Following the great success of last year’s Summer School, we are delighted to announce the expanded Summer School 2012. This five-day event will take place at Birkbeck University of London (43 Gordon Square WC1H 0PD) on 9-13 July 2012. It comprises courses in translation into English from Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – each language subject to a minimum group-size of five students – and an editing skills course for all. There will also be games, a competition, meet-the-publishers, and guest lectures and workshops.

Full fee: £400; student fee: £250. Bursaries available. Online booking will open on the website in February 2012. http://www.bbk.ac.uk/european/about-us/use-your-language-use-your-english/

Extracts from the feedback on last year’s Summer School: ‘Thank you so much for a brilliant course. It was wonderful to meet so many inspiring people, both staff & students alike. I felt really privileged to be working with “la crème de la crème” of the translation world.’

‘It gave me confidence & showed me that translation as a career is a feasible option. It also illustrated the wide variety of options open to people with language skills.’

‘I enjoyed everything! It was amazing being able to experience two tutors of translation with their differing styles; being able to prioritise the techniques in two different languages, plus attending all the fascinating talks. The “fun” bits were great too, ie the translation slam & game.’

NB The Summer School is running shortly before the Olympics. Russell Square & environs is a designated area for the press and media (see http://www.london2012.com/making-it-happen/planning-consultations/documents/london-2012-bloomsbury-boards.pdf ). You are therefore strongly urged both to book on the course and to arrange your accommodation as early as possible. There are many hotels in the area, and these are currently taking summer bookings; a list of suggestions is on the website (see http://www.bbk.ac.uk/european/about-us/use-your-language-use-your-english/accommodation-around-birkbeck).

However, both because of the Olympics & because last summer’s feedback included some requests for group accommodation, we have block-booked 30 single rooms in Commonwealth Hall, one of London University’s international student halls for the five nights 8-12 July inclusive, on a first-come-first-served basis. The rooms are fairly basic, ie bed, desk etc with no en-suite and you would share the bathroom & a basic pantry, but they include breakfast, and you can also get dinner in hall by booking on the day for £6 (see http://www.halls.london.ac.uk/visitor/garden/Default.aspx). Further information on this accommodation can be obtained from info.gardens@london.ac.uk. To obtain one of these rooms, make sure you tick the box on the online booking form and add £190 to your payment.