News
Cynhadledd ar-lein y CIOL – 21.03.2024.
Diolch i’r Gymdeithas am gael treulio diwrnod difyr yn gwrando ar arbenigwyr iaith a chyfieithu o bob maes ac o bob cwr o’r byd yng nghynhadledd ar-lein y CIOL. Cawn ein hannog gan y Gymdeithas i fanteisio ar bob cyfle i ehangu ein profiadau proffesiynol a buaswn yn annog unrhyw un i gymryd cip ar y cyfleoedd datblygiad proffesiynol mae’r CIOL yn eu cynnig gydol y flwyddyn.
Er mai cynhadledd ar-lein oedd hi doedd hi ddim yn drwm o gwbl, gyda 6 sesiwn amrywiol. Roedd thema gyffredin gyda sawl un o’r siaradwyr yn canolbwyntio ar y datblygiadau mewn technoleg a phwysigrwydd parhau i ddysgu a datblygu ein dealltwriaeth o dechnoleg a sut gallai fod o fudd i ni yn ein gwaith.
Maha El-Metwally oedd yn agor y gynhadledd gan drafod yr heriau cyfoes a’r angen i barhau i ddysgu am ddatblygiadau newydd mewn technoleg a sicrhau bod llais cyfieithwyr yn cael eu clywed wrth i dechnoleg ddatblygu. Rhaid peidio â bod ofn cysylltu â’r cwmnïau mawrion i egluro sut gallen nhw wneud bywyd yn haws i gyfieithwyr medde hi!
Cawsom flas ar yrfa Guilia Lucania sy’n arbenigo mewn cyfieithu a llunio testun marchnata yn ymwneud â’r diwydiant bwyd a diod ac roedd hi’n sôn am bwysigrwydd deall cyd-destun diwylliannol yr hyn rydyn ni’n ei gyfieithu, yr angen i ddarllen yn eang a blasu digon o fwyd a gwin wrth gwrs.
Eglurodd Michelle Sheehan sut roedd hi’n denu myfyrwyr at ieithyddiaeth wrth i niferoedd sy’n astudio ieithoedd barhau i ostwng a Bozena Pajak wedyn yn egluro’r wyddoniaeth y tu ôl i ddysgu ieithoedd ar Duolingo. (Fe gadarnhaodd hi nad oedd bwriad diweddaru’r Gymraeg, dim ond cynnal beth oedd yno’n barod, a bod eu pwyslais nhw ar gynyddu’r ddarpariaeth Saesneg...).
Soniodd Adam Wooten am y llu o yrfaoedd oedd ynghlwm â ieithoedd gan nodi bod y gwasanaethau rydyn ni’n eu cynnig yn anweledig o ran eu natur, felly mae angen mwy o farchnata ymhlith gwasanaethau gyrfaoedd i ddenu myfyrwyr at y grefft. Amlinellodd y newidiadau ar y gorwel gan ddweud mai ni oedd yn y lle gorau i fynd i’r afael â nhw oherwydd ein bod ni’n ddiwydiant sy’n barod i ddysgu ac ymateb.
I gloi, cawsom wledd o hen eiriau anghofiedig gan Susie Dent (Dictionary Corner ar Countdown) wnaeth ein tywys ni drwy ei hoff eiriau sy’n gysylltiedig â theimladau ac emosiwn, gan gyfeirio at y ffaith bod y sawl sy’n gallu mynegi eu hemosiynau yn huawdl yn iachach ac yn hapusach eu byd.
Mae cynadleddau fel hyn a’r datblygiad proffesiynol parhaus sy’n bosib yn werthfawr iawn wrth i’r tirlun newid o flwyddyn o flwyddyn. Recordiwyd y sesiynau hyn ac maent ar gael i aelodau CIOL ar eu gwefan.
Nia Davies, cwmni Nico
Wil Petherbridge Award winner
Congratulations to Nia Morus-Lovelock winner of this year's Wil Petherbridge award.
The Wil Petherbridge Memorial Prize, named in memory of the Society's former secretary and a pioneer in translation in Wales - is awarded by the Society's Chief Examiner to the most promising candidate in the Basic Membership, translation into Welsh, examinations.
This year's winner Nia works for Bla Translation in Llangefni. Nia says "'Born in Anglesey, I worked as a primary teacher in south Wales for ten years, first in Pontypridd and then Barry, before moving back to Anglesey in 2002, where I worked as a supply teacher. I’d wanted to develop a career as a translator for a few years, and I got a job with Bla in 2021 and have just been appointed Senior Translator there. I have two daughters, Grug who is 22 and Annes who is 15."
