The Review 2015

41 Seeding the Future – Impact Resources for Interpreters Language is cont inual l y evol v ing, and in a wor ld of rapid technological development and political change, it can be hard for interpreters to keep up. Dr Eva Ng (pictured), of the Translation Programme of the School of Chinese recognised this years ago when she started asking her students to submit new Chinese- English bilingual terms from the news on a weekly basis, which she then fed into a glossary she kept on her website. Now, that glossary is just one click away for interpreters and the general public, too, through a website to promote and support the practice of interpreting. Dr Ng launched Resources for Interpreting in July 2015 and it has received positive feedback and endorsements from interpreters in Hong Kong and abroad. Its searchable bilingual glossary not only provides translations of the latest words trending in the news (think ‘ Grexit ’ ), but also words related to everything from business, triads and the courts to culture, social media and new technology. “I’m a former court interpreter and I know glossary compilation is an indispensable part of the practice of interpreting. Students in my interpreting class often come across terms that they don’t know the equivalent of in the target language. It’s very important for them to have an extensive vocabulary in both languages that is drawn from daily life,” Dr Ng said. The website, at http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/, also contains information on the practice, learning, teaching and research of interpreting, and was developed in collaboration with academics from the University of New South Wales and the Hong Kong Baptist University. Autism Advocate Dr Carol To of the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences is both an advocate and example for improving attitudes towards people with autism. She spec i a l i ses i n research on aut i sm and i ts par t i cu l ar manifestations in Cantonese speakers, such as monotonous intonation and use of formal speech. Her work is helping to improve diagnosis, but she has been seeking to expand its impact by trying to improve acceptance of individuals with autism in society. The latter effort has started in her own office. Dr To (pictured above and left) employs two high-functioning staff with autism to do data entry and other tasks related to her research, and she is drawing on their success and her research to write a booklet for universities on how they can benefit from the attention to detail and patience with repetitive work that often characterise individuals with autism. She has also produced case studies for Hong Kong’s Labour Department on successful employment of individuals with autism that were used to promote employment of the disabled; partnered with NGOs who provide employment training for individuals with autism; participated in a Radio Television Hong Kong programme to raise awareness of people with disabilities; and developed ties with universities and organisations in Mainland China to improve understanding of autism there. Ultimately, she hopes her efforts can improve treatment and reduce discrimination against individuals with autism, which is still very prevalent in both Hong Kong and the Mainland. “This is an area people are becoming more aware of and I hope we can raise the profile further,” she said. The Review 2015