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ITI Scottish Network Newsletter March 2015
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March 2015
ITI SCOTNET NEWSLETTER
Isabel Hurtado de Mendoza MITI Tel: 07762 300068 ITI Scottish Network Newsletter Editor Email: [email protected]
Keeping up As I write this, my web browser struggles
with about 20 open tabs. This is far from
unusual, but today the typical to-be-read
articles and software training videos are
sharing their space with some newcomers
— Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant, West
End theatre shows, St. Patrick’s Day
Festival in London and Imperial College
London’s campus map.
Since I am now based back home in Spain,
every trip to the United Kingdom is a big
production. There are so many things I
want to do in four days! I am primarily
attending a MAT network workshop and
meeting up with lots of ITI old faces, but
I’m also looking forward to a top-up of my
Britishness levels.
Linguists always talk about how to keep
up with their mother tongues when living
abroad. Now I’m facing the opposite
problem. What do ScotNetters do to keep
up with their working languages? Let us
know about this or anything else on
[email protected]. We look forward
to reading your articles!
While we wait for your updates, how about
if we keep up with our network news?
Committee changes, ScotNet accounts,
member news… It’s all here — as always!
Isabel ♦
Keep up your bright swords, for the dew
will rust them.
~William Shakespeare: Othello: Act 1, Scene 2
Photo: 'The Language Stone' by Gordon Young,
Saltwell Park, Gateshead (Kim Sanderson)
Inside this issue
Dates for your diary 2
Link in, tweet up, branch out! 3
ScotNet's 2014 AGM and Christmas lunch 7
State of affairs 10
The internship experience 12
From Aberdeen to Marrakech 14
Your committee under the spotlight 16
Member news 18
ScotNet grants 20
Looking forward to the next issue… 20
Your committee at a glance 21
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 2
Dates for your diary
ITI ScotNet Spring Workshop: Saturday 28th
March, Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria
Terrace, Edinburgh, from approx. 9.30
onwards. Topic: Translation and interpreting in
a multi-media world — all you ever wanted to
know about subtitling, dubbing and
interpreting for live media. Speakers: Dr
Charlotte Bosseaux, Pedro Jesús Castillo, Elena
Zini. For further information, please check out
the call notice here.
ITI ScotNet Summer Workshop: 5-7th June,
Western Isles Hotel, Tobermory, Isle of Mull.
Topic: Being Good and Keeping Safe: ethical,
privacy and data security issues for translators
and interpreters. Speakers: Peter Barber, Sarah
Dougan and Christopher McKiddie. The call
notice with all the details will be issued soon, in
the meantime please save the date and start
your transport and accommodation
arrangements!
The Scottish Society of the Chartered Institute
of Linguists (CIoL): 30th May, Holiday Inn
Theatreland, Glasgow. Professor Farrell of
Strathclyde University will be talking about an
aspect of Italian to be confirmed. For more
information visit the CIoL Scottish Society web
page here closer to the date.
Scottish PEN: Remember that this association
regularly organises translation slams and book
events. You can check their diary here or
contact Rosemary Burnett for further
information at [email protected].
Poetry reading: Wednesday 22nd April, 6.30pm,
Word Power bookshop, 43-45 West Nicolson
Street, Edinburgh. Mexican poet, Pedro Serrano
will be talking about his book, Peatlands (Arc
Publications 2014), a bilingual edition with
translations by Scottish poet Anna Crowe. The
event will be in Spanish and English.
ITI Conference ‘Renew, Rejuvenate, Regenerate
— Translating and interpreting in an evolving
world’: 23-25th April 2015. Two full days of
presentations, keynote speeches, panels and
fringe events, a pre-conference day of
masterclasses and a conference dinner. Further
information on www.iti-conference.org.uk.
Summer School in Audiovisual Translation: 29th
June-24th July 2015, Centre for Translation
Studies, UCL, London. This intensive course
provides a theoretical framework for translators
and researchers in the area of AVT as well as
hands-on training with audiovisual material.
For more information, visit
www.ucl.ac.uk/centras/prof-courses/summer-
translation/av.
For more events, remember to visit www.iti.org.uk, where you
will find the International Calendar of Events (ICE), or our
own website www.itiscotland.org.uk/diary.
And, if you would like to advertise your own event, please
get in touch with us: [email protected]
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 3
Link in, tweet up, branch out!
On Saturday 18th October 2014, the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow was brimming with
foreignness. Oh, yes, there were lots of non-British nationals, since the ScotNet autumn
workshop was being held there jointly with TweetUpAlba. But to some attendees Anne
Diamantidis’ topic was also totally foreign. Alison Hughes and Siobhan Gorrie report.
Rocking & rolling
Saturday, 18th September 2014 saw 40 plus
members of ITI ScotNet gather in a rather
rock’n’roll room at Radisson Blu Glasgow for
an event entitled Link In, Tweet Up, Branch
Out, hosted by translation’s own rock singer
and social media trainer, Anne Diamantidis.
