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The annual EXPOLINGUA Berlin is the only international fair for languages and cultures in Europe’s German-speaking region and provides the most comprehensive market overview. The 22nd EXPOLINGUA Berlin will take place November 20 – 22, 2009. For over two decades, the exhibition has been offering exhibitors an ideal platform to present a diverse spectrum of products and services related to language learning and teaching, as well as cultures from around the globe. Each year, approximately 200 exhibitors from over 30 countries and more than 15,000 visitors attend this multinational event. At EXPOLINGUA Berlin, visitors can get in touch with different cultures and more than 60 languages. Experts provide first-hand information and advice on foreign language learning and teaching. Exhibitors include:
Among the roughly 15,000 visitors who attend are:
Visitors come to EXPOLINGUA Berlin to get expert advice on the wide-ranging options for learning and teaching foreign languages, as well as to participate in targeted networking with professionals in the language training industry. Language teachers, HR and training specialists, language travel agents, publishers, schools and cultural institutes come to EXPOLINGUA Berlin to make new contacts and refresh existing relationships.
Parallel to the exhibition, EXPOLINGUA Berlin’s seminar programme offers visitors a rich and varied series of lectures, workshops and mini-language courses. Visitors can choose from 100 presentations covering topics such as studying and working abroad, language tests and international educational programmes.
A varied cultural programme rounds off the exhibition each year, including film screenings.
Published: Friday 20 November 2009
European Commission representatives are in France this week to encourage young people to consider a career in languages, amid fears that the EU executive will face a "serious shortage" of French-language interpreters within five to 10 years.
The EU institutions spend around €1bn on translation and interpreting every year, representing about 1% of the EU budget or €2.50 per citizen.
72% of EU documents are originally drafted in English, 12% in French and just 3% in German, while 88% of the users of the European Commission's Europa website speak English, according to figures from the EU executive.
The Commission has already carried out awareness-raising campaigns to address shortages of English, Czech and Latvian interpreters.
A new awareness-raising campaign, which echoes similar efforts by the Commission in the UK to address a "succession crisis" in its English interpretation team (EurActiv 18/02/09), sees the EU executive, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice join forces to advertise careers as interpreters at the European Education Salon in Paris (19-22 November).
"Without an increase in the number of qualified graduates leaving interpreting schools and universities, the EU institutions risk losing almost half of their French-speaking conference interpreters over the next decade," the European Commission warns, fearing "a potential crisis" in finding replacements for retiring French linguists.
Students visiting the joint stand can obtain information about a career as an interpreter in the EU institutions, and try interpreting for real using the 'Speech Repository', an e-learning tool for interpreters which covers all 23 official EU languages.
Outlining the thinking behind the initiative, the Commission said its interpretation directorate wants "to make sure that young people know that interpreting can be an interesting career choice for university graduates with a good knowledge of languages".
The stand, at the Parc des Expositions in Paris, is complemented by a video clip hosted on YouTube, entitled 'Interpreting for Europe – into French' and aimed at audiences in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The clip can also be accessed via the websites of the EU and national institutions.
A similar campaign will be launched before the end of the year to encourage young German speakers to consider an interpreting career at the EU institutions.
Meanwhile, the Commission also has a presence at Expolingua Berlin , a two-day language show taking place in the German capital this week (20-22 November).
The event, held under the patronage of Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban, will see representatives of the EU executive make similar efforts to raise enthusiasm for careers in languages.
http://www.euractiv.com/en/culture/eu-addresses-shortage-french-interpreters/article-187506
12.10.2009 von Richard Schneider.
Until now, TERMIUM Plus, one of the largest terminology and linguistic data banks in the world, was available only to employees of the Government of Canada and to subscribers. Those days are over! All Canadians—and all Web surfers, wherever they are—can now consult the Translation Bureau’s flagship product free of charge.
You now have access to TERMIUM Plus through the Language Portal of Canada, a new site that gathers together a vast collection of linguistic and terminological references from many Canadian organizations.
More than 30 years of research and development have made TERMIUM Plus an outstanding information resource for all who work with languages. The data bank has almost four million terms in English, French and Spanish. Users can find translations for general and technical words and expressions in practically all fields of human endeavour: administration, informatics, environment, medicine, agriculture, industry, sports and the arts. TERMIUM Plus records are created by language professionals who keep a close eye on trends in language: that makes it a reliable and useful tool for everyone.
Do you want to obtain the latest terminology in nearly all fields? Find the equivalent in either official language of an acronym, initialism or abbreviation? Find an expression using keywords? Improve the clarity and effectiveness of your communications? Save time?
Finding the right words has just become easier with the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank. In recent years, TERMIUM Plus has grown to more than four million terms in English, French, and Spanish. There is also an interesting selection of writing tools to help you with any questions you may have about usage and style.
http://uepo.de/category/terminologie/
The European Commission is seeking to kill off excessive legal speak by setting up a hotline that will give officials advice on how to write more clearly, it emerged at a conference in Brussels yesterday (17 November). The Commission is currently preparing a guide to clear writing for its staff to be published in all 23 official languages of the EU, Paul Strickland, head of editing at the European Commission's translation department, told the 'Clear Writing and Better Regulation' forum in Brussels. The guide will be complemented by a hotline providing linguistic guidance.
