March dates for your diary
Calendar snapshots
1st – Shrove Tuesday, Christian
Shrove Tuesday marks the last day before Christians’ 40 day fast for Lent. In the UK, we traditionally eat pancakes. In other countries, Mardi Gras (literally Fat Tuesday) is celebrated with street carnivals, music and excess.
14th – Nanakshahi, Sikh
The Nanakshahi calendar was only introduced in 2003, to fix most Sikh celebrations rather than have them change date each year. The calendar is named after Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.
18th – Holi, Hindu
Holi is a lively Indian celebration that involves throwing coloured powder paint and water at each other. It is often celebrated on the full moon before the beginning of the Vernal Equinox, as per the Hindu calendar.
March calendar
| 1st | Intercalary Days (end) - Baha'l |
| Saint David's Day - Christian | |
| Shrove Tuesday - Christian | |
| Maha Shivaratri - Hindu | |
| International Wheelchair Day | |
| Zero Discrimination Day | |
| 2nd | Nineteen Day Fast begins - Baha'l |
| Ash Wednesday - Christian | |
| 3rd | World Hearing Day |
| 6th | Cheesefare Sunday - Orthodox Christian |
| 7th | Great Lent begins/Clean Monday - Orthodox Christian |
| 8th | International Women's Day |
| 13th | Sunday of Orthodoxy - Orthodox Christian |
| 14th | Nanakshahl (New Year) - Sikh |
| 15th | Lord's Evening Meal - Jehovah's Witness |
| 16th | Purim - Judaism |
| 17th | Saint Patricks' Day - Christian |
| Holika Dahan - Hindu | |
| Bank Holiday - Northern Ireland and ROI | |
| 18th | Holi - Hindu |
| Lailat al Bara'ah - Islam | |
| Global Recycling Day | |
| 19th | Hola Mohalla - Sikh |
| 20th | Spring Equinox |
| Ostara/Mabon - Wicca/Pagan | |
| International Day of Happiness | |
| 21st | Naw-Ruz (New Year) - Baha'l |
| Norooz (New Year) - Persian/Zoroastrian | |
| International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination | |
| World Down Syndrome Day | |
| 25th | The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary - Christian |
| Annunciation to the Theotokos