Translation and power at the European union
Abstract The present article discusses the topic of ‘power and translation’ at European Union institutions. The article starts by warning against over‐generalising any one particular translation situation, and advocates the need for taking into account some of the major differences between countries, between various epochs in history, as well as the translators’ foreign‐language abilities. The article then addresses very specific ‘language and power’ issues. At the European Union, language domination is tied to political power, with English and French being the ‘core languages’ for daily work; however, this domination is eroded when documents are discussed in expert and political fora. Nevertheless, the differences in foreign language acquisition — in the various EU member states — mean that some states have more influence, and more ‘power’, than they would normally be entitled to, according to the number of their inhabitants.
From Babel to Dragomans
L'A. traite de la traduction dans diverses circonstances historiques: la traduction de textes sacres, les traductions faites a des fins diplomatiques entre le monde musulman et le monde chretien au Moyen Age, celles faites par les convertis, celles faites dans le cadre des rapports avec l'Empire ottoman ou dans d'autres evenements jusqu'a l'heure actuelle.
MT and the Swiss language service providers: an analysis and training perspective
Switzerland is perceived as a highly multilingual country, with four national languages and a solid translation tradition in official, administrative and corporate settings, now even extended to include English. A research case study was set up to investigate the understanding and use of translation and language technologies by Swiss language service providers. This paper highlights some findings, particularly focusing upon the issue of translation automation processes in multilingual documentation production, with a view not only to spot preconceptions or knowledge gaps about MT, but also to 
suggest some training principles. We will argue that training activities ought to present MT systems as 
key aiding components of translator workbenches and, their output, as a valid linguistic resource for further human refining, if necessary. Moreover, in line with the idea that MT can be part and parcel of multilingual content production cycles, we will look at the interaction of MT with controlled language, CAT tools and terminology work. In sum, we will make explicit the usefulness of MT against the 
widespread prejudice that investing in MT does not return any benefits given the ‘low and hilarious quality of its output’, as quoted by most of the interviewees of our case study.