Language training and teaching in the UK is in a sorry state - or rather, the uptake of it is! The number of students studying a foreign language to GCSE or to A-level has plummeted in recent years in England.

Today, I was shocked to read on the website of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting that the University of Bradford's course in Translation and Interpreting is to be discontinued due to funding issues. This is not an airy-fairy course - this was a real-world course that trained would-be translators and interpreters in the skills that they need to become professional translators. I know some really good translators who did the Bradford University course. It seems I am not alone in being shocked... there is a petition to urge the Prime Minister to look closely at the provision of language training in the UK. If this concerns you, please do sign it!

The translation memory world continues to change rapidly.

Firstly, a new translation memory product called Swordfish has been released, which is one of the few TM programs (sorry, that should be "cross-platform translation environments") that will also run on an Apple Mac.

Secondly, I am delighted to report that the development behind MemoQ are as responsive as ever. A few weeks ago, I reported a minor glitch to them that caused autonumbering to disappear when translating a Word file. Today they mailed me to say they've launched an interim version update that fixes the problem. Thank you guys - that is what I call good customer service!

pssst! Fancy a free TM? Yup, the EU is giving away translation memories for free. Or, to be specific, the Directorate-General for Translation is making available to the public the contents of the translation memories that they have built up in a number of language combinations over the years. These TM's are available in 22 EU languages, and they contain aligned sentences (or translation units). The translation memories are supplied in the TMX interchange format.

Some years ago, back when I was a young technical translator in the computing sector, I used to look forward each month to the arrival of Byte magazine. Partly because it gave a round-up of industry news, but mainly for the wonderful writing style of Jerry Pournelle, a man who brings humanity to technology. Byte magazine is no more, and Jerry Pournelle is now of an age where most of us would be retired, although I don't think the thought even enters his mind.

I was sorry to learn recently that he is facing health challenges at the moment, and just wanted to wish him a speedy return to full health. In the meantime, I loved this anecdote about Jerry Pournelle in his younger days! "Good bettering", as they say in Germany.

Microsoft Language Portal: Microsoft have set up a website to enable users and language specialists to intereact with Microsoft's own language experts on matters relating to computer technology.

It allows translators and localisation specialists to give feedback on Microsoft terminology issues, for example, or to download a German style guide (interestingly, the English version of the Microsoft Style Guide is only available in print, but it is certainly worth buying if you work in the localization field).

There is also a terminology search function, which accesses the Microsoft Glossaries. This works well on the whole, but when I asked it to tell me the German translation of "You cannot continue unless you install a printer", the system gave me both the expected German translation "Sie können den Vorgang nur fortsetzen, wenn Sie einen Drucker installieren" and also, unexpectedly, the following translation "Dir kënnt nëmme weiderfueren, wann Dir en Drécker installéiert". As a trained translator, I can tell which I need, but there is clearly the potential here for the uninitiated to be led astray.....

For a technical translator, specialist dictionaries are like old friends. Just as a racing driver wears out cars, so translators wear out dictionaries. And one of my own personal favourites finally fell to pieces the other week, so I had to buy a new version. Of course, the good side to this is that I have ended up with a newer, updated edition.

It also fascinates me how dictionaries change over time. And of course, how people change over time. This particular dictionary, the "Dictionary of Electrical Engineering, Power Engineering and Automation" is actually published by Siemens - or rather, by Siemens A&D Translation Services. It remains one of the best dictionaries in its field, so a special thank you to Siemens. As a technical translation company that does a lot of translation work in the control systems and industrial automation sectors, the team at SalfTrans greatly value this specialist technical dictionary.

This reminds me that I must also update my old German / English edition of the Brinkmann / Schmidt dictionary (or, to use its proper name, the "Wörterbuch der Daten- und Kommunikationstechnik"). The first edition that I used, back in the early 1980's when I was working as a staff translator in Berlin, featured splendid photographs of the two authors, one of them wearing a particularly 1970's jacket and glasses, complete with cigarette in hand. By the next edition of the dictionary in the late 1980's they both looked far more sober. Then Mr Schmidt, disappeared from the credits, and now Karl-Heinz Brinkmann is joined by Herbert Blaha as authors of the most recent 2002 edition.