Crime Under the Spotlight at 13th Translation Conference

Source: Peter Facey

Translators, writers and scholars have until the 15^th of June to submit proposals and papers for the 13^th Translation Conference which will be taking place at the University of Portsmouth.  The theme for this year’s conference is “Translation and Crime”.

The 2013 conference, set to take place on the 9^th of November, will focus on translation as it relates to crime: within the justice system, fiction and forensic linguistics amongst other areas.

Two plenary speakers have been confirmed:

Dr Karen Seago is the Director of Translating Popular Culture MA at the University of London. According to the university website Dr Seago holds an MA in English and German, as well as a PGCTS in German.  Seago teaches translation theory and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Specialised Translation.

Angelina Jolie’s Jewellery Helps Afghan Girls

Angelina Jolie has launched a jewellery line, ‘Style by Jolie’, of which 100% of the proceeds will go towards building schools for girls in Afghanistan.

Style by Jolie

Predictably the range designed by Angelina Jolie includes a number of emerald stones; one of the actress’s favourites, set in an elegant, minimalist design. Jolie co-designed the range with jeweller Robert Procop (who also designed her engagement ring).

The range is partially inspired by jewels the actress has worn before such as the black and gold necklace she donned at the premier of ‘Salt’ in 2010.  According to Ecouterre the range will also include ‘an oversized pear shaped citrine necklace, a cushion cut black necklace’ as well as rings, earrings and bracelets.  While there is no childrens jewellery in the ‘Style by Jolie’ collection, all the proceeds will certainly go to children.

Spoken Skills Important for Hearing Impaired Children

Hearing impaired children

In recent news regarding education for hearing impaired children and students, current special education laws are being shifted and moved in the direction to integrate hearing impaired children into the classroom. Apart from auditory therapy helping these children, being in a normal classroom environment is the way forward many specialists believe.

Spoken skills

Many studies have concluded that hearing impaired children enjoy tremendous academic success although social integration may be somewhat more multifaceted. There have been many elements that have made the integration of hearing impaired people into normal classroom settings easier with the most notable being modern technology. The modern technology offered to deaf and hearing impaired children has created easier access to more auditory information which allows them to better develop their spoken skills. Being in a classroom with hearing able children has also significantly helped in honing and developing their spoken skills, which are important for both social and academic integration. It has been evaluated that the more spoken skills hearing impaired children have; the better their social skills are, as well as educational accolades, and it is considerably easier to make friends and feel less isolated.

Using Etymology in Language Translation

The skill of language translation owes a lot to the pursuit of etymology but what is this pursuit and where does it originate from? Well a taste of what etymology is can be illustrated by breaking the word down and explaining what it means; it is derived from the Greek ‘etumos’ which means truth and ‘ology’ which means a study of a topic – etymology courses help language translation because they are the true study of the origin of words and how they’ve become what they are today. This means it can be used by an English to Arabic translation agency because they understand concepts such as prefixes, suffixes, root words and their origins.

Media Concentration and Democracy in Europe: A Report by Audiovisual Observatory

A new IRIS Special report on media concentration has recently been published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe. The objective of the media concentration report is to examine the various ways that major influential companies such as broadcasters, obtain or maintain their powerful positions in the audiovisual market. The media concentration report is relevant to the general public as the concentration of media ownership directly affects democracy.

Media Concentration and Democracy

Based in Strasbourg, the Audiovisual Observatory examined how legislation, courts and regulators can limit the influence of communication tools, particularly those using digital platforms. An example of media concentration is when the broadcasting of AV events is limited to certain locales. These alternative communication tools are important as they allow minority groups and companies to disseminate ideas and affect public opinion.

Presidents Award Malta celebrates Fifty Years

Later this month, the Maltese nation will be celebrating the top achievements of their country’s youth with the annual Presidents Award. The award scheme is aimed at young people aged 14 to 25, and encourages them to participate in self-development activities.

Fostering Excellence

This programme was initiated in 1956 in the UK, under the title of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – it was soon adopted by numerous other countries throughout the British Commonwealth, Malta being among the first. Maltese business owners and Malta gaming professionals will be familiar with the award programme, which was first launched in Malta in 1961; since then, teenagers and young adults have been striving for excellence in the four areas of the Presidents Award programme. These include:

• Skills;
• Community Service;
• Physical Recreation and
• Adventurous Journey.

Audio Visual Heritage Preservation Seminar to be Hosted in District Six, Cape Town

A seminar that will cover all things related to audio visual heritage preservation will be held on the 13th and 14th November at the Fugard Theatre, in Cape Town’s historical District Six. The seminar is being hosted by Ina, an organisation that is at the forefront of the preservation of heritage using audio visual technology, digitisation and promotion. The audio visual heritage preservation seminar has gained the support of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2012 in partnership with the South African company Doxa, which has been documenting the African political landscape for 25 years.

A Heritage Preservation Seminar of French and South African Collaboration

In collaboration with the Institut Français, the South African French Embassy and the South African Ministry of Arts and Culture, the audio visual heritage preservation seminar will give professionals from France and South Africa the opportunity to collaborate and share the knowledge that they have developed. Because of changes in the media and cultural landscape, the preservation of cultural heritage using audio visual installation services is becoming more necessary. Furthermore, expectations from audiences as diverse as researchers, professionals, students and the general public mean that audio visual archives are vital for cultural heritage preservation.