First video call on the French government's own platform... which thinks I'm German so gives me all the instructions in German. Did a brief double take when I realised... mais bon 🤷‍♀️ Tout s'est bien passé

SURVEY: ➡️Help our member Tinka Stoessel (University of Geneva) and join her study about sustainability in the interlingual subtitling of Netflix projects targeting German as the target language🙏 (Survey to be filled out in ENG/DE)

The Department of Languages at @heriotwattuni.bsky.social is facing serious cuts with a proposal to make 11 of its staff redundant, stop offering undergraduate Chinese and German and eliminate intercultural studies courses. Please sign this petition: heriotwatt.web.ucu.org.uk/2026/02/05/s...

How could I forget to post *this* banger, not in English? @sarahpybus.bsky.social Peter Fox, Alles Neu youtu.be/qdtLCfEcPL4?...

Have you visited the Kittiwake Trust Multilingual Library yet? There are so many reasons to visit! This week's lineup:

Post a banger that isn't in English #kiswahili youtu.be/ftnccb-AOik?...

All welcome to our translation slam in Newcastle on 19 March!

Dragon of the day: Digital workflows and insufficiency technologies

The idea that aggregating all of the information on the internet leads to intelligence is being put to the test. LLMs are the perfect example of the computer science adage "Garbage In, Garbage Out".

It has gotten so bad that the @nytimes.com has stopped using the passive voice to describe the violence.

I know I'm late to the party, but here's a #ShoutOutForGerman! I'm glad I learned the language and think more people should be speaking it. Take that, Trump! (Thanks @annatwright.bsky.social for showing me this post #ITICommunity)

Amazing sob story: "ChatGPT deleted all the work I hadn't done" www.nature.com/articles/d41...

You’ve all read this, yes? www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

One of the most insightful political cartoonists of modern times.

Happy New Year! Who's coming along to our get-together at The Head of Steam in Durham on Wednesday 14th? See you from 6.30pm

termine.di.day #DIDit #DUTgemacht#DIDit#DUTgemachtOhne Unabhängigkeit keine Freiheit! Heute ist der erste Digital Independence Day (DID)! An jedem ersten Sonntag im Monat wollen wir ab jetzt aus einem Big-Tech-Gefängnis ausbrechen – und natürlich auch anderen dabei helfen. #DIDit #DUTgemacht

Dragon of the day: 'X when renting' rather than 'experimenting'

Dragon of the day: 'wee chap' instead of 'WeChat' #amtranslating

"WELL TELL HIM TO PUT IT BACK"

Today's typo: I've invented a new type of translation-adjacent writing for argumentative people, the 'commentrary' #xl8

People in Hexham demonstrate in support of plans for an art facility by world renowned artist Sir Antony Gormley.

Happy World Walrus Day! The English word walrus probably comes from Dutch and means “whale horse.” The Albanian name for a walrus, lopë deti, means “sea cow.” And the Navajo word for a walrus is tábąąstííntsoh bideeʼ hólónígíí. It means “big otter that lies on the shore, with tusks”

Did you know that the North East is home to the biggest Festival of Languages in the United Kingdom? The 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 is back from 6 January to 31 March 2026 expressyourselfne.com/2025/10/05/2... #xl8 #1nt #mfl

DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL 5PM ON MONDAY 17TH

There are so many fascinating aspects about the show (including the comic's author) and I've watched it twice now (ES audio/ENG captions, and ES audio/ES captions). One was #translation lead's decision to refer to the Malvinhas vs the Falklands for all the languages & Argentinian card game truca.

Oooh this will come in handy: stopcitingai.com h/t @stefanjudis.com

On Monday I presented at the online #APTIS25 conference alongside Kate Sotejeff-Wilson on 'Steps to bridge the divide between translation studies and professional practice', such as work placements and mentoring. I really enjoyed listening to other contributions - lots to think about. #ITICommunity

Register now for the Joint Translation Workshop (with YTI) on Poem/Song Translation! Online workshop from 17 November on Slack + in-person plenary on 29 in York. Registration closes 15 Nov. For full details + tickets: www.universe.com/events/joint...

#Audi kann ja nur „groß“ und völlig „überteuert“. Deshalb werden sie ihre Panzer-Karren ja besonders in #China nicht mehr los. Auch ihr „Flagschiff“ nicht: Den „e-tron“! Dazu haben deren unfähige „Sprach-Designer“ nicht aufgepasst: Im Französischen heißt „étron“: „Scheißhaufen“! Wie passend! 🤭

Sign the petition to get the UK Home Office to listen to translation experts before they blindly implement automated (AI-based) translation for asylum cases. If the Home Office is serious about protecting human rights, it must listen to those who work with language and law every day.

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

Another report that discusses translation and/or interpreting without consulting anyone who knows what they're talking about - ably debunked by Jonathan Downie! #xl8 #1nt

I took this picture of Olga and László in London in 2018. Congrats to Krasznahorkai and his translators, including George Szirtes and @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social, and long live a Central Europe free of dictators (foreign and domestic) and full of magnificent minds like these!

History repeats. That’s why in Europe we have the ECHR. 🇪🇺

Attended a great workshop on Museum Translation in Glasgow at the weekend! Thanks to the ITI Arts, Media and Tourism network #ITICommunity

Celebrating our 5000th article today! Thank you to all our readers for joining us in our journey 🙏

yeah we're into LLMs (Large Lamb-bridge Models)

Exclusive: Reform’s first London councillor is a “rogue landlord” with a 33-person HMO www.the-londoner.co.uk/reforms-firs...

Next up: drinks/food at The Forth, Pink Lane, Newcastle from 5:45pm on Friday 26 September. This is a joint social event with the Medical Network after their Newcastle workshop. Please comment below if you plan to come along

The European Convention on Human Rights came into force on #OnThisDay in 1953. All 46 Council of Europe member states have signed up to the #ECHR, an international treaty to protect people’s #HumanRights and fundamental freedoms. How does it work? ⬇️ www.coe.int/en/web/impac...

I have no idea where Libraria is but it certainly seems to produce a disproportionate number of book shepherds.

Today's marketing tip: if you have to advertise something as FUN in capital letters, it probably isn't. And people will be able to tell! #amtranslating

Today in AI Is Not A Good Source For Learning About The World's Most Misunderstood Body Part, meet this ChatGPT gem. Funnily enough, we're actually going to talk about how most of this is kinda sorta right (for small values of right), as a cautionary tale about generative AI.

#Must-Read Thought-provoking, even if grim, reporting on the impact of AI on the work of translaters and Interpreters. Thank you @bcmerchant.bsky.social for bringing their stories to our attention.

I am marking. I am currently resisting the urge to create a new 'QuickMark' shortcut saying 'Oh really?', and perhaps another one saying 'Why do you think that?' #AmMarking

You are now the ones who plant joy and a smile on my children’s faces, and you are the ones who can, with your support and standing by our side, send a message to the world that we need food to stay alive. You are now our only hope.”

Beautiful film by long-time pal Beatrix Wood @trixpixmedia.bsky.social on the incredible Scottish artist Tim Stead. Watch for free link below. Sculptor, furniture maker, visionary. #scottishartist. Have a look, @neilscott.substack.com @womenslibrary.bsky.social @glasgowbell.bsky.social

Hmm. English that only makes sense to French speakers?

Due to late cancellations, five singing residential tickets have become available for our July events at Mowden Hall, Northumberland. 3 are for the weekend of July 11th and 2 or weekend of July 18th. Grab them now at www.the-unthanks.com/product-cate...