West Midlands Group

We are holding two workshops and our AGM on Friday 27 April at Aston University, followed by a meal at Browns near the Bullring in the city centre. The afternoon workshop is free to WMG members . You can book for the workshops separately or come to both and make a day of it. The morning workshop is on financial translation and will be led by Javier Gill. The afternoon workshop features a talk on ' 'The widespread and increasing use of controlled or simplified versions of English by technical writers and translators", given by Dr Stephen Crabbe from Portsmouth, and a demonstration of Trados software by Charlie Gobbett. Please see our Events page for further details.

Many thanks to Mike Hanson for a beautiful snowy walk around Bewdley last Saturday. Please click on the Photos tab to see more pictures.

This year's winter walk will be in and around Bewdley, a former inland port on the River Severn with a rich history and some attractive waterfronts. See http://www.bewdley.org.uk for further details. As usual there will be an afternoon walk (5 miles) and an early evening pub meal, but this year I am asking those coming to the pub meal to give me a firm booking for this, independently of the walk, in case it has to be cancelled due to poor weather. Payment can be made on the day. The meal will be at 5.30pm at the Running Horse Inn on the A456 near Bewdley – see http://www.chefandbrewer.com/pub-food/running-horse-inn-bewdley/pid-P1474 for details of the menu and location. I’ve made a provisional booking for 15 people – last booking date for the meal will be Tuesday 31 January. For the walk, meet at the Blackstone Picnic Site off the A456 Bewdley by-pass, from 1.15pm onwards for a 1.30pm start. It is well signposted. SatNav users note – postcode DY12 1PU will take you close...

A joint workshop held by Aston University and the WMG on Saturday 10 December 2011 at Aston University                             Business as usual? Far from it. This workshop led by Dr Jean-Pierre Mailhac from Manchester, who trains professional translators and postgraduate students in various European countries and carries out research in applied translation studies, was exceptionally enlightening, engaging and entertaining. Throughout the day the seven postgraduate students and nine professional translators and interpreters were guided by Jean-Pierre, who has himself translated, recorded and supervised recordings of film material for a wide range of companies over the last 20 years ,through the problems and pitfalls of translating and recording business films. The theoretical part comprised a detailed description of a pressured environment in which translators must first prepare a reasonable quote, then...

Photos of the ITI Translation Workshop and trip to Bournville are now on our Photos page . Many thanks to Charlie Gobbett, Aileen Cowan and Alan Mendy for the photos!

ITI Translation Workshop in Birmingham ITI's Translation Workshop is being hosted by the WMG and Aston University in Birmingham on Saturday 15th October 2011 . Come and tackle a range of interesting texts in language groups, meet fellow translators, share ideas and learn new approaches. Why not make a weekend of it and join us for a visit to Bournville and the  Selly Manor Museum on Sunday 16th October ? To register your interest in either of these events, please complete the relevant sections of the booking form on the  ITI website at www.iti.org.uk  (click on Events - ITI).