Chalmers and Byrne Training News

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2010-03-24T08:37:00.001Z

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Police advised against "evenin' all" greeting

2009-11-04T08:42:00.003Z

A Warwickshire Police handbook called "Policing Our Communities" hit the headlines this week. It gives advice on 'Communication - some do's and dont's' when engaging with people from other community groups.'

It may be some time since any police officer, with a dipping of the knees, greeted someone with 'Evenin' all', but the handbook advises against it. It points out that different cultures and nationalities may think of evening as earlier, or later, than we do. The handbook says that evening is usually associated with the evening meal which varies in time depending on your culture.

New Training Day Date January 2010

2009-11-04T08:40:00.001Z

Chalmers & Byrne will be delivering one of our training days in Chelmsford, Essex in January on 20th January 2010. We will be posting details on our home page soon.

Translation firm seeks 'fluent Glaswegian interpreters'

2009-10-19T18:27:00.002+01:00

This news item caught our eye last week. A London firm placed an ad in The Herald looking for 'speakers of "Glaswegian English" with knowledge of vocabulary, accent and nuances, to meet interpreting needs of clients who find it an unexpected challenge.'

I guess it proves that the rich variations in regional accents and slang throughout the UK can be difficult for people who don't speak fluent English - especially if the have not been exposed to it much. The translation company says it has had requests from visiting foreign business people for Glaswegian translators.

Earlier this year a bus driver was recognised for teaching his Eastern European Colleagues to understand Glaswegian slang. James Lillis said "When new employees come to Scotland and hear the Glasgow accent, it can be a problem. Drivers have to learn to understand what is meant when a customer says, for example, 'Gie us an aw day tae the toon' (Give me an all day ticket to the town)."

New Trainer at Chalmers & Byrne

2009-10-19T18:19:00.003+01:00

We have started training up secondary school teacher Liz Hickey to deliver our Lowering Language Barriers sessions. For the moment she will be working alongside Clare while she learns the ropes.

Liz is perfect for the job. She is a qualified secondary school teacher of French and German, and also speaks Italian fluently. She has experience of living abroad in both France and Italy. She has also had experience in 'training the trainers' as she trains teachers in the new secondary school French curriculum.

Report into GP practices recommends Chalmers & Byrne training

2009-06-10T10:15:00.002+01:00

Chalmers & Byrne Training was recently recommended by a report from the University of Chichester. The report studied a GP practice in Bognor Regis with a significant number of non-fluent English speakers.

The study, by Klaudia Furmanek, found that people who spoke English as a second language did not access all the practice services, and did not know about the out of hours and emergency care. The use of family translators was widespread, and reception staff had no help in dealing with non-fluent speakers.

The report recommended more translation services at reception, as well as better staff training - in particular of the type provided by Chalmers & Byrne Training.

Coincidentally Chalmers & Byrne will deliver its first training to GP receptionists later this month.

London Training Day April 1st 2009

2009-01-28T09:15:00.003Z

Our London Training Day will be on April 1st 2009 at The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health near London Bridge. We will be booking more dates in the future, so if you are interested but cannot make that date, then email us and we will put you on our mailing list for future dates.

London Date

2008-12-10T15:46:00.002Z

We will shortly be announcing a London date for our Lowering Language Barriers course so watch this space.

We think we have found the right venue but if you know of a London venue that would be suitable for up to 15 people, with some extra space for variety, we would love to hear from you.

Booking For February Course

2008-11-12T19:27:00.004Z

Following the success of our Lowering Language Barriers course in Sussex on 26th November we are now taking bookings for another course on February 4th 2009 at the same venue.

The Blagdons Manor venue worked well giving us lots of room to spread out in when doing some of the exercises. The group came from different working backgrounds including social workers, careers advisers, a housing assistant, a foster carer and even a former hostage negotiator!

Feedback included:
" Everyone was encouraged to get involved without any pressure - supportive and sympathetic environment created by the trainers."

"This was one of the few courses that delivered what it promised."

"It links the ideas and techniques that can be used with all clients.....thank you for an interesting day!"

If you would like to book for the course in February then email Katy@chalmersbyrne.co.uk.

Understanding Medical Jargon

2008-10-06T12:39:00.001+01:00

Problems understanding medical jargon can prove especially confusing for minority ethnic groups, according to new research.

The study, by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), into communication between health professionals and Britain’s Bangladeshi community found serious misunderstandings about genetic disorders in pregnancy.

Understanding the distinction between being "affected" and being a "carrier" of certain genetic disorders proved difficult and led to confusion over whether to terminate pregnancies.

Earlier studies have found that similar confusions are common among the general public, but the difficulties of translation can make minority groups, such as Bangladeshis, especially vulnerable to such misunderstandings.

Medical information that there was a 75 % chance of a child not being affected by a condition was interpreted to mean that the child would be 75% normal, researchers found. Women with limited English often depended on family members to interpret what they were told by consultants and the use of interpreters could be problematic because there was not always an appropriate translation for medical terms.