News

In the News

• EULITA
  The establishment of an association of legal translators and interpreters, EULITA, took place during a congress in Antwerp in November 2009. Information about the procedure for applying for membership in EULITA, the application form, and information about membership fees are now available on the EULITA website.
• Scholarships for translators in training
  The Romanian Cultural Institute every year offers two types of scholarships for translators of Romanian literature.
  The aim of the scholarship programme is to train a new generation of translators of Romanian. The selected candidates have the opportunity to spend a period of time in Romania in order to establish direct contact with the Romanian literary and cultural milieu.
• DGT Study and Conference - Size of the language industry in the EU
  In the light of the rapid growth of the language industry, the European Union’s Directorate-General of Translation undertook a survey covering translation, interpreting, software localisation, website globalisation, translation technology and related fields. Includes country fact sheets. This conference is also webstreamed.
• Accurate translation is vital
  Letter from the American Translator Association to President Obama : “we urge you to take a long-term approach to language security by investing in human skills and promoting greater awareness of and expertise in foreign languages. » See also the interview of ATA president Stejskal.
• EuroSign Interpreter Project
  CCE is delighted to announce a major grant for the EuroSign Interpreter Project, awarded by the EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency under its Lifelong Learning Programme. The project, to run for two years, will develop and pilot materials to train people who are bilingual between two different sign languages as interpreters, a qualification yet to exist in Europe.
• Language portal of Canada
  Now online! Through this portal, you can obtain access free of charge to TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank. Finding the right words has just become easier with TERMIUM Plus®.
• National Certification of Medical Interpreters
  was Launched in the US at the International Medical Interpreters Association Conference on October, 10th 2009 in front of 600 medical interpreters. See press release.
• Terminology awards 2010 : Call for nominations
  The International Terminology Awards are administered by the European Association for Terminology in association with TermNet in order to promote research and development in the field of terminology and support future terminology activity by rewarding the work of up-and-coming researchers in the field. Details »

  The awards 2010 are open to candidates from all over the world. The evaluation of the theses and/or dissertations received will focus on the innovative content of the works and on how they contribute towards further developing applied research and development in the field of terminology.
  The Award Ceremony will take place on the occasion of the Fifth Terminology Summit which will be held in Budapest (Hungary) on November 12th and 13th, 2010.

  Candidates are required to submit their candidature before 30 November 2009.

  Contact :
  term@eaft-aet.net
  EAFT Secretariat
  Centre de Terminologie de Bruxelles
  Rue d'Arlon, 11
  B - 1050 Bruxelles (Belgique)

  In attached file you will find the REGULATIONS for the International Terminology Awards (in English only).