And without a doubt, she rocked the room…
Why use social media? Should we use social
media? Anne had a very straightforward
answer: if you have enough clients and don’t
think it will work for you, then don’t bother.
If you’re looking for a marketing tool and like
the idea of virtual networking, then give it a
go. She didn’t promise it would bring us new
clients but set out to explain what it is and
how it works so attendees could make up
their own mind.
Social media is a vast topic, so ScotNetters
had requested that Anne talk to them about
LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you don’t have a website, LinkedIn can
establish your online presence. It shows up in
Google searches and a basic profile is free.
So, when creating your profile:
- do include a photo of professional quality
- do not treat it like a CV. You have scope to
“tell a story” so take full advantage and give
as much relevant information as possible
- personalise your headline with language
pairs, specialisms and your website URL
- personalise your LinkedIn URL (in edit mode
there is an edit option alongside your current
URL).
From a show of hands it was clear that many
attendees had a profile but few actively used
LinkedIn as a marketing tool, mainly because
they didn’t know how.
Pierre Fuentes’ LinkedIn profile
(Kay McBurney)
Anne’s first tip was to join LinkedIn groups.
She didn’t recommend translator groups, on
the premise that most were more active on
If you don’t have a website, LinkedIn can establish your on-
line presence. It shows up in Google searches and a basic
profile is free.
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 4
Facebook, but groups which reflect your
specialist areas and hobbies. As an example,
she mentioned a Marathon Finishers group.
Conversing about your hobby (and, in this
case, achievements) can lead to contacts who
may one day need your translation services.
It’s not guaranteed but it’s not impossible.
Another advantage of groups is that all group
members can communicate via email. So if
you find someone you’d like to contact, a
free and easy way to do this is to join the
same group as that person.
Basic LinkedIn is free but there are several
paying versions. Anne warned us that the
free one month trial would only offer the
professional LinkedIn Premium at £39.99 per
month, but there is a Personal Plus option
(www.linkedin.com/personalplus). It costs
£7.99 per month and she finds it useful for
statistics and organising her contacts.
If, for any reason, you don’t want all your
connections to be visible, this can be done in
edit mode. Right at the bottom of your
profile you will see an option to customise
who sees your connections.
Obviously, you are now going to all rush off
and update your profile (if you haven’t done
it already), but you may not achieve the final
version in one sitting, so remember to switch
off network notifications — there is an option
on the right hand side of the page when you
are in profile mode. Better still, copy and
paste your content to a Word file for editing.
Then, when you’re happy you have the final
version, switch network notifications back to
let your contacts know you have updated
your profile.
I decided to put Anne’s advice to the test so I
personalised my headline, joined several
groups and updated my profile. I was already
telling a story but found ways to tweak it to
make it a better story.
On the Champagne Lovers group I pledged
€25 for a book on Terroir Champagne and
entered into a discussion with the author,
who lives in the Champagne region. She
reached her target so I now have a lovely new
book to look forward to and an invitation to
meet up with her next time I visit.
And then only last week I received an enquiry
via my profile from a copywriting agency that
was also looking for someone who could
transcreate from French to English. So I have
proof that it is possible to make LinkedIn
work for you. And my new headline — French
to English translations and copywriting for
the Creative Industries. alisonhughes-
translations.co.uk — probably did the trick.
Alison translates from French to English, working mainly for the creative industries. She is coordinator for the ITI Media, Arts & Tourism network and actively involved in the Scottish Network.
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 5
Tweet & shout
The ins and outs of LinkedIn could have been
discussed for several more hours, but
eventually the group decided it was time to
take a break and — after more ruminating
over tea and coffee — reconvened to explore
the next topic: Twitter. Anne demonstrated
that this particular tool is fast-moving and
versatile in equal measure, and presented
methods that can be used to tailor what you
see according to your interests (hashtags and
lists, for example) and get maximum
exposure for your tweets. Content curation
and tweet scheduling were two topics of
much discussion: enhancing your
professional profile in the Twittersphere
means presenting content that is interesting
to followers, and ensuring that people in
every time zone have the opportunity to see
it. It was also useful to note that there are
several tools designed for "harvesting"
interesting content and sending tweets
automatically at different times of day. And
while Anne was keen to emphasise that
Twitter is not necessarily a useful tool for
gaining clients — less so when compared to
LinkedIn, for example — she was still happy
to discuss its commercial benefits, such as
establishing your name in the translation
world and finding colleagues who are
specialists in certain fields. Whatever their
tweeting methods of choice, however, all the
Twitter users in the group agreed on one
thing: it's a lot of fun!