Wil Petherbridge and Berwyn Awards.
Following the Society’s exams in October, we’re pleased to announce that Nia Morus Lovelock and Owain Rogers have won the Wil Petherbridge and Berwyn awards.
The Wil Petherbridge Memorial Award, in memory of the Society's former secretary and a pioneer in translation in Wales - is awarded by the Society's Chief Examiner to the most promising candidate for Basic Membership for translation into Welsh.
This year's winner is Nia Morus Lovelock who works for Bla in Llangefni. Nia says "'Born in Anglesey, I worked as a primary teacher in south Wales for ten years, first in Pontypridd and then Barry, before moving back to Anglesey in 2002, where I worked as a supply teacher. Having wanted to be a translator for some years, I got a job with Bla translation in 2021 and have just been appointed as a Senior Translator there. I have two daughters, Grug who is 22 and Annes who is 15."
The Berwyn Award which recognises the immense contribution of Berwyn Prys Jones, who was Chairman of the Society for over a quarter of a century – is awarded by the Society's Chief Examiner to the most promising candidate for Basic Membership, for translation into English.
This year's winner is Owain Rogers who lives and works in Cardiff.
Both receive a cash prize of £150 and can attend 1 translation e-workshop at the Full level (worth £45) for free.
Relationship with the ATC
Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru (CCC) and The Association of Translation Companies (ATC) have signed a memorandum of understanding that commits both bodies to work together for the mutual benefit of the respective associations.
The Association of Translation Companies (ATC) is a trade association representing the interests of language service companies in the UK and internationally. It is the leading voice for companies operating in the UK’s language services industry.
Manon Cadwaladr, Chair of CCC said “I’m very pleased to see Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru and the ATC agreeing to work closer. Both associations are important to the sector generally and to me personally, as I am member of both. This agreement joins up two important elements of the language services industry and I look forward to a productive and developing relationship over the coming years.”
Ruth Partington, Chair of the ATC said “This Memorandum of Understanding between the ATC and Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru opens up possibilities for collaboration across a variety of language services industry topics, activities and initiatives. Wales has a thriving translation and interpreting sector, both commercial and institutional, and we are delighted to be working with CCC on future joint projects.”
Both associations were party to a recent white paper on the issues facing procurement and provision of language services in the public sector*. Further collaboration between the parties could result in joint policy development, events, PR & marketing, and submissions to governments.
The Hedley Gibbard Memorial Lecture 2023
In his opening remarks whilst introducing Meinir, the association’s Chief Officer, Gwyn Williams, expressed his condolences with the family of the late Hedley Gibbard on the death of Mair, Hedley's widow. Mair had been an avid supporter of the memorial lecture since its inception, and her attendance will be sorely missed.
The subject of Meinir's lecture was "The Welsh language in the novel 'Capten'". Meinir won the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize at Tregaron 2022 for her novel recounting the story of Elin and John Jones, Glan Deufor on the Llŷn Peninsula in the late nineteenth century.
During the lecture the audience learnt how much Meinir had depended on her childhood memories, and the words and phrases of the people of Nefyn and the area when writing the novel. But Meinir also spoke about all the research she had done, from reading the periodicals of the time to autobiographies of local ship captains, to make sure the language, and the terms she used, were accurate and resonant.
The audience was treated to an insight into Meinir’s work and the research behind her success, as she read extracts from her novel.
2022 prize winners
Our congratulations to the winners of the Association’s prizes in 2022 on the basis of their success in the Text Membership Examinations.
The winners of the Wil Petherbridge Memorial Prize were Morgan Owen, a translator at the Food Standards Agency at the time but now a staff member of Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (the only standard historical dictionary of the Welsh language), Jennifer Needs, a translator at HM Customs and Excise, and Lois Roberts-Jones, a translator at Cymen.
The Wil Petherbridge Memorial Prize is presented in memory of its former Secretary and a pioneer in English/Welsh translation. It is awarded to the most promising candidate for Basic Membership, translation into Welsh, if the required standard is achieved.
The winners of the Berwyn Prize were Siôn Pennant Tomos, a translator at Cymen, and Einir Lois Jones, a teacher considering becoming a translator.
The Berwyn Prize is awarded to the most promising candidate for Basic Membership, translation into English, if the required standard is achieved. It honours Berwyn Prys Jones, an inspiring leader in Welsh language translation, who was Chair of Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru for over a quarter of a century.
