Blogs Overview | AUSIT | Translators and Interpreters Australia

Welcome to the AUSIT Blog

Browse here for recent T&I-related research, developments and events, plus articles from our award-winning magazine In Touch, and other publications.

Students Excelling in 2024 (AUSIT Student Excellence Awards 2024)

Every year, AUSIT asks each of our Educational Affiliate institutions to nominate up to four graduating students – based on academic merit – to receive AUSIT Student Excellence Awards (SEAs).... more

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AUSIT member Kevin Windle shortlisted for the Australian Academy of Humanities’ Medal for Excellence in Translation 2024

Kevin is the first AUSIT member shortlisted for this prestigious biennial honour, which he shares with co-translator Elena Govor. Between 1912 and 1919, seven Russian newspapers were published... more

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Vale Sarah Jane Walls

OBITUARY AUSIT member Sarah Jane Walls lost her battle with a lengthy and progressively debilitating illness on 1 June. Her friend and colleague, AUSIT past president Yveline Piller, tells us a... more

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Sight translation – the lawyer’s perspective

LEGAL T&I AUSIT’s recent past president J. Angelo Berbotto is both a translator and a solicitor. As such, he read Victor Xu’s article ‘Translation and sight translation for family law... more

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AUSIT Stalwarts: David Connor

Asking around to find out who should next be interviewed for our AUSIT Stalwarts series, several people mentioned David Connor (Davo). When contacted, David replied that he was unable to participate... more

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Words for a world of food: the art of culinary translation

TRANSLATION: SPECIALIST AREAS As sharing food is a feature of cultures around the world, it’s not surprising that there is a need for translators to tackle the nuances of labels, ingredients and... more

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A tribute to some pioneer women translators

HISTORY OF T&I Having previously worked anonymously or hidden behind male pseudonyms, women translators began to sign their work with their real names in the 16th century. Often forgotten or... more

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MEMBER PROFILES: Farooque Ahmed Khan & Michèle Dreyfus

Farooque Ahmed Khan Translator or interpreter (or both): both Language(s) and direction(s): Bangla–English Location: Sydney, NSW Practising as a translator/interpreter since: 2000 Member of... more

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iCanCarePlan Project

RECENT RESEARCH Researchers: Professor Reema Harrison and Dr Ashfaq Chauhan Institution: Macquarie University, NSW Funded by: Cancer Institute NSW Some of the most crucial health conversations are... more

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Manner matters: insights from remote interpreting in Australian courts

RECENT RESEARCH Researcher: Ran Yi (諘窴) PhD supervisors: Professors Sandra Hale and Ludmila Stern, and Dr Natalie Martschuk Institution: UNSW, Sydney Imagine being required to appear in court,... more

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AUSIT ROLES: National PD Coordinator

In this series we’ve already covered 12 AUSIT roles filled by members. In this issue we look at one of the organisation’s ‘honorarium roles’ – that is, roles that involve more work than... more

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Feeling the signs: tactile Auslan

AUSLAN INTERPRETING This time last year we published an article by Auslan interpreter Meredith Bartlett on a major breakthrough in inclusion that resulted from the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s... more

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The Extinction of Irena Rey (2024)

BOOK REVIEW by Jennifer Croft reviewed by Elvira Bianchi ‘This ingeniously structured novel … humorously manages to free our profession of its invisibility cloak.’ This ingeniously... more

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AUSIT stalwarts: Lia Jaric

AUSIT Fellow Lia Jaric has been involved with the organisation since the early days, and not long after the NSW Branch was established she volunteered to set up and convene a committee on working... more

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AUSIT ROLES: Branch PD Coordinator

VIC Branch Committee on Degraves St – Jess is third from the left In this series on the wide variety of roles that AUSIT members take on to help keep the organisation ticking over, we’ve covered... more

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Improving workplace health and safety: TIA WA takes action

UNION ACTION The union Professionals Australia – through its Translators and Interpreters Australia (TIA) group – is the industrial voice of Australian T&I practitioners. TIA’s WA Branch... more

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Chief Justice and colleagues give talk on working with court interpreters

LEGAL T&I Chief Justice Helen Bowskill – the second female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, sworn in in March 2022 – is also Chair of the Judicial Council on Diversity and... more