Communicating EU policies accurately and comprehensibly to European citizens is a "daunting task" given the wide variety of cultures and languages involved, Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban told the conference. Such difficulties are confounded by the "diversity and complexity" of most EU policy issues, the commissioner added. "The sender of the message often has technically and legally complex information to convey," said Orban, explaining that "lawmaking in the EU is based on words inherited from different legal traditions and languages, so it is hardly surprising that the legislation which emerges does not relate to one particular language". The clarity of EU directives is often compounded by the fact that they are often drafted and redrafted by officials using their second or third language, and then amended by national ministries, the commissioner added. "Legislative acts should by definition be clear, precise and easy-to-understand on the ground, or the EU will be a collection of words rather than results," he warned. "It's not about grammar and syntax," added European Commission Secretary-General Catherine Day, but "how to communicate the exciting things we're doing to all citizens of the EU".
Eleanor Sharpston QC, an advocate-general at the European Court of Justice, warned that "the environment of EU judicial decision-making does not look very promising in terms of producing clear language". "There is an increasing perception in and outside the court that all that matters is speed. In difficult cases, speed may come at the expense of quality. Making sure that rulings are explained clearly, comprehensively and succinctly takes time," she said. Sharpston accused EU officials of "making assumptions about what is obvious" when drafting documents. "Not everyone realises that what they're writing will be translated," she said. The advocate-general advised member states to say what they mean when drafting legislation, "because they get awfully upset when the European Court of Justice does it for them". However, the Commission's Strickland warned that "the need for political compromise and the obligation on Commission officials to draft in a language that is not their mother tongue is not conducive at all to the highest standards of drafting". Anne-Marie Hasselrot, deputy director at the Swedish Ministry of Justice, agrees. "It's in everybody's interest for the language to be as good as it can possibly be, but this isn't always at the forefront of people's minds in the Council working groups," she said.
"Only if EU citizens understand the opportunities of EU integration can they realise the benefits and make it their own," EU Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban told the conference.
"Conventional wisdom has it that EU officials use special jargon and speak in code, using words like 'Lisbon', 'Bologna', 'three pillars' and 'Schengen'," Orban said, admitting that "EU-speak remains a mysterious mumbo jumbo for the rest of the population".
However, "some complexity is inevitable," he warned, because EU legislation is the result of painstakingly crafted compromises and as such "does not lend itself to simplification".
"All the EU institutions are in the same boat and have a common interest in promoting clear legal language," said Karl-Johan Lönnroth, director-general of the European Commission's translation directorate.
"There has been a trade-off between time and quality since time immemorial and the right balance is very difficult to achieve," Lönnroth added. He suggested that all EU documents be submitted for compulsory editing, and that recruitment should focus more on drafting skills.
This view was echoed by European Commission Secretary-General Catherine Day, who said "we need to make a constant effort to explain and clarify to people what we are doing in the EU institutions".
"Creating a culture of clear thinking in the EU institutions will help to produce clear legislation," Day said, stressing the need to ensure that "texts can be understood by non-experts in the field".
"It's the duty of every EU official to communicate the EU in clear language and in the citizen's own language," argued Paul Strickland, head of the editing unit at the European Commission's translation department.
"No culture of quality control has really developed, with consequences for quality that we can all see. There may not be people in units competent enough to take charge of quality control. The process of quality control is a random one," Strickland said.
"Clear writing is a way of thinking; an attitude. You have to have the citizen in mind when writing: it's a question of democracy. You need to reach out to the world outside when writing," said Anne-Marie Hasselrot, deputy director at the Swedish Ministry of Justice.
Jean-François Funck, a judge in the Belgian town of Nivelles, said the goal of clear language campaigns is "not to give citizens a dictionary of judicial terms, but to encourage judges themselves to use comprehensible language when making judgements".
"Writing clearly is not enough, because even the most simple of sentences can be ambiguous," said Gino Vesentini, head of the Italian department of the European Commission's translation service.
"When we're drafting an act, we cannot possibly foresee the use to which it will later be put," explained William Robertson, a coordinator in the legal revisers' group of the European Commission's legal service.
"Drafters must allow for the unforeseeable. Judges tend to look backwards at past cases, but legislative drafters look forwards to try to imagine cases," Robertson said.
EU officials offered hotline for 'clear writing'
A new website offers information about the project of carrying out a Europe-wide survey on language competences. The survey is an initiative of the European Commission to support the development of language learning policies across Europe. The survey will be carried out in 2011 and the first results are expected for 2012.
The survey is implemented by the Consortium SurveyLang composed of the following partners: University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations - coordinator, Centre International d'Etudes Pédagogiques (CIEP), Goethe-Institut, Instituto Cervantes, National Institute for Educational Measurement (CITO), Gallup, Universidad de Salamanca and Universita per Stranieri di Perugia.
