October 2016 - European Language and Cultural Events

1 October

CIoL Spanish Society AGM & Event Planning

Madrid

Spain

6 October 1.30-4.30pm

Dutch to French Translation Workshop

Designed for novices or those with limited experience

CBTI-BKVT

Brussels

Belgium

6-7 October

Common Sense Advisory Research-Based Workshop for Language Service Providers

Theme: Fuel Growth with Existing Accounts
Paris
France

7-8 October

Translation

and the Creative Industries International Conference

University of Westminster

London

UK

12 October 2016-15 January 2017

Beyond Caravaggio

Major new exhibition at 
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square
London
UK

13 October

Clear Communication Conference and Clear Communication Award 2016 

Translating Europe Forum

Tallinn
Estonia

13-14 October

Elia Networking Days

Brussels
Belgium

13-15 October

METM16

Mediterranean Editors and 
Translators Meeting 2016

Tarragona
Spain
Theme: Raising standards through knowledge and peer training

14 October

Romanian Translation Forum 2016

Representation of the European Commission in Romania

Bucharest
Romania

14-16 October 

Language Show Live

Olympia
London
UK

17-18 October

ICIT 2016

18th International Conference on Interpreting and Translation
London
UK

20-21 October

TTT 2016

4^th Translation Technology Terminology Conference

Portorož

Slovenia

21-23 October

23rd Meeting of the CBTI-BKVT’s Franco-German Network

Mons

Belgium

25 October

The new translator current trends and future prospects

Translating Europe Forum

Milan

Italy

27 October 2016

Creative Europe Showcase Conference – Culture in the Spotlight

BOZAR

Brussels

Belgium

27-28 October

Translating Europe Forum

Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) of European Commission
Brussels
Belgium

Theme: Translation Tools & Technologies

27-28 October

From Legal Translation to Jurilinguistics: interdisciplinary approaches to the study of language and Law

Universidad Pablo de Olavide

Seville

Spain

28 October

Sworn translator exams

CBTI-BKVT
Brussels
Belgium

Booking deadline: 14 October

NB: Inclusion in this list does not constitute endorsement of any conference, event or third party by Anglicity Ltd. This list is for information purposes only. All details should be checked on the organisers' websites, as they may be subject to change.

Gaudí's Barcelona

Is it possible to visit Barcelona and not wish to stay longer? I have long wished to return. My recent visit for the ELIA Together Translation Conference provided the perfect opportunity to see more. Park Güell and the Sagrada Família by Antoni Gaudí, Barcelona’s famous architect, were top of my list. I also wanted to find out more about Barcelona as a popular smart city. And try out my recently acquired Spanish...

Park Güell

On the Saturday morning I knew that I been right to extend my stay. I sat relaxing on a bench in warm Catalan sunshine in Gaudí’s Park Güell. The temperature hit 23°C that afternoon. T-shirt weather in February. I even had live Spanish guitar music nearby.

Park Güell: view in sunshine over Barcelona

Gaudí’s Park Güell was the result of an extraordinary patronage and friendship between the architect and Eusebi Güell. It was originally intended to be a British-style residential estate. That plan did not work out. Park Güell gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 1984. Seven of  Gaudí’s works now have this status. 

Inside the Porter's Lodge (see top photo), it was possible to see the historical pictures of the park's development and its two influential men. Construction started back in 1900.

Today, Park Güell provides Barcelona with a fabulous public space overlooking the city. Gaudí’s architecture has a dream-like quality. It combines a number of influences from the classical to modern. The end result is an eclectic mix and uniquely creative at the same time.

Basílica de la Sagrada Família

On the Sunday we went to see Gaudí’s most famous work, the Sagrada Família. Gaudí never lived to see it finished. In fact, work is still ongoing. The completion date seems to vary according to the source. 

It was interesting to see how more work had been done since my previous visit. Last time much of the inside was obscured by scaffolding. This time I could marvel at the coloured light streaming through the windows.

With Gaudí, everywhere you look you see amazing detail. For example, below is a photo of the statues above the entrance. The opposite side has statues in a completely different style. They are very angular. Modernist in style.

Details above the entrance to Sagrada Família

As you walk around, you find yourself constantly looking up to the Heavens. Gaudí was a very religious man. He devoted the final years of his life to his expiatory church and even lived on site.

Looking up at the ceiling of the Sagrada Família's nave

My few Spanish words came in handy. Knowing how to pronounce Spanish words correctly was a big improvement on my first visit. I didn't understand the Spanish and Catalan spoken around me at speed. It's frustrating for a linguist to go back to beginner's level. I bought a children's book about Gaudí in the Park Güell shop. It is the perfect inspiration to keep going.

I hope to return to see the Sagrada Família finished one day in all the glory that Gaudí intended.

Translators are like glue

 

Applying the glue behind the visual c. Patryk Kosmider

Professional translators are like glue... invisible glue. 

The aim is to make the join between two cultures as seamless as possible. 

It is easy to underestimate the value of a wordsmith's contribution to a marketing campaign. You don't see all the deliberations over the right term, tone or phrasing. Yet, without a translator's considered input, even the most brilliantly creative visuals can fall flat... or worse.

A pharmaceutical crisis
The importance of the glue reminds me of my first job at the UK sales agency of French glass manufacturers' Saint-Gobain Desjonquères. I worked for the pharmaceutical bottle division. 

One day, a buyer at one of our major pharmaceutical customers called urgently. Labels would not stick to our competitors' bottles. They had changed the coating specification.

It was a nightmarish situation for our customer. The production line was down and wasting money. Product was ready, but without viable containers. Orders were stacking up.

I arranged for the urgent delivery of all our existing factory stock. I also booked urgent new production runs with my French colleagues. 

I don't remember the exact figures now. I do remember dispatching millions of extra bottles to a very grateful customer that year.

The crisis came about because of poor bonding between the coating, glue and label.

Tales of woe  
The internet is littered with tales of woe because someone has cut corners with translation. Some brand-damaging stories are still shared decades later (as my old story above). Social media spreads these tales faster than ever before.

Choose the best
Many translators love to share these stories as examples of what can happen without their professional services. Personally, I prefer to try and demonstrate the positive. However, it isn't easy to see the glue when the bond is good. It is easy to think an alternative, cheaper solution might work ... until a crisis strikes.

Don't come unstuck. Stick with a professional translator.