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Translation and sight translation for family law cases

LEGAL T&I Chinese–English T/I Victor Xu has recently been engaged to provide language services for a number of family law matters, ranging from child custody cases to domestic violence orders.... more

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Machine Translation in Times of Crisis: Ethical Considerations

TRANSLATION & TECHNOLOGY Local and international restrictions implemented during the COVID pandemic affected how both individuals and organisations related to and navigated the world. While... more

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AUSIT Engage

AUSIT NEWS Have you checked out AUSIT’s exciting new online space for members, dedicated to getting together with colleagues from around Australia? If you are passionate about a specific area... more

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Conference Interpreting in China: Practice, Training and Research (2023)

BOOK REVIEW edited by professors Riccardo Moratto and Irene A Zhang reviewed by Dr Vera YZ Gu ‘The volume … adeptly documents the profession’s historical roots …’ This volume... more

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MEMBER PROFILES: Zhengyu (Yoyo) Fry and Alan Cockerill

Zhengyu (Yoyo) Fry Translator or interpreter (or both): translator Language(s) and direction(s): Chinese<>English Location: Canberra, ACT Practising as a translator/interpreter since: 2010... more

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Starting out: tips for establishing a freelance translation practice

SPECIAL FEATURE: PRACTITIONERS’ TIPS Translator Cathlin Barrett received her NAATI certification in French>English translation last March, joined AUSIT in April, graduated from Macquarie... more

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MEMBER PROFILES: Allison Sonneveld and Lulu Shen

Allison Sonneveld Translator or interpreter (or both): translator Language(s) and direction(s): Indonesian>English Location: , Canberra, ACT Practising as a translator/interpreter since: 2023... more

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AUSIT ROLES: presenter at AUSIT’s annual national conference

There are so many ways AUSIT members can contribute some of their time to the organisation. Here we ask five members how they feel presenting at the annual National Conference benefited AUSIT,... more

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Working in the sporting arena: three quick questions for Margaux Bochent, a T&I project manager for major international sporting events

In our last issue (pages 10–12), Jemma Ives and Nancy Guevara described creating live interlingual subtitles in real time for a major sporting event. We asked their manager on that project, Margaux... more

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Navigating cultural diversity in health care: the vital role of interpreting services

HEALTH CARE INTERPRETING Stefania Zen is the Education and Engagement Manager for Transcultural & Language Services and Narrun Wilip-Giin Aboriginal Support Unit, both run by Northern Health, the... more

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AUSIT stalwarts: Dave Deck

In Dave Deck‘s Member Profile in our December 2022 issue, he told us that he graduated with a degree in Indonesian and Malayan studies in the late 1960s, spent 24 years in the Royal Australian... more

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Rising to a challenge: Stephen F Nagle on life as a translator of poetry

PRACTITIONERS INTERVIEWED interviewed by Cristina Savin Stephen F Nagle When ex-medical translator Stephen F Nagle commented that a translation of a Rilke poem wasn’t very good, he was challenged... more

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The AUSIT Archive

AUSIT NEWS AUSIT was officially formed in 1987 as a professional organisation for interpreters and translators working in Australia’s multicultural society, and has since served as a model for... more

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Please Handle With Care: some tips on giving feedback

SPECIAL FEATURE: PRACTITIONERS’ TIPS Experienced translator, translation checker and proof-reader Eirlys Chessa recently emailed us this very handy set of tips ‘to pass on … to my... more

'In Touch' Editor

Translation revision clubs: what are they and how do members benefit?

SPECIAL FEATURE: PRACTITIONERS’ TIPS In early 2022, while completing her master’s in T&I, Caroline Darke was invited to join a translation revision club with three professional... more

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Educating Community Interpreters and Translators in Unprecedented Times (2023)

BOOK REVIEW edited by Miranda Lai, Oktay Eser and Ineke Crezee reviewed by Dr Ron Witton ‘Miranda Lai reminds us of the pioneering role played by Australia in this area …’ There are 17... more

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The Interpreter (2024)

BOOK REVIEW by Brooke Robinson reviewed by Daniel Collado Sanz ‘ We may sometimes forget how important our role is for others: how we connect strangers …’ The Interpreter is a 336-page... more

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A day in the life of a community interpreter – or am I also a guide and an advocate?

