Just 84 days, that’s 12 weeks to the mathematically savvy amongst you, separate us from the opening ceremony and commencement of the London 2012 Olympics.

With 204 nations expected to participate in 302 events over the course of 19 days, the eyes of the world will be on Britain, as our little island hosts the most famous international sporting event on the planet for the third time.

• London hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948
• It will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times

Here at Veritas, we’re understandably as excited about it as most, and Friday July 27 cannot come soon enough. For we acknowledge the sheer importance of so many languages and cultures converging on the UK, and the bid to bring about a lasting legacy of language learning.

A total of 8.8 million tickets were made available for the Olympics and a further two million tickets have been released for the 11-day Paralympic Games (27 July – 9 September), meaning London’s population is set to soar as the whole world seemingly descends on one place.

There are of course six other locations hosting events – Cardiff, Coventry, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, and Weymouth & Portland. Based in Swansea, South Wales, we’re fortunate enough to be situated just 40 miles along the M4 motorway from one of those host venues – the magnificent ...

It’s difficult to say the exact date when the first interpreters came along, as language interpretation, unlike written translations, leaves behind no physical trace. The oldest references to interpreting date back to 3000 BC, when the Ancient Egyptians had a hieroglyphic meaning “interpreter”.

Later on, the Ancient Greeks and Romans made use of slaves and prisoners of war, who had to learn several languages so they could interpret for the nobility. Learning the language of the people that they had conquered was considered undignified at that time.

Religion was the next factor involved in the progress of language interpretation. Interpreting has been used throughout history to teach religious beliefs and spread the word of many religions, such as the Koran and Christianity.

The Age of Exploration played a large role in the expansion of language interpretation. Interpreters acted as a connection between native populations and explorers; however the practice of interpreting wasn’t very highly regarded, and very often interpreters were considered traitors, but the truth is that they enabled many pacts and treaties.

The next important event in the history of interpreting was in the 20th century, when simultaneous interpreting was used for the first time at the International Labour Conference, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland in 1927. However, simultaneous interpreting was too costly and complicated to use during WWII. Interpreting was used on a wider scale in 1945, in the Nuremberg war crimes trial. From then on, simultaneous ...

A: Hundreds! India is home to 415 of the world’s 6,912 living languages (SIL Ethnologue), which accounts for around 6% of the languages spoken around the world today. Of course, these figures depend on how you define a language – there are many different dialects spoken in India, and the 1991 census recognised 1,576 languages being spoken as mother tongues.

So, if you’re visiting India and looking for interpreting services, it’s important to know which languages are spoken in the area you plan to visit. It’s also important to make sure that any interpreters you hire are fluent in the relevant dialect, as regional variations exist in many Indian languages.

The most widely spoken ‘language’ in India is Hindi – or, to be more accurate, the group of Hindi languages. Around 40% of India’s population speaks it, and Standard Hindi is one of India’s official languages, with English also used for official administration. However, each indian state is allowed to designate its own official language, and so some areas, such as Punjab and Orissa, have just one official language (Punjabi and Oriya, respectively).

According to figures given by the CIA, the most widely-spoken languages are: Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%. So you can see why ...

Medical interpreters play a vital role in healthcare, especially in countries whose population is made up of people from all around the world.

We have already posted a few blogs on medical interpreting, on how necessary the role of medical interpreters is for society, and how important is for them to have specialist training in the medical field.

But how can we ensure that competence and a high level of quality is displayed by interpreters in the performance of their job?

The truth is that regulation of the professional and legal status of interpreters working in healthcare sectors is rather vague in most countries.

Only some countries have introduced relevant legislation, and provided the adequate training and certification measures for medical interpreters, who are tested on various aspects of medical terminology, different medical specialities, cultural competence and language skills.

In other countries certification is not typically required to be hired as a medical interpreter.
According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, the number of medical interpreter jobs will grow by about 22% by the year 2018. This means that it will become increasingly important to have a way of regulating standards.

What do you think? Should medical interpreting be regulated? Should a common certification be created and medical translators should be asked for before being hiring?

Over the past few days, there has been heavy controversy surrounding the shift in the way that legal interpreters and court translation services are provided by the Ministry of Justice. The recent privatisation of translation and interpreting services was introduced last month after a £60M contract was signed between the Ministry of Justice and UK-based translation agency Applied Language Solutions.

Up until last month, the courts would generally have had their own pool of trusted legal interpreters employed by the public sector, who would be called upon when needed for a trial or hearing. Under the new contract however, all services will be provided by Applied Language Solutions and their own pool of interpreters. This transition has not been as smooth as both parties might have hoped, and after a somewhat shaky start courts are being allowed to revert to the old system while the MoJ and ALS do their best to work out the kinks.

Advocates for the switch-over are arguing that the savings being made with this contract will benefit the taxpayer; though it cannot be denied that they are also being made at the expense of the interpreter. What’s more, judges and lawyers are complaining of under-qualified interpreters turning up to a number of court cases, and arguably worse than that; interpreters are often not turning up at all.

Should we be surprised? Interpreter payment rates are being slashed by up to half in ...