Anne rocking the room
(Kay McBurney)
Stomachs sustained by a delicious three-
course lunch and minds fuelled by yet more
discussion, it was time for the attendees to
move on to that afternoon's event: a
TweetUp, in this case expertly run by Julia
Graham of networking group TweetUpAlba.
Initially, newcomers to the concept of a
TweetUp might have been forgiven for
thinking that they'd been plunged into a
speed dating event, with ScotNetters lined up
and given one minute to tell the person
opposite them about themselves and their
professional life. This was in fact a useful
getting-to-know-you exercise and gave the
group another opportunity to find out who
was already immersed in Twitter and who
was keen to dip their toes in — something
that would prove very useful for the next
exercise. Here, the group was divided into
those already with an @ handle and those
without, and asked to pair up for a
competition to see who could send the most
— and the most interesting — tweets within a
Anne demonstrated that this particular tool is fast-moving and
versatile in equal measure.
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 6
certain time. Before long there were fingers
flying over keypads as seasoned tweeters
educated their mentees, using tools such as
the #ScotNet14 hashtag set up specifically
for the event. It is, of course, a rare group
that can resist a competition, but the
exercise also proved a valuable educational
and conversion tool for those new to Twitter.
Well-known tweeter Alison Hughes, for
instance, even helped partner Audrey
Langlassé send her very first tweet: "Today at
#ScotNet14 I learnt to overcome my
apprehension of Twitter language. Not so
scary!"
If we can’t have a ceilidh…
(Corinne Durand)
The last word is perhaps best left to a tweet
from Marian Dougan at the end of the event:
"We pity all the other Radisson guests hoping
for a quiet afternoon coffee — ScotNetters
are a noisy lot!" It was an event that could be
described as "noisy" in the best possible
sense: packed with interesting and amusing
questions and discussion from a room full of
people finding out how to get the most out
of their adventures in social media.
Siobhan translates from German and French to English. She specialises in technical and commercial documents and works for Louise Killeen Translations (www.lktranslations.co.uk).
Remember that ITI, the Bulletin and our network are all on Twitter:
@ITIUK
@ITIBulletin
@ITIScotNet
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 7
ScotNet's 2014 AGM and Christmas lunch
ScotNet’s AGM and Christmas lunch on Saturday 6th December 2014 was Maria Pelletta’s
ideal excuse to get on the road again. Here she reports on our upcoming events, changes
to our Committee and much more!
The travelling translator
Back on the road! This year was a bit lacking
in the travelling department, because I had to
cancel my trip to Glasgow for the autumn
event, so I was determined to make it to a
ScotNet event before the end of the year. I
booked my place for the AGM and Christmas
lunch. It was going to be my first, and I was a
bit apprehensive; an AGM is supposed to be
boring, I’ve been to others before! But, guess
what? This was not your average AGM. For
starters, it was full of ScotNetters and what
can be boring when they get together?!
I was welcomed by smiley friends and
greeted with enthusiasm, as well as with a
cup of coffee and lovely shortbread biscuits.
There were lots of hugs and laughter while
we pinned our names to our jackets and we
all sat down to participate in Pierre’s last
AGM as ScotNet Convenor.
We heard that the spring, summer and
autumn 2014 workshops were a great
success despite the change of location for
the summer workshop. People suggested we
should look for a different venue in
Edinburgh, as Heriot-Watt is quite difficult to
get to if you are using public transport,
which is counterbalanced by the fact that it is
great for parking when you use your own car.
Still, it was agreed that other venues will be
considered.
Old and new Committee members
(Kay McBurney)
Pierre thanked everybody for their support
during his years as Convenor and proceeded
to summarise the great advantages that
come with the position, encouraging
ScotNetters to put their name forward:
- It is great when you are shy, as you don’t
have to go to meet people, people come to
you!
- You travel a lot (expenses paid!) and do a
lot of networking!
- You don’t have to worry about your CPD as
you go to all events and workshops … paid
for!
- And you are contributing to the profession
and your network without even trying.
As this was a very convincing speech, there
were two hands raised offering to take on the
We have 68 MITIs/FITIs plus 56 other ITI members and 12 Friends of the Network, making a grand
total of 136 members.
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 8
position! But, before voting, we listened to
more news. Norma gave us the Treasurer’s
report which was very clear and showed that
our coffers were in good health. Therefore, it
was agreed that we won’t need to increase
the subscription (it will remain at £15) and
we can still afford to offer subsidies for
attending. Norma reminded us that we need
to apply, though!!!! Do as I do, you only have
to contribute with a write-up for the
newsletter!
Ute then updated us on our membership: 18
people left but 10 new members joined. In
terms of ITI categories we currently have 66
MITIs plus 2 FITIs, along with 42
AITIs/Associates, 8 Career/Graduate
Affiliates, 3 Students and 3 Supporters plus
12 Friends of the Network, making a grand
total of 136.