PRACTITIONERS’ STORIES Dorothy Prentice’s professional lanyards identify her as an interpreter, but some interpreting assignments go beyond interlingual transfer. Here she describes a pair of... more

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Providing PD: three quick questions for Fatih Karakas, head of training for a large language service provider

All Graduates provides T&I services across New Zealand and Australia, and also conducts PD programs via its training division, NEXPD (formerly Conversa Training). We asked All Graduates’... more

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AUSIT ROLES: Ethics and Professional Practice Committee member

For the tenth interview in this series on the various roles taken on within AUSIT by its members, we talk with Marita Quaglio, a member of the Ethics and Professional Practice Committee. Hours per... more

'In Touch' Editor

Yilin Wang on why, as a writer, she started translating Mandarin poetry

Yilin Wang Our October issue covered literary translator Yilin Wang’s recent battle with the British Museum, which had published her translations without her knowledge or permission. To find out... more

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AALITRA’s inaugural ‘Literary Translation Slam’

LITERARY TRANSLATION In what was probably a first for Australia, the Australian Association for Literary Translation (AALITRA) recently presented a ‘Literary Translation Slam’. One of the... more

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AUSIT Excellence Awards 2023

The AUSIT Excellence Awards recognise initiatives and activities by individuals and organisations operating in all sectors of the translating and interpreting industry. They encourage best practice,... more

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AUSIT National Conference 2023

23–25 November, University of New South Wales (Kensington Campus), Sydney, on Bedegal country There were almost 500 registrations for AUSIT’s 36th Annual National Conference and related events.... more

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AUSIT Translation Competition 2023

AUSIT NEWS (image: istock.com/mustafahacalaki) Each year, AUSIT invites students and recent graduates of its Educational Affiliate institutions to enter its Translation Competition. The focus... more

'In Touch' Editor

Inspired by a split second: recreating glimpsed summer scenes

CREATIVE PRACTICE Mandarin–English T/I Johnny Yi Wang recently submitted some digitally drawn images to In Touch, and we think these two fit really well into our Summer issue! We asked Johnny to... more

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MEMBER PROFILES: Giulyanne Sousa Costa and Julieta Carroll

Giulyanne Sousa Costa Translator or interpreter (or both): translator Language(s) and direction(s): Portuguese<>English Location: Perth, WA Practising as a translator/interpreter since:... more

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Forensic transcription and translation: so much responsibility, so little guidance

FORENSIC T&I T&I practitioners and educators Dr Miranda Lai and Steve Elkanovich share a wealth of experience in working with law enforcement agencies, including providing language services... more

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On your marks … get set … subtitle!

SUBTITLING Delivering live subtitles for a major international sporting event in more than one language is a race in itself. Live subtitlers Nancy Guevara and Jemma Ives share their experience... more

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One translator upholds the rights of all by successfully taking on ‘the Establishment’

SPECIAL FEATURE: LITERARY TRANSLATION, PART 4 Over recent months, award-winning Chinese–Canadian writer, poet, editor and translator Yilin Wang has successfully taken on the British Museum over... more

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Some Advice for Literary Translators

SPECIAL FEATURE: LITERARY TRANSLATION, PART 4 During this year’s London Book Fair (18–20 April), Publishers Weekly published some advice for aspiring literary translators from experienced... more

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Translators (film review)

directed by Rudy Valdez (2023) presented by U.S. Bank reviewed by Tania Pineda-Stuart ‘… it’s hard … sometimes I don’t know the word.’ Simple details and characters make a story.... more

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Teaching translation: three quick questions for Anna Gadd, coordinator of a master’s program in translation

The University of Western Australia’s Master of Translation Studies program is offered in 10 languages. We asked the program’s coordinator, Anna Gadd, a few questions about the translators who... more

'In Touch' Editor

… and who are you?

