, our Senior Arabic Mac Operator. Nadia had been working for the company since 1978 and was a dedicated, hardworking and highly skilled member of staff. She will be greatly missed. She leaves behind her husband Sami, two children and two grandchildren.
Nadia Zahran: 1948-2006
- Client Focus: Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
- Employee Profile: Tim Mowl
- Roevin Welcomes…Anna Tiani
- Salford student receives Roevin award
- Language Spotlight: Italian
Client Focus: Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the national body representing the voluntary sector. SCVO seeks to advance the values and shared interests of the voluntary sector by fostering co-operation, promoting best practice and delivering sustainable services. The SCVO was responsible for organising this year’s CIVICUS World Assembly in Glasgow, from 21 to 25 June 2006.
Roevin is proud to have provided 17 interpreters for this year’s event. Over the course of seven days our interpreters provided simultaneous interpretation in Spanish, French and German for meetings, workshops and seminars for the conference and associated side events. Roevin also provided the technical equipment including booths for the interpreters, headsets for the delegates and tour guide systems for smaller meetings.
“For an international event of this significance, it is vital to show a multilingual profile, to enable people to express themselves in their own language. The CIVICUS World Assembly would not have been the success it was without the contribution of Roevin, who delivered a professional and flexible service."
Eva Rehse - SCVO
Eva Rehse, Project Co-ordinator for the SCVO with Gilles Comnène, Sales Manager, at the CIVICUS World Assembly Gala Dinner
CIVICUS is an international alliance established in 1993 to nurture the foundation, growth and protection of citizen action throughout the world, especially in areas where participatory democracy and citizens' freedom of association are threatened. The World Assembly is a forum for international civil society representatives to get together, exchange ideas, experiences and build strategies for a just world.
Tim Mowl, Technical Illustrator, has been working for Roevin since 1992. Originally a draughtsman, Tim worked for several organisations specialising in illustration for the aerospace industry prior to joining Roevin.
In the early 1990s Roevin opened its documentation department which provides individuals or teams of technical illustrators and authors to work on or off site. Tim, who has a Higher National Diploma in Technical Illustration, originally joined Roevin to support the company’s work for Fokker aircraft. As part of his role he spent a year in Almere Haven, Holland, where the second of his two daughters was born.
Tim Mowl, Technical Illustrator.
As Roevin’s Technical Documentation department has evolved, Tim has co-ordinated various in-house authors and illustrators, working on projects for clients such as Alstom, GSI Lumonics, Fokker and Rolls Royce. Tim also has a talent for desktop publishing specialising in AutoCAD and Photoshop localisation as well as Illustrator, Quark XPress and InDesign. Tim’s expertise in answering technical queries is invaluable to the translation team.
Tim is a keen cricket fan and keeps fit by playing badminton and cycling to work. He has also recently designed and built an art studio at his home to support his wife’s career.
The Leonardo da Vinci Programme is a European initiative which encourages collaboration between organisations involved in vocational training, aiming to improve the quality of training provision and develop the skills and mobility of the workforce. Roevin is delighted to welcome Anna Tiani who has recently commenced a six month Leonardo placement at Roevin’s Manchester office.
Anna Tiani, Roevin’s Leonardo student
Anna, 23, from Turin in Italy has a BA Higher Diploma in Interpreting and Translation and is a native Italian speaker. Anna spent nine months in Barcelona as part of her degree, is fluent in Spanish, speaks French and a little Catalan. Anna is really looking forward to her time in the UK and improving her English language skills. During her time at Roevin, Anna will shadow the project management team and assist with proofreading Italian translations.
and Roevin says goodbye to…
Roevin has bid farewell to Mark Buffery, Account Manager at our Manchester office. Mark has left to focus on his translation career and we wish him all the best.
Salford student wins “Achievement in Translation” award
Julia Hinz was the first winner of the Roevin-sponsored “Achievement in Translation” award presented at the Salford University graduation brunch in July. The award, presented by Alan White, Manager of Roevin’s Manchester office, aims to recognise outstanding achievement in the field of translation studies.
Roevin is committed to promoting excellence in the field of translation studies and values its links with Universities delivering the highest standards in language-related teaching. Roevin already has links with Salford University, which is a few miles from Roevin’s Head Office, as two of its Account Managers are Salford graduates.
Prizewinner Julia Hinz, pictured with Alan White, Manchester Branch Manager
Julia recently graduated from Salford University with a BA (Hons) in Modern Languages, Translating and Interpreting. A German national, she studied German, French and English translation and interpreting and has secured a position with Deutsche Bank in the Spanish holiday resort of Nerja. Julia hopes to progress her translation and interpreting career in Spain.
Roevin has also joined forces with Salford University on the Steering Group for the “Graduate Apprenticeship Scheme”, a pilot scheme which aims to offer MA students in Translation Studies high quality and structured work placements within professional translation organisations. As well as Roevin, members of the steering group include CILT - the national centre for languages, the Association of Translation Companies and the Universities of Salford ] and Aston, where Roevin also sponsors two academic prizes for translation students.
Language Spotlight: An Italian History
Gail Owen
Italian, the official language of Italy and San Marino, is perhaps the closest living language to Latin, from which it most certainly derives.
Rome, a significant part of the Roman Empire, saw the rise of a language with fixed grammatical rules, syntax and meaning. This model language, developed by Cicero, Horace and Virgil was widespread throughout the Empire and by the time of Caesar was regarded as a perfect model.
The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D. had an impact on this “perfection”. Classical and spoken Latin became markedly divided. Scholars and academics were the only people to continue to use Classical Latin. The spoken form became more and more influenced by its speakers and was ultimately affected by Germanic invasion. Over time, Latin ceased to be the principal spoken language, and was replaced by numerous regional dialects.
First written records of the vernacular language do not appear until the 13th century. During this period the world famous poets Dante, Boccaccio and Petrach made huge literary contributions to the Italian written language. Many credit Dante alone with standardising the Italian language. Future generations would use this literary, standard Italian as a model.
Italy, linguistically and culturally, has always been a very regional country. There was even what could be described as a linguistic war, as many of the dialects tried to rule supreme. It was, however, the economic growth of Florence, alongside its cultural and political expansion which eventually led to the Florentine language becoming and developing into a standard Italian. In spite of this standardisation, it wasn’t until 1861 with the unification of Italy that Italian became established as a common language and widespread throughout the regions.
Today the proverb “lingua toscana in bocca romana” which can be translated as “the Tuscan dialect spoken with a Roman accent, is the ideal” is still used. This perfection however, is not widespread. Even today, travelling through the different regions in Italy the visitor can hear different dialects, which are not always distinguishable as Italian and often incomprehensible to even native Italians.
Press Releases
- ATC Annual Conference
- New London office opens
- Finmeccanica’s 2006 Convention
- Interpreters World Assembly
- Language Trends
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