“An AGM is supposed to be boring.”
(Maria Pelletta)
After all the information was shared, we
proceeded to vote for the new committee
members. Marian Dougan was elected as
Convenor, with Elena Zini as Deputy
Convenor. Audrey Langlassé was also elected
to take over from Ann Drummond as Events
Coordinator (West). All other office-holders
are remaining in post. (See the back page for
a full list of committee members and their
contact details.)
No Christmas lunch is complete without
crackers and hats (Maria Pelletta)
Now on to our plans for 2015. The spring
workshop will be held in Edinburgh. Peter put
himself forward to deal with some ethics case
scenarios we might encounter. He also
mentioned ITI's recently updated Code of
Professional Conduct and this might just be
the right topic at the right time!
The summer workshop will be in Mull this
year, and our local member Carol Finch is
already working on it!! Potential topics
mentioned included subtitling, memoQ,
ethics, legal translation, LinkedIn,
negotiating contracts with publishers,
presentation skills, tourism, audio
description, etc. Possible speakers suggested
included: Margaret Jull Costa, Ros Schwartz
and Heidi Kerschl. It was mooted that the
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 9
overall theme might be audiovisual aspects
of translating and interpreting.
[Please note that there’s been a change of
plan. Our spring meeting will be on
translation and interpreting in media
settings, whereas the summer meeting will
now focus on ethical and security issues.]
Still working, Norma? You can relax now!
(Maria Pelletta)
Anna Gyongy mentioned that interpreters
feel a bit lonely, as none of the workshops
deal with their particular needs. It is true that
topics reflect the demand that comes from
the majority of members, which was
confirmed by the low attendance at the
interpreting workshop last year. But we all
tried to see how we can incorporate the
specific needs of interpreters in our events.
Obviously the ethics topic applies to all, and
it was suggested that we could run small
specific workshops for interpreters.
There is so much to look forward to!!!!
Have I forgotten anything? Oh yes, the
Christmas lunch — delicious and fun, as
always. We pulled crackers and told jokes,
wore hats, ate, chatted and laughed. But I
can’t tell you what happened next, because I
had to run to catch my train, unfortunately!!!
Thanks to the lovely ScotNetters who looked
after me, offering not only their spare
bedroom but also their friendship! And
thanks to the whole network for my subsidy,
which was very helpful to pay for my
travelling expenses. I made it back to Skye
just in time before the snow and the gales hit
us!
María translates from English into Latin American Spanish. Her
specialisms are education, NGOs, environment/renewables and
social sciences: www.mariapelletta.com
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 10
State of affairs
Following ScotNet’s 2014 AGM, as María reported above, we have a few changes in our
network. Below you can find some further information about our Committee and our
accounts.
Office bearers of the ITI Scottish Network
- Marian Dougan has been elected Convenor
and is replacing Pierre Fuentes.
- Elena Zini has been elected Deputy
Convenor. This is a new position.
- Audrey Langlassé has been elected as Event
Coordinator for the West and is replacing
Ann Drummond.
The rest of the committee was re-elected en
bloc:
- Treasurer: Norma Tait
- Membership Secretary: Ute Penny
- Deputy Membership Secretary: Nathalie
Chalmers
- Event Coordinator for the East: Angelika
Muir-Hartmann
- Newsletter Editor: Isabel Hurtado de
Mendoza
- Webmaster: Iwan Davies
You can check out their contact details at the
end of this newsletter and read an interview
with the new Event Coordinator (West),
Audrey Langlassé on page 16.
ScotNet accounts 2013-2014
As you can see in the table overleaf, our
finances are very healthy. The main reason
why we have more money is because we have
more members, hence more subscriptions.
However, it should also be noted that our
Committee members have worked very hard
to organise attractive events that would bring
in attendees from far afield, keep prices
down and volunteer their time for our
network.
Our Treasurer, Norma, would like to remind
you that we have grants available to ScotNet
members. Please find further information on
page 20.
Subscription reminder
If you haven’t yet paid your subs for
2014/15, please do so ASAP. You can send
Norma a cheque for the amount of £15
payable to ITI Scottish Network, to 16/12
East Pilton Farm Rigg, Edinburgh, EH5 2GE.
You can also pay by bank transfer to:
ITI Scottish Network
Bank of Scotland
Sort code: 80-02-83
Account: 00298915
In this case, please don’t forget to put your
name as reference.
Thank you!