POEM … and who are you? I am the Interpreter who speaks your words in another language but … I am not your Spokesperson. And words you hear from me may sound like advice but … I am not... more

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2023’s excellent students (AUSIT Student Excellence Awards 2023)

AUSIT NEWS Every year, AUSIT asks each of our Educational Affiliate institutions to nominate up to four graduating students – based on academic merit – to receive AUSIT Student Excellence... more

'In Touch' Editor

ChatGPT and translators: neither doomsday nor a panacea

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS There’s a lot being said about ChatGPT, and AUSIT Senior Member Sam Berner has – not surprisingly – found it hard to condense all she’s learned about the ‘chatbot’... more

'In Touch' Editor

AUSIT stalwarts: Ludmila Stern

For the third in our series of interviews with long-standing AUSIT members who have contributed to the organisation and/or the T&I profession in Australia over many years, In Touch Editorial... more

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The pros and cons of machine translation in subtitling: my quality-checking experience

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS Chinese–English T/I Alisa Tian works in subtitle translation for two of Australia’s most influential current affairs programs: Insight and Dateline, both on SBS TV. Here she... more

'In Touch' Editor

Developing inclusive LGBTIQA+ terminology resources for T&I

RECENT RESEARCH Researchers: Miranda Lai, Erika Gonzalez Garcia and Jacqueline Skewes Institution: RMIT University, funded by the City of Melbourne From late 2021 to mid-2023, RMIT worked on a... more

'In Touch' Editor

MEMBER PROFILES: You (Claudia) Zhou and Alba Barrientos

You (Claudia) Zhou Translator or interpreter (or both): both Language(s) and direction(s): Mandarin–English (interpreter) & Chinese>English (translator) Location: Hobart, TAS Practising as a... more

'In Touch' Editor

AUSIT ROLES: Editorial Committee member, In Touch magazine

As the aim of this series is to look at the wide variety of roles that are taken on by AUSIT members, we’ve decided that it’s time we looked at ourselves! So, in this issue we talk to Nicola... more

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MEMBER PROFILES: Emily Plank and Isabel von Prollius

Emily Plank Translator or interpreter (or both): translator Language(s) and direction(s): German, French & Spanish>English Location: Perth, WA Practising as a translator/interpreter since:... more

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Translating ideophones: after the theory, the practice

SPECIAL FEATURE: LITERARY TRANSLATION, PART 3 Following on from her article on translating ideophones in our April issue, T&I master’s student Laura Fritch reports on how she went with her... more

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Language for the mind: three quick questions for Maria Cassaniti, manager of a multicultural mental health centre

Transcultural Mental Health Centre is located in Parramatta, the heart of Sydney’s ethnically diverse western suburbs. We asked TMHC’s manager, Maria Cassaniti, a few questions about how her... more

'In Touch' Editor

AUSIT members involved in making juries more inclusive

INDUSTRY PROGRESS In April 2021, the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) interviewed AUSIT’s Immediate Past President Erika Gonzalez Garcia and Auslan interpreter Meredith Bartlett for their... more

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Birthday Book of Storms (Scrisorile corbului): a journey across languages

SPECIAL FEATURE: LITERARY TRANSLATION, PART 3 In 2021, playwright R. Johns engaged literary translator Cristina Savin to translate her play Birthday Book of Storms into Romanian. As Cristina... more

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Seniority in AUSIT

Karine Bachelier If you’ve been working in the T&I field for a decade or more, you may be eligible to become an AUSIT Senior Member. With the two new Senior Members featured here swelling the... more

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AUSIT stalwarts: Adolfo Gentile

To continue our series of interviews with AUSIT members who have contributed to the organisation and/or the T&I profession in Australia over many years, foundation member Dr Adolfo Gentile is... more

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Assessing career pathways and the viability of the T&I profession

RECENT RESEARCH Researchers: Erika Gonzalez Garcia and Jacqueline Skewes Institution: RMIT University, funded by Translators and Interpreters Australia* As is well known, the translating and... more

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A member of AUSIT … living overseas

When translator Ilgin Yildiz took part in our regular Member Profiles feature in 2021, we noticed that she was living in Istanbul. Ilgin has maintained her AUSIT membership since returning to live in... more

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I’ll just put you on hold …

PRACTITIONER TIPS Periods of time – of varying lengths – spent ‘on hold’ are a consistent feature of telephone interpreting. Whether this downtime is seen as a bane or blessing depends on how... more

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AUSIT National Council Statement on the Voice referendum

The Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT) is the peak professional body for Australian translators and interpreters, and the author of the Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct in... more

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AUSIT Translation Competition 2023

*** T&I students and recent graduates *** (*** experienced translators: see call below for assessors ***) entry is now open for AUSIT Translation Competition 2023 (image:... more

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AUSIT ROLES: Branch Membership Liaison Officer

In this series on the roles – both voluntary and remunerated – fulfilled by AUSIT members, we’ve covered six roles to date. Haven’t found one that you think would suit you yet? Don’t... more

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A novel in English … with Māori … translated into Rioplatense Spanish*

SPECIAL FEATURE: LITERARY TRANSLATION, PART 2 Uruguayan-born author, editor and English-to-Spanish translator Rosario Lázaro Igoa was intrigued to be asked to translate a novel that has Māori words... more

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Ozterps: an exciting new PD option for conference interpreters

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Carina interpreting in one of the sessions The Queensland Branch’s Chair, Carina Mackenzie, had often heard of ‘in-person practice groups’ for conference interpreters... more

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MEMBER PROFILES: Mariana Figueiredo Cordeiro da Silva and Victor Xu

Victor Xu Translator or interpreter (or both): both Language(s) and direction(s): Mandarin<>English Location: Canberra, ACT Practising as a translator/interpreter since: December 2006 Member of... more

'In Touch' Editor

Alison Rodriguez, President of FIT (Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs / International Federation of Translators)

interviewed by In Touch’s Editorial Committee In September 2022, Brisbane-based translation practitioner Alison Rodriguez was elected to the presidency of FIT, the ‘voice of associations of... more

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Professional ID for T&I: NAATI’s new digital ID and stamp

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS NAATI has developed a new digital ID system for translators and interpreters, including a much requested digital stamp. In Touch’s T&I Editor Hayley Armstrong asked... more

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AUSIT stalwarts: Barbara McGilvray

INTERVIEW SERIES In Touch is starting a series of interviews with longstanding AUSIT members who have made significant contributions to the organisation and/or the T&I profession over many years.... more

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Tackling long sentence translation: a linguistic perspective

RECENT RESEARCH Researcher: Alisa Tian Supervisor: Mira Kim Institution: School of Humanities and Languages, UNSW Long sentences are often considered difficult to translate. However, the challenge... more

'In Touch' Editor

Fast subtitles cause superficial reading: evidence from eye movements

RECENT RESEARCH Researchers: Sixin Liao, Lili Yu, Jan-Louis Kruger, Erik D Reichle Institution: Dept of Linguistics & School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University Recent research has... more

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LGBTIQA+ refugees and asylum seekers: considerations for interpreters

RECENT RESEARCH Researcher: Elizabeth Schmidt MRes supervisors: Kerry Robinson and Nichole Georgeou Institution: Western Sydney University The importance of trust … cannot be overstated.... more

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Small steps lead to a career path: finding passion for interpreting through a desire to understand

When AUSIT National President J Angelo Berbotto was introduced to Patrick Parsons – a student member volunteering at the organisation’s National Conference 2022 last November, and about to... more

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Community Translation: Research and Practice (2023)

BOOK REVIEW edited by Erika Gonzalez, Katarzyna Stachowiak-Szymczak and Despina Amanatidou (2023) reviewed by Ron Witton The 10 chapters in this very useful volume report on contemporary research in... more

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It’s no joke: a mistranslation sparks outrage

QUALITY ASSURANCE English>Arabic translator Bayane Abou Saada has a folder of screenshots on her phone dedicated to poorly translated ads, some of them minor. But when a recent mistranslation... more

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The Translator’s Visibility: The Case of Muraoka Hanako

SPECIAL FEATURE: LITERARY TRANSLATION, PART 2 The title of this article by Akiko Uchiyama alludes to translation theorist Lawrence Venuti’s highly influential book The Translator’s Invisibility:... more

'In Touch' Editor

Translating the ‘untranslatable’: ideophones

SPECIAL FEATURE: LITERARY TRANSLATION, PART 2 While studying for her master’s in translation, budding Japanese>English practitioner Laura Fritch has developed a passion for ideophones. For this... more

'In Touch' Editor

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