• Translation under the spotlight in Malaysia
  The Malaysian Translators Association, a recent member of FIT, welcomed FIT president Marion Boers to their 12th international congress, with the theme "The Sustainability of the Translation Field". The programme highlighted many of the problems experienced in a country with a language of limited diffusion.
• Next FIT Congress date confirmed
  FIT has set the date for its next statutory congress in San Francisco as 30-31 July 2011, with the open congress to be held on 1-4 August 2011.
• The new FIT Flash
  More comprehensive and interesting than ever, the new FIT Flash is a sign of the new energy driving the committee. Various committees are gearing up to defend translators’ rights in all four corners of the world.
• The Language Industry Association (AILIA) in Canada is now offering Canadian translation service-providers the possibility of gaining ISO, CEN and CAN certification.
• Fit Executive committee in Shenzhen
  At its latest meeting, held between 24 and 26 April 2009, the FIT Executive Committee (EC) was honored to be hosted in Shenzhen, China, by the Translators Association of Shenzhen (TAS) and the Translators’ Association of China (TAC).
• Salzburg Seminar - Critical Role of Translation in a Global Culture Considered
  The worrying professional position of literary translators was the focus of the Salzburg Global Seminar "Traduttore Traditore?" between 21 and 26 February. FIT President Marion Boers and FIT Vice-President Miriam Lee were among the participants. Resume and official report.
• FIT’s Regional Centre for Latin America (CRAL) was represented at the World Congress on Specialized Translation in Havana in December 2008. The Congress drew up a list of recommendations. Further information on CRAL’s participation is available.
• Tribune internationale des langues vivantes
  We are pleased to announce that Issue No. 45 of the International Forum of Living Languages is out. It contains the most of the presentations from the second Translatology Meeting Journée de la traductologie de plein champ.
• Literary Translators. The European Council of Associations of Literary Translators (CEATL) has put out the first comparative study on the living and working conditions of literary translators in Europe.
• Call for papers of the University of Portsmouth “The Translator as Writer”. Central to the translator’s skill set is the ability to write. This conference will explore the interfaces between subject expertise, writing and translation.
• Call for articles in the special issue Science in Translation - The Translator. The editors invite contributions offering theoretical and empirical perspectives on any theme relevant to the translation and the translators/interpreters of science.
• Paul Celan Fellowships A call has been issued for applications for Paul Celan Fellowships for Translators for 2009/2010. Applications close 31 March 2009. The Paul Celan Fellowships support East-West, West-East and East-East translations of canonical texts as well as contemporary key works in the Humanities, Social Sciences and in the field of Cultural Studies. Special emphasis is put on translations of relevant works written by East European authors and/or by female scholars.
• Translation Research Summer School - Funding opportunity One full scholarship (covering fees, travel and accommodation) is now available for current or future PhD students to participate in the 2009 Translation Research Summer School UK which will take place in Edinburgh, UK, from 15 to 26 June.
• Tribune internationale des langues vivantes We are pleased to announce that Issue No. 45 of the International Forum of Living Languages is out. It contains the most of the presentations from the second Translatology Meeting Journée de la traductologie de plein champ.
• Call for Papers 3rd International Media for All Conference, "Quality Made to Measure", Antwerp, 22-24 October 2009
• Professorships at the University of Macao
• In memoriam Henry Fischbach
• New book on telephone interpreting released
• United Nations Exams for English-language Editors and Translators
• Professorships at the University of Ottawa
• Editing for Translators - Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation at the Monterey Institute
• International Colloquium of Translation - Istanbul (Oct. 21-23, 2009)
• A sign language interpreter at the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
• Paul Celan Fellowship for Translators 2008/2009
• Copenhagen Business School closes down interpreter - and translator courses
• Assassinations of Iraqi Translators and Interpreters

From our members

• TAC: Former Foreign Minister Elected TAC President. Report on the sixth National Congress of TAC in Beijing.
• Attempted misuse of volunteer translators: ATA intervenes
  FIT has been made aware that LinkedIn, a network of experienced professionals from around the world, recently reached out to its own members who identified themselves as translation professionals and inquired about the possibility of "crowdsourcing" localization of the LinkedIn website into a number of languages (i.e., having the website translated for free). The American Translators Association (ATA) reached out to the media as well as LinkedIn to explain the role of professional translators. You can see ATA’s press release and letter to LinkedIn’s CEO. FIT fully supports ATA's position.
• A special information session on the French legal system called Horizon Justice Française organised by the French Translators Association, SFT, will be held on 7–9 October at the Tribunal de Grande Instance (Regional Court) in Paris. Check out the preliminary programme.
• Recent FIT member, the Federation of Translators and Interpreters of Macau, is organising the 6th Asian Translators' Forum, to be held in Macau in November 2010. Click here for the first announcement and call for papers
• China International Summit on Business Globalization & 2009 China International Translation Industry Forum, to be held April 23-24, 2009 in Shenzhen, China, will help multinational corporations to find quality LSPs and LSPs to better understand the needs of their clients. Best practices will be shared and management issues, including the impact of the world financial crisis on the GILT industry will be discussed. The theme is Translation and Localization: A Driving Force for Business Globalization”. The event will be co-hosted by the Translators Association of China (TAC), the Translators Association of Shenzhen (TAS) and the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA). For more information about the forum, please visit the forum website
• The 2009 theme for International Translation Day invites translators around the world to take a fresh look at why and how it pays to join forces. The days of the fiercely solitary translator working in splendid isolation are numbered, say many industry observers. Not that massive collectivization is in sight: in this language-sensitive profession—or, more accurately, set of professions—a large share of added value remains intensely personal
• A Czech version of Translation buying a non-commodity has been out for several months, and electronic versions in both French and Czech are now being finalized
• International conference on translation studies concludes on a very positive note The recently concluded International Conference on “Translation Studies: Theory and Application” (December 29-31, 2008) organized and hosted by the LN Mittal Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT), Jaipur, created a milestone for translation professionals and academicians. »
• Survey of Rates of the Swedish Association of Professional Translators
• The French translators' association SFT will hold its annual celebration of International Translation Day on December 5 at the striking Cercle National des Armées on Place Saint Augustin in central Paris. / SFT
• The results of the SFT's investigation fo the translation market in France are now available (in French only)
• TAC Holds a Series of Public Activities in Celebration of International Translation Day