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 11
SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTS 2013-2014
Year ended 31/10/2013
Year ended 31/10/2014
£ £ £ £ CURRENT ACCOUNT OPENING BALANCE 4028.14 4809.73 Income Subscriptions 2087.50 1957.50 AGM room hire + lunch (Dec 2012/2013) 700.00 850.00 Spring workshop NIL NIL Summer workshop 4973.00 2960.00 Autumn workshop NIL 945.00 Total Income 7760.50 6712.50
Expenditure AGM room hire + lunch (Dec 2012/2013) 1097.58 920.70 Spring workshop 60.00 55.90 Summer workshop 4552.93 3066.65 Autumn workshop 463.40 1831.02 General administration 25.00 213.44 Grants for attending events 520.00 170.00 Careers Fair at HW 60.00 75.00 Deposit for AGM 2013/2014 200.00 200.00 Total Expenditure 6978.91 6532.71
CLOSING BALANCE 4809.73 4989.52
Notes: AGM subsidy 270.70 Spring workshop subsidy 55.90 Summer workshop subsidy 106.65 Autumn workshop subsidy 886.02
Total Subsidies 1319.27
Summary prepared by Norma Tait, ITI ScotNet Treasurer, November 2014. The accounts for the year end October 2013 were informally verified by Jenny Ellis.
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 12
The internship experience
ScotNet member Kathleen Clegg never had to overcome the no-experience-no-work
barrier. As soon as she saw a chance to put her skills to practice, she jumped at it. Here
she describes her experience working for HarperCollins.
How did it all begin?
During my MSc, an email arrived in my inbox
informing me about a graduate job
opportunity. (I’m sorry to start off in such a
clichéd and mundane way, but it does get
more interesting, so please, keep reading).
HarperCollins Publishers (wow!) were
advertising for an Editor to join their
Language Content Team in Glasgow. On
paper, I had the right qualifications, the right
language skills and the ideal personality for
the job. It seemed like a fantastic opportunity
to use the skills that I already had and to add
that all-important practical element to my
rather academic-looking CV. So, I sent off my
application and waited… Several months later
I received another email. The job I had
applied for was on hold, but would I be
interested in a two-month internship
beginning in September? The rest, as they
say, is history…
The building where Kathleen did her internship
(HarperCollins Publishers)
My first week
I wasn’t sure what to expect, having never
worked in an office before, never mind in a
publishing company, so I went into my first
day with a VERY open mind and lots of
butterflies in my stomach. It was a big step
into the unknown, but I certainly wasn’t
going to shy away from the challenge. My
first week passed in a blur of introductions to
new colleagues and new software (the former
far nicer than the latter), and I even got my
own HarperCollins email address! I had
settled in, gotten to grips with the basics and
now it was time to get to work.
The job
When people asked me what I did, it was
surprisingly difficult to explain without
getting too technical and everyone giving me
their ‘I haven’t a clue what you’re talking
about’ face. My work centred on dictionaries
and the editing and proofreading thereof.
The technical bit involved the computer
software and databases used to do the
aforementioned editing and proofreading.
Since I could devote another article just to
[My internship] gave me such an immersive insight into the
dictionary publishing process that I’ll never look at a dictionary on a bookshop shelf in the same way
ever again!
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 13
the technical side of things, suffice it to say
that my love-hate relationship evolved with
time (and persistence and expert tuition) into
one of fond affection.
The Language Content Team were keen to
build on my foreign language skills and, as
such, I mainly worked on their bilingual
Spanish and French dictionary projects. The
proofreader in me had definitely been
unleashed! I also worked on one of their
more extensive bilingual Chinese dictionary
projects. I found out that it had been a rite of
passage for every intern before me, and I
knew I wouldn’t be the last. Nevertheless, it
felt great to be contributing to something so
big and knowing that I was making a
difference, just because I could somehow
spot those elusive errors.
How many dictionaries can a proofreader have?
(HarperCollins Publishers)
Another important element of my internship
was liaising with freelance proofreaders. Our
communication began with discussing all
things work-related — files, schedules,
deadlines, checks to be done — but
developed into something more personal. It
was the first time that I had ‘e-met’ work
colleagues (only by email). They were always
available to answer my queries, and give me
hints and tips about becoming a better
proofreader and editor; invaluable advice and
kindness that will not be forgotten.
What happened next?
Two months turned into three and then I
found myself being asked to work on up until
Christmas. It was the loveliest compliment
the team could have given me — I knew that I
had to be doing something right! Given that I
went into my internship with HarperCollins
not knowing what to expect, you might think
it would be difficult for me to know whether
it met my expectations or not. What I can say
definitively is that it surprised me. Looking
back, I can really see how far I’ve come, both
personally and professionally. It gave me
such an immersive insight into the dictionary
publishing process that I’ll never look at a
dictionary on a bookshop shelf in the same
way ever again! I was able to establish and
develop new professional contacts, hone and
broaden my skills, not to mention add to my
CV. I was also lucky enough to be offered
work with HarperCollins on a freelance basis
which began in January — a surprising, but
much appreciated, belated Christmas
present.
My advice…
If an internship opportunity ever arises, I
would wholeheartedly recommend taking the
plunge and applying. You never know where
it might take you. With a bit of luck,
colleagues will become friends and you will
never, ever have to make the coffee!