Having been more flexible in awarding the prizes this year because the Basic Membership examinations had not been held since October 2019, we will revert to the usual practice in 2023 of awarding these prizes on the basis of the two rounds of examinations which will be held during the year (in April and October).
Annual Report 2021-22
The Annual Report 2021-22 shows that Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru succeeded in continuing to respond to the needs of its members, as well as undertaking the daily task of administering and organising the work of the Association. It was a year in which we slowly came back to normal, and we were able to hold some of our core activities: the Text Membership Examinations in October 2021 (at the Full level only) and workshops at the end of the year (each one virtually).
We also had the pleasure of welcoming Manon Cadwaladr as our new Chair. Manon has been a translator and an interpreter for over twenty years. She is a director of Cymen, a Translation company based in Caernarfon.
Manon is aware of the important and exciting role that the Association has ahead in raising the status of the translation and interpreting profession. Specifically, she has identified the need to attract more translators and interpreters to become members of the Association, the importance of training for translators and interpreters generally, and the problem caused by the lack of people joining the profession. In recognising that translators and interpreters do a very difficult job in promoting and facilitating the use of the Welsh language, she emphasised the need for everyone to come together and co-operate to find the answers, help each other as translators and interpreters, and raise the status of the profession.
The Association was part-funded by the Welsh Government in 2021-22. We are very grateful for this support which allowed us to achieve the important work outlined in this report.
The Professional Translation Studies course: scholarship
Once again this year, Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru will be offering a scholarship of up to £1,000 to a student or students who have secured a place to follow the Professional Translation Studies at Aberystwyth University. Priority will be given to those students studying for the Diploma or MA, be that full time or part time. Candidates for the scholarship will be expected to translate a test piece as part of the application process.
The closing date for applications is 5 September 2022.
Guidelines and the text to be translated can be found in the information document (available in Welsh only).
Ceredigion National Eisteddfod
The Hedley Gibbard Memorial Lecture
Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru’s annual lecture will be held in Societies 1 at midday on Thursday, 4 August 2022.
Mary Jones has chosen ‘Yn y dechreuad ...’, which translates as in the beginning, as the title of her lecture. Mary was one of the first translators to work in the Welsh Office’s translation unit in the 60s under its head, Moc Rogers of Ffair-rhos. She will provide a picture of the early days of Welsh translation.
Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru’s annual lecture has, since 2002, been held in memory of Hedley Gibbard (1936-2001) as a mark of appreciation of his pioneering work in developing English<>Welsh translation and interpreting.
Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru will also be part of three other events at the Eisteddfod, each one on the the University of Wales Trinity Saint David stand.
- On Wednesday afternoon at 3pm the Translation Challenge and international literary translation in contemporary Wales will be celebrated. First held in 2009, it has become an important literary translation competition. It will include an exhibition of some of the Translation Challenge Staffs presented to the winners of the Welsh language competition. Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru has sponsored the Translation Challenge Staff since 2011 and in so doing has been privileged to acknowledge the craftmanship of Elis Gwyn who has carved this unique prize from a piece of wood from the Llanystumdwy area.
- On Thursday morning at 11am, Manon Cadwaladr, the Chair of Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru, and Ben Screen, author of Sylfeini Cyfieithu Testun, will be discussing this first ever introduction in Welsh to professional translation which was published by the University of Wales Press at the end of 2021.
- And at 2pm on Thursday there will be an opportunity to congratulate Sioned Pugh, Ffion Parrington and Amy Mason, the winners of the prize given by Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru to the most promising students studying the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s Postgraduate Certificate in Interpreting. The event will also be an opportunity to promote this Postgraduate Certificate which was described by all three winners as an excellent experience.
Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru will not have a stand on the Eisteddfod field.
UK’s Ukraine language support task force
Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru has written to those organisations who established the UK’s Ukraine language support task force in response to the war in Ukraine to express its support for this initiative.
The 6 members of the task force are the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL), the National Register for Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI), the Association of Translation Companies (ATC), the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC UK & Ireland), and Charity Translators.
The practical support offered by the task force includes making Ukrainian-English templates for the most commonly needed documents for visa applications freely available, and assisting the UK’s Ukrainian communities by opening of channels of communication.
Charity Translators, a volunteer organisation working with the charity sector, has drawn up a list of available initiatives and resources to support those affected by the war in Ukraine. A volunteer with Charity Translators is Cari Bottois, a PhD researcher in the School of Modern Languages at Cardiff University.
Further information can be found on the websites of the partner organisations, and we refer you to the Ukrainian crisis page on the ITI website.