Hilary Wilson Translations BA Hons, BSc, ACIB, MITI

09/07/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18xzzyhhnN/

As a working class foster kid, the opportunity to study languages made a big difference to me and many others like me.

So I'm really worried about some of the recent cuts and potential cuts to language courses at universities and falling GCSE and A Level entries in schools.

Why should we care? Because, as I've written to the Guardian, languages are not only the perfect vehicle for bringing young people out of their shells and helping to grow their skills and confidence; they're also strategically vital for the economy and the future of this country.

I'm continuing to work as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages with colleagues and other brilliant campaigners who share a love of languages and recognise their importance. We've asked government for specific, concerted actions to reverse this downward spiral. Read my full letter on the Guardian website (link in comments).

05/01/2026

https://www.politico.eu/article/when-the-interpreter-wept-what-automation-erases-inside-europes-institutions/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAPIeatjbGNrA8h4j2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHsFkYD5Mzg-lRifLjlTf8v4F8irQROqnSTbQZWozVvudKgBHToKj35KiZPDG_aem_7tKBzsGksMoa9o0SzgQd9g

We are building a world that treats translation as a problem to be solved. But translation was never just a technical challenge — it is an act of witnessing.

03/01/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AHtFe1c3v/

"Seid´s gschickt?" Are you ready, for Aperschnalzen time. Frightening away winter and welcoming Spring, whipcracking with a "Goassl", whip in Austro-Bavarian dialect where the tradition has its roots.

Another pre-Christian custom, loud cracking drives away the cold and darkness or, according to an alternative piece of folklore, wakes up seeds lying dormant under snow. "Aper" means "free from snow" in Austro-Bavarian, "Aperschnalzen" competitive whip cracking.

"Ufdrahd, oane, zwoa, drei dahin geht’s!" The four metre, 13 ft, whips crack one after another.

A small group, and an uneven number 7, 9, 11, in a round each man will crack the Goassl nine or eleven times... the most powerful and impressive "Knall" its finale.

Here is a one minute impression: Aperschnalzen - ein uralter Brauch im Rupertiwinkel - bit.ly/2F56j00 Unfortunately the background music drowns out the sound of the cracks.

A tradition in this form since at least 1730, Aperschnalzen takes place at different times in villages and towns around the Alpine foothills, from St. Stephen's Day, the second Christmas Day, until Carnival Tuesday, and the "Passen" (group) making the most spectacular series of cracks wins the contest.

The groups can't be seen by the panel of "experts", are judged only by the sound produced, and winning teams receive a Beer Krug for each Passen member, together with the "Wandergoassl", a Wandering Whip that is theirs to keep until Aperschnalzen comes around again... sometime after next Stephanitag. The 26th December.

Photo credit: Aperschnalzen im Rupertiwinkel by Rosi via Berchtesgadener Land Tourismus GmbH, www.berchtesgaden.de/home

21/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17cqcF2AAu/

20/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AfyUNS7pj/

Das Vereinigte Königreich kehrt zum EU-Bildungsprogramm Erasmus+ zurück.🇪🇺🇬🇧

Wir haben die Verhandlungen über die Assoziierung des Vereinigten Königreichs mit Erasmus+ 2027 abgeschlossen.

14/12/2025

An 1982 East German Advent calendar, and Rudolf's day off... Santa arrives by helicopter on a snow covered roof.

Faith was fragile but a Herrnhuter Stern, Moravian star, serves as the Bethlehem Star on the third floor left-hand side apartment.

And on the right-hand side a Schwibbogen, Candle Arch, representing the night sky, its candles the Erzgebirge miners working in Germany's Ore Mountains and longing for daylight in wintertime.

While those two snack filled feeding stations, on the top floor left, are "foodie heaven" for the wild birds flying high to avoid Trabant exhaust fumes.

Parked on the street that could be a white Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit, or perhaps a Skoda 105, together with a Wartburg and Trabant.

This particular publisher often included something from the west that had an "image", or was envied, in the east, which is why the car could be a VW Golf, so creating an illusion that it was also to be found there. Which it was, just not very often.

Credit: Planet-Verlag Berlin, 1982 Foto: Ute Franz-Scarciglia © www.thomas-schallnau.de/kalender.html