Kathleen translates from
French and Spanish into
English and specialises in
medicine. Contact:
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 14
From Aberdeen to Marrakech
All work and no play not only makes Jack a dull boy, it also drains you out and causes all
sorts of aches & pains, don’t you think? Maybe that’s what Sue Anderson thought when
she signed up for a yoga retreat in Marrakech. After reading her piece, I bet you’ll want to
join her next year!
Sue in the souks
In late January, a dozen women set off from
snowy Aberdeen for a yoga retreat in
Marrakech. From different walks of life, from
17 to 60+ in age, all we initially had in
common was a practice of yoga and a sense
of adventure. We were met at the airport by
two people carriers from our hotel — so far
so ordinary. But, as we neared the town
centre, we were told that this was as far as
the cars could go. Suddenly we were
decanted onto the corner of a bustling street,
clutching our bags and dodging the traffic,
which seemed to consist mainly of scooters
and horse-drawn carriages. Here a porter
was waiting with a brightly painted,
unfeasibly tiny handcart. After efficiently
loading all 12 sets of luggage into it, he sped
off into the night with us in his wake.
Almost immediately we found ourselves in
Marrakech's famous main square, Jemaa el-
Fna. The experience was almost
overwhelming, with huge crowds, Sufi
dancers, drummers, noise and smoke from
fires and incense, and a tangible sense of
energy and excitement. We were keen to
linger and soak it all in but our guide led us
on through ever narrower alleyways to our
hotel or 'riad', an oasis of calm in
comparison.
Like many traditional Moroccan riads, this
was a two-storey house built around a
central open courtyard. The space was
furnished with cushioned sofas, a pool and
potted olive trees. All rooms overlooked the
courtyard and had no windows to the
exterior. The riad had its own private
hammam (Turkish bath) and a treatment
room for massages, reflexology, etc. On the
roof terrace was a hot tub, parasols and
some artfully draped sofas and day beds.
Spice souk
(Bala Sivakumar)
The trip had been organised by our yoga
instructor Louisa, who had planned a full
schedule. Each day started at 8 with a 20-30
minute meditation, followed by breakfast in
the courtyard and a 90-minute yoga session.
After lunch we had free time for massages,
sightseeing, trips to an outside hammam or
shopping in the souks before another late
afternoon yoga session. The weather was
slightly overcast for much of our stay, but we
managed to hold one yoga session in
sunshine on the roof, against a backdrop of
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 15
the sounds and smells of Marrakech and the
evocative call to prayer. After an excellent
dinner (at our request the food was largely
vegetarian and gluten-free), we changed into
pyjamas for a late-night yoga nidra, a
spoken meditation designed to promote
deep awareness and relaxation, before
turning in.
Louisa teaches a mixture of yoga styles.
Hatha yoga, the traditional and perhaps
best-known form, is based on postures or
'asanas' and deliberate, conscious breathing.
Kundalini yoga is a dynamic style which aims
to get the ‘prana’ or life-force flowing.
Besides postures, it involves active
movement or ‘kriyas’, mantras and unusual
breathing techniques such as alternate
nostril breathing and 'breath of fire'. Three to
four hours of yoga per day led to some
aching muscles (hence the massages), but we
all felt physically and mentally re-energised
by the end of our retreat.
Jemaa el-Fna in the daytime was almost as
thrilling as at night, although animal welfare
standards were noticeably variable. Some of
us were upset by the snake charmers,
begging monkeys, scraggy overworked mules
and masses of stray cats, but the horses
pulling the tourist carriages were better
cared for than expected. The market stalls
did sell a lot of shiny football strips and
plastic tat, but there were also many quality
hand-crafted items including silver jewellery,
tea glasses, Aladdin's lamps, and
embroidered textiles. Leather was popular,
with pouffes in various sizes and Moroccan
slippers or 'babouches'. The many orange
juice sellers did a roaring trade at only 4
dirhams (30p) a pop. I came away with bags
of saffron and the tagine spice ras el hanout.
Haggling with the stallholders for souvenirs
was a real highlight of the trip. Two of us had
a little side wager to see who could acquire
some argan oil for the lowest price. Attempts
to speak French or a few words of Arabic
went down well and often helped to secure a
better bargain, although English was widely
spoken and many stallholders had
smatterings of multiple languages. Happily,
all the warnings we had heard about
excessive hassling and dirty tricks proved
unfounded.
On our last afternoon we headed out en
masse for a walking tour of the city centre,
visiting sights such as the Koutoubia Mosque
(seen from the outside only as non-Muslims
are not permitted to enter). We rounded off
our trip by splurging on £16 cocktails at the
five-star La Mamounia hotel, interesting for a
peek at its beautiful gardens, well-heeled
clientele and exclusive ambiance so removed
from the seedy, shabby liveliness of the
souks. Louisa is already considering Istanbul
or Dubrovnik as next year’s venue for what
looks set to become an annual retreat; I for
one will definitely be signing up.