The survey has been prepared in close co-operation with national authorities across the EU. Its results will provide policy-makers, teachers and practitioners with reliable comparative data on foreign language competences across the EU. It will also offer information on how demographic, social, economic and educational factors affect language proficiency.
The data collected in the survey will also be used to construct an indicator which will allow the EU to measure progress towards its objective of improving the learning and teaching of foreign languages across Europe.
The new website on the survey is currently available in English, with French, German, Italian and Spanish versions to be added shortly. Factsheets on the survey are available in the five languages as well as materials that will allow participating teachers and students to familiarise themselves with test.
13. November 2009
http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/news1938_en.htm
Under the watchword: “The more languages you know, the more of a person you are,” the European Commission reaffirms its own commitment to multilingualism in adopting today its first ever Communication on this issue. The document explores the various facets of the Commission’s policies in this field and sets out a new framework strategy for multilingualism with proposals for specific actions. These cover three distinct areas where languages are of importance in the everyday lives of people in the European Union: society, the economy and the Commission’s own relations with the EU’s citizens. The Commission calls on the Member States to play their part in furthering the teaching, learning and use of languages. To mark the occasion, a new Web portal on languages has been launched on the EU’s interinstitutional Website EUROPA, with access in all the 20 official languages.
In the words of Ján Figel’, Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism: “Languages are what makes us human, and Europe’s linguistic diversity is at the core of its identity. Exactly a year ago today, I was appointed as the first European Commissioner ever to be given specific responsibility for Multilingualism. The Communication adopted today is another clear signal of the Commission’s commitment to promoting languages and linguistic diversity in the Union.”
According to a recent Eurobarometer survey[1], half of the EU’s citizens say they can hold a conversation in a second language apart from their mother tongue. The Communication adopted today sees language knowledge as a desirable life-skill for all EU citizens, and presents the various actions set up by the Commission to promote and develop language skills and linguistic diversity still further. Through the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes, for example, the Commission puts 30 M€ each year into actions such as training, mobility of students and teachers and funding class exchanges.
The Communication stresses the importance of language skills to worker mobility and the competitiveness of the EU economy. The Commission will publish a study next year on the impact on the European economy of shortages of languages skills. And more needs to be done, it says, to strengthen the role of the multi-million-euro language industries which are continuing to grow in the European Union.
To do a better job of providing citizens with access to information about the European Union in their own languages, especially about legislation, procedures and policies, the Commission says:
The Commission will invest more in language-related research into ways of overcoming language barriers through new information and communication technologies, as well as in the field of social and human sciences.
Within Member States, the Commission proposes the adoption of national action plans to promote multilingualism, further improvements in language teacher training, adequate provision for early language learning, and more teaching of school subjects through a foreign language. The Commission recalls that at the 2002 Barcelona European Council, the Heads of State and Government called for at least two foreign languages to be taught from a very early age. It also asks Member States to review training programmes at universities to ensure that they equip students in the language professions with the right skills.
The Commission proposes the setting up of a High-Level Group on Multilingualism, made up of independent experts, to help it analyse the progress made by Member States and to provide fresh ideas, support and advice in future initiatives.
A ministerial conference on multilingualism will be held in the near future to allow Member States to share the progress made and plan future work.
The European Commission today also launched a Web portal on languages.[2] It will be an easy point of entry for the general public, the media or students to information about languages from the European Union. The subjects covered range from the Union’s policies to encourage language learning and linguistic diversity, by way of a review of language skills in the Union today, to the rules for the use of the EU's own official languages and a round-up of employment opportunities for professional linguists with the Union’s institutions. The content is organised in a logical and user-friendly way and, most importantly, all the navigational and presentational text in the portal itself is provided in all 20 official languages - reflecting the Union’s commitment to communicating with its citizens in their own language.
The Commission wants to use 'European Language Indicators' and technology to boost language learning. It is also stepping up efforts to provide EU citizens with clear, jargon-free messages.
Background:
The concept of multilingualism covers translation and interpreting services
as well as language learning. It is particularly dear to the Commission
given that the treaty refers to the respect of cultural, linguistic and
religious diversity as one of the core values of the EU. The Commission
is keen to anchor the principles of multilingualism within the European
Union as a whole.
Mother tongue plus two languages aim
Figel said that the fact that 50% of EU citizens can speak a foreign language
showed “good progress” towards the goal, set by member states,
of “mother tongue plus two foreign languages” for EU citizens.
However, he added that there were “huge differences” between
member states, ranging from some 90% of citizens of a country being able
to speak a foreign language to a third of citizens of another country being
able to speak a foreign language.
A high level group on multilingualism, made up of a group of independent
experts, would “hopefully” be set up “within the next
year”, said Figel.
Broadly speaking, he indicated that the Commission was moving from its focus
on language teaching and language learning, where it has spent 30m euro
on LINGUA for example, to a more “horizontal” approach in the
next seven year period, ie 2006 to 2013.
(…)
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Neuenheimer Landstraße 5
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Phone +49 6221 72730-15
Fax +49 6221 72730-12
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