Translation industry events, University of Bristol, spring 2017

We've got two exciting industry-oriented events coming up at Bristol later this spring:

Language jobs in the United Nations system 
Teresa Lander
5.15pm, Thursday 30 March 2017

Link Room 2
3-5 Woodland Road
University of Bristol - Arts Complex
Bristol
BS8 1TE

There are opportunities for more than just interpreters and translators in the United Nations. A whole range of other language professionals – editors, précis-writers, proofreaders – contribute to understanding between nations and the UN’s ideals of multilingualism. Come and find out more about the UN and opportunities for linguists. Advance registration is required, but the event is free - all are welcome!

Teresa Lander is a freelance translator, editor and report-writer, working mainly in the United Nations system. Her languages are French, Russian, German and Spanish to English. She also teaches editing and revision on the postgraduate Translation and Professional Language Skills course at the University of Bath.

More information and free online booking at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/language-jobs-in-the-united-nations-system-tickets-32705826006

The Importance of Translation for UK-China Trade and Investment

Jonathan Smith

5.15pm, Wednesday 26 April 2017
Room G77A, Arts Complex (entry via 3-5 Woodland Road)
School of Modern Languages
University of Bristol
Bristol
BS8 1TE

This event will highlight the many ways in which translation is a key aspect of business relationships between the UK and China. The talk will cover trade and investment links between China and the South West, the different factors that make China an attractive market for UK businesses, and the future of UK-China relations. There will be plenty of time for informal conversations over refreshments. Advance registration is required, but the event is free - all are welcome!

Jonathan Smith is Business West's Market Specialist for China, working primarily on the Extend Your Global Reach project. He has worked helping foreign companies of all sizes succeed in the China market through working at North Head, a boutique strategy consultancy in Beijing, and the China-Britain Business Council. He holds a masters degree from Peking University in International Relations and can speak Chinese. In his spare time Jonathan organises events for Sinophiles in Bristol.

More information and free online booking at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-importance-of-translation-for-uk-china-trade-and-investment-tickets-32811830067

United Nations online volunteering scheme

Many thanks to Ann M. at the University of Portsmouth for passing on details of the United Nations Online Volunteering Scheme. This includes all kinds of pro-bono online contributions to NGO work, including translation in a wide range of language pairs (scroll down for more details).

UN examinations for EN translators and editors

The United Nations have announced competitive examinations for English-language translators and editors:

July 11-12, 2012
United Nations, New York, NY, USA

The Secretariat of the United Nations is pleased to announce that competitive examinations for the recruitment of English-language translators/précis-writers and editors will be held respectively on 11 and 12 July 2012.  Details regarding eligibility requirements, deadlines and application procedures can be found at:
https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=LE.

For more information, please contact:

Examinations and Tests Section
Office of Human Resources Management
United Nations
New York, NY
ohrmlce at un.org


[As it happens I can't find any details at the web address given, which still only seems to be showing examinations up to May 2012, so I guess your best bet is to contact the email address provided. I'd welcome comments from anyone who has managed to track down the details on the website, or confirmation once the details actually become available! -Ed.]




http://www.careers.un.org/

jobs, volunteer opportunities

A few job snippets seen about the place today:  

The UN has announced this year's round of competitive recruitment examinations for this year on its careers Facebook page. At the time of writing, the same announcement does not seem to have reached the UN careers website, the Examinations and Tests Section or the Language Outreach Portal. Nevertheless, probably worth keeping an eye out, aspiring translators, editors and verbatim reporters into French, English, German, Russian, Spanish and Arabic...

Concordia University in Canada are advertising a one-year fixed-contract in-house position for an English to French translator.

Lots of jobs on www.toplanguagejobs.co.uk including a German-speaking account manager with thetranslationpeople in Birmingham; an in-house German to English translation post with Lingserve (Surrey/Hampshire area; six-month contract, possible longer-term position); freelance sports journalists and translators (and possibly interpreters? anyway, must know an awful lot about sport) fluent in Arabic, German or Spanish for a London-based multilingual media project.

Finally, for translators willing to contribute pro bono translations for good causes, the WikiProject Medicine/Translation Task Force looks like just such a good cause. The goal is to improve the quality of 80 key medical articles on Wikipedia, transfer them into simple English and then translate them into as many languages as possible.

EN-AR volunteer translators sought, DESA (United Nations)

Seen on the Translation Studies Portal:

English to Arabic translation of news stories

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
The task to translate news stories and web content highlighting the work of UN DESA within fields such as sustainable development, poverty reduction, population issues, economic analysis, trade data and the monitoring of the MDGs, relates to the goal of UN DESA to make all this information accessible in the six official languages of the UN, thereby enabling the world community to make informed decisions.
UN DESA seeks 2 voluntary translators. Each volunteer would be asked to translate one story per week from English to Arabic. Deadline would be 2-3 days. To assist in the translation efforts and to ensure correct terminology, UN DESA will provide a link to the UN Multilingual Terminology Database. DESA/CIMS will divide the work between the two translators, so that the workload will be approximately one translation per week.
Number of volunteers: 2

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
UN DESA works to promote development for all, assisting countries in agenda-setting and decision-making with the goal of meeting their economic, social and environmental challenges. The Communications and Information Management Service manages the department’s website with the goal of having online information available in all six UN languages. The department now seeks volunteers to assist with translations of information from English to Arabic.

Region or country: Global
Development topic: Development advocacy and strategies
REQUIREMENTS: UN DESA seeks volunteers with high-level language skills in English and Arabic. The volunteer should enjoy writing, be meticulous, accurate and flexible. Experience from working with professional translations is very much welcomed.

Areas of expertise: Humanities
Languages: English, Arabic
Hours per week  1-5
Duration in weeks 24
http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/opportunity/opportunity_form.html?id=17006

internship at UNOPS in Copenhagen

The UN is looking for a translation intern for the Communications Unit of UNOPS headquarters in Copenhagen for an October start. Applicants must be French native speakers translating from English and maybe Spanish as well. The internship is expected to last 4-6 months from October and is unpaid. The deadline for applications is 30 September.

Am forwarding this because it sounds like excellent work experience for the right candidate, but I am slightly wondering who would possibly be able to afford to work for free for 4-6 months, even with the promise of a greatly enhanced CV afterwards...? Hmmm. Any thoughts from readers of this blog, on internships, paid, partly paid or otherwise...?

United Nations Language Outreach Portal

 

Any of you interested in a career as a linguist with the United Nations might be interested to see their new Language Outreach Portal, which gives details of what kinds of language posts are advertised (translators, interpreters, verbatim reporters etc.), how the competitive examinations work and how to prepare for them. They have a summer internship programme (see also here); recruitment for this year closed in April.