Sue translates from Dutch,
French, German and
Afrikaans into English. Her
specialisms are animal
health, veterinary medicine,
psychology. Contact:
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 16
Your committee under the spotlight
This time, it was Audrey Langlassé, ScotNet’s new Events Coordinator (West), who had to
endure my grilling. Here are her most interesting answers!
Audrey and her daughters, Garance and Anouk
As a child, I used to love… spending whole
days reading and rereading favourite books.
When I was a kid I wanted to become… an air
hostess to speak many languages and travel
the world…When I was about 8 or 9, my aunt
lent me a book she had read in her youth,
entitled Vicky, hôtesse de l’air by Helen
Wells. It was probably not a masterpiece, but
it stuck with me, and I read it over and over
again at that time. It was written in the early
1960s, when this profession was all about
glamour, skills and languages… an
atmosphere not very far from Catch me if you
can by Spielberg.
I fell in love with languages… In my first year
of primary school, when I read my first whole
book, at 6. It was Oui-Oui et le taxi jaune
(Noddy and his car) by Enid Blyton. I was
intrigued by the very odd name of the writer,
and when my mum told me “he” (l’auteur)
was English, it triggered endless questions
about languages, differences between
countries, meaning of words, etc. It was only
once at university that I discovered Enid, was
a woman’s name.
My life changed when… I started spending a
month every summer in a language school in
Weston-super-Mare from the age of 14 until
18. I then decided I wanted to focus on the
English language and teach it (and not be an
air hostess, an interpreter or a globe-trotter
reporter).
My life changed again when I put my
teaching job on pause to follow my husband
to the UK, initially for two years in 2002.
After 4 years, I decided to retrain to become
a translator which I had always loved at
university.
I sometimes dream… There would be 48
hours in one day and I could be in two places
at one time (although it sometimes happens,
see below).
The first thing I do when I sit in front of my
desk is… promising myself I will clear up the
clutter in the evening…
For me social media is... a great tool to be
used in conjunction with face to face
networking. I maintain my LinkedIn profile,
but it is all I can (and want to) do with so
little time on my hands.
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 17
My biggest contribution to the world…
Garance and Anouk my two daughters —
bookworms and already word lovers.
My favourite translation… So far, the one I
like best because it is very useful to family
and friends when they come to visit us is the
Glasgow city sightseeing bus tour. It also
fulfils my dream of ubiquity: I am with them
on the bus telling them all about Glasgow
while I can actually stay at home and work or
focus on preparing a nice meal for my
guests!
I love it when a client… thanks me for going
the extra mile or calls me an “eagle eye”.
I was nicknamed “oeil de lynx” from a very
young age by my mum, because I would
always spot things, particularly the ones that
weren’t meant to be spotted — stains on
clothes, Father Christmas using the same gift
wrap as the year before, etc… (actually, my
daughters do the same).
I am especially proud of... Having given my
daughters the opportunity of growing up
bilingual… Something I would have dreamt of
being when I was in France studying English.
I’m quite good at…
-Planning ahead and organising holidays,
birthday parties…
-Remembering silly anecdotes or details and
forgetting important facts.
I’m horrible at…
-Driving… I passed my test in France 20
years ago just to put it on my CV and
probably haven’t driven more than 48 hours
in total since then.
-Trying to understand how exchange rates
work…
♦
Vicky, hôtesse de l’air
(Livrenpoche)
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 18
Member news
With the introduction of the new ITI membership structure recently, quite a few people
have recently moved category within ITI. If this applies to you, please remember to notify
the Membership Secretary of any changes to your ITI membership status since you joined
the network. In particular, let the MemSec know when you upgrade to MITI, as your
details will then be made available to Joe Public online.
New members:
Nicky Brown: Having initially studied music
at university (Goldsmiths’ College), I
subsequently decided that my real passion
was for anything connected with Russia,
particularly Russian classical music. This lead
me back to university and I graduated with a
First Class Honours Degree in Russian
Studies and an MA in Applied Translation
Studies from the University of Leeds. Since
graduating in 2010, I have been working as a
sometimes full-time, sometimes part-time
freelance translator and have now decided to
put all my efforts into forging a profitable
(and interesting) full-time career in
translation. I have translated texts in a
variety of fields over the last five years
including literature, human rights and global
affairs but am looking to become more
specialised. I enjoy reading, walking and
eating, and spend most of my spare time
with my partner and our three-year-old son.
I’m very much looking forward to getting
away from my desk, out of the flat, and
meeting some other translators!
Emma Millar: I’m new to the ITI Scottish
Network and also rather new to the
translation industry. I’m from Edinburgh and
I studied MA Hons Applied Languages and
Translation at Heriot-Watt University. My
language pair is French/Spanish — English
and I currently work in the following fields:
politics/government, economy, environment
and travel & tourism. I hope to specialise in
the Food and Drink sector soon as I’m a real
foodie and I believe I’d enjoy working in this
field. Hope to meet you all soon!
Ali Walker: Having spent several years
working in administration and then going
freelance as a web designer/developer, by
2011 I had decided that I really missed using
my languages and translating (the best part
of my degree!) and started to contact
agencies for work. I now work from Spanish
& Portuguese into English, sometimes full
time, sometimes part time, depending on
demand, between that and my web clients
(and my two kids), and I’m loving (almost)
every minute of it. I have mainly been
translating general legal texts, which I enjoy,
and am looking to start specialising more in
contracts/T&Cs and insurance, alongside
travel/tourism and food & drink.
Eléonor Wapler: After reading English and
librarianship, I worked as a document
manager with an international asset
management company based in Paris. After a
while, however, I decided to give translation
a chance. I moved to Scotland and graduated
in translation with Heriot-Watt in 2007. I now
work as a freelance translator and enjoy
fiddling with words and text, a mug of
cooling coffee sitting on the desk! My areas
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 19
of specialisation are the environment,
sustainable development, maritime, asset
management and general law, but I
sometimes handle other texts. I also
occasionally work as an interpreter in the
Edinburgh area, in the Public Sector (police,
courts), business and tourism (whisky tours,
forestry). In my free time I enjoy navigating in
different international and cultural
environments. My hobbies are wild sailing on
the West coast of Scotland, extensive
reading, anecdotal writing and folk
storytelling. I also paint and draw.
Others:
Congratulations to Margret Powell-Joss
(English and German), Silvana Vitale (English
into Italian), Laura Ball (German to English)
and Louisa Davies (German to English) who
have all recently become MITIs. Well done! ♦
So who needs a translator anyway?
In this ad for Google Translate, the Swedish
word used here (‘tabell’) isn't the kind of
table you eat at, but rather one with
numbers, for example. The correct word
would be ‘bord’, which is also a much more
common translation for the word ‘table’ than
‘tabell’. But, hey, you didn’t expect GT to get
it right, did you? Contributed by Jenni Syrjälä.
Please send your own So who needs a
translator anyway? photos to
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 20
ScotNet grants
The ITI Scottish Network offers 2 levels of
grants to members as a contribution towards
the costs of attending ITI events:
1) Grants of up to £30 are available for
attending Scottish Network meetings.
2) ScotNetters may also apply for grants of
up to £70 for attending national ITI events.
How to apply for a grant
Contact our treasurer (currently Norma Tait)
at [email protected] before
registering for the meeting. Subject to
availability and meeting the eligibility criteria,
she will approve the grant and notify you.
In due course, forward her a copy of the
receipt for the event or transport expenses
and provide her with your bank details. She
will then pay the respective amount into your
account.
General conditions: Maximum one grant per
person per subscription year. You must be a
member of ITI, so Friends of the Network are
not eligible. Also members living in the
central belt are not eligible to receive grants
for network meetings in Edinburgh/Glasgow.
All recipients must be willing to contribute a
report on the event they attended to the ITI
ScotNet Newsletter.
The level of grants is reviewed every year at
ScotNet’s AGM. Under the current budget, 10
grants of £30 and 10 of £70 are available
each year. From time to time the committee
may also decide to offer additional grants to
enable ScotNetters to attend particular
events, such as they did for the 2013 ITI
Conference. ♦
Our accounts are healthy. Apply for a grant!
(Ken Teegardin)
Looking forward to the next issue…
Spring is almost here. Can you smell it? In our next issue, Siobhan Gorrie will be reporting about
an event entitled ‘Bilingualism evening in Edinburgh’ organised by the Scottish Finnish Society
and featuring our own ScotNetter Jenni Syrjälä. We will also have an interview with Deputy
Convenor Elena Zini. But there’s plenty of space left and, as always, I’d like to invite you to tell us
about your latest trip abroad, a book in translation you’ve recently read or your favourite piece of
software. Just drop me a line ([email protected])! ♦
ITI ScotNet Newsletter Page 21
Your committee at a glance
Convenor
& Deputy Webmaster
Marian Dougan
0141 9420919
Deputy Convenor
Elena Zini
07765 987207
Treasurer
Norma Tait
0131 5521330
Newsletter Editor
Isabel Hurtado de Mendoza
07762 300068
Membership Secretary
Ute Penny
01368 864879
Deputy MemSec
Nathalie Chalmers
01888 562998
Events Coordinator (East)
Angelika Muir-Hartmann
0131 3334654
Events Coordinator (West)
Audrey Langlassé
0141 5603482
Webmaster
Iwan Davies
01738 630202