From our committees

• Eulita
  The establishment of an association of legal translators and interpreters is expected to take place during a congress in Antwerp between 26 and 29 November 2009. The new association will represent legal translators at national and European institutions. Details, mission statement and program.
• The new Committee for the International Database of Complaints and Disciplinary Decisions has launched a call for nominations. More information on the Committee page.
• The website committee is pleased to announce that the FIT member associations can now post their events of international interest on the calendar using their access code. This calender is intended for the publication of information on all conferences and symposiums throughout the world. If your organisation is not a member of the FIT, please contact the .
• Regional Centre FIT Europe: At the 6th General Meeting held in Paris on 6th December 2008, a new Steering Committee was elected for a three-year term
• Reports of the FIT Committee for Court Interpreting and Legal Translation
• Terminology Week in Canada – October 1 to 10, 2008, Gatineau, Québec, Canada
• Terminology Committee - Liaison Report – ISO Technical Committee 37 and INFOTERM / Organization Chart
• Activities of FIT Committee for Court Interpreting and Legal Translation
• FITLIT at the Frankurt Book Fair 2007
• Survey of the FIT Committee on the Status of the Translation and Interpretation Profession

Calls for papers

• Journal of Specialised Translation: Special issue on translation and training
  Deadline for submission of proposals: 31 January 2011
• XIX^th FIT World Congress
  San Francisco, US, 1-4 August 2011
  Deadline for submission of proposals: 10 December 2010
• 2010 AUSIT Biennial National Conference
  Fremantle, Western Australia, 5-6 November 2010,
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 May 2010
• TM-Europe 2010 International Translation Management Conference
  Kraków, Poland, 30 September-1 October 2010.
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 7 May 2010
• Translation and Interpretation in a Multilingual Context
  International Conference on Translation and Interpretation
  Bangkok, Thailand, 1-3 November 2010
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 June 2010
• Traduction,  terminologie,  rédaction  technique:  des ponts  entre  le  français  et  le  portugais.
  Paris, France, 13-14 January 2011
  Deadline for submission of abstracts:15 April 2010
• International Conference on Medical Interpreting
  Boston, USA Harvard Medical School Conference Center
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 March 2010
• 4th International Conference on the Translation of Dialects in Multimedia
  University of Bologna at Forlì (Italy)
  13-14 May 2010
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 March 2010
• The Author-Translator in the European Literary Tradition
  The recent `creative turn´ in translation studies has challenged notions of translation as a derivative and uncreative activity which is inferior to `original´ writing. Commentators have drawn attention to the creative processes involved in the translation of texts, and suggested a rethinking of translation as a form of creative writing.
  Swansea University, 28 June - 1 July 2010 – Call for papers.
• Emerging Topics in Translation and Interpreting
  An International conference hosted by the Dipartimento di Scienze del Linguaggio, dell’Interpretazione e della Traduzione (DSLIT) in collaboration with the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori (SSLMIT)
  University of Trieste, 16-18 June 2010. Look in the first circular. Abstracts must be received by 31 January 2010.
• International Conference "Socio-Cultural Approaches to Translation: Indian and European Perspectives"
  10-12 February 2010 University of Hyderabad, India.
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 October 2009
• Fourth Asian Translation Traditions Conference
  Date and venue: 15-17 December 2010, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 December 2009
• Academy of Graduate Studies, Tripoli, Libya
  School of Languages, Department of Translation. 5th Annual Translation Conference.
  Deadline for submission of abstracts: 15 October 2009
• Conference: The World in Crisis – and what about the language industry? (November in Geneva)
• The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Award for Translation invites nominations for 2009.
• Call for papers, Ethics and the Curriculum: Critical Perspectives Special Issue of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, Volume 5, Number 1, 2011.
• Call for papers of the University of Portsmouth “The Translator as Writer”
  Central to the translator’s skill set is the ability to write. This conference will explore the interfaces between subject expertise, writing and translation.
• Proposals for papers Between Cultures and Texts: Itineraries in Translation History” in Talinn (Estonia)
  An abstract no longer than 200 words (in either English or French) should be submitted by 30 September 2009 at the latest.
• Proposals for papers Between Cultures and Texts: Itineraries in Translation History” in Talinn (Estonia). An abstract no longer than 200 words (in either English or French) should be submitted by 30 September 2009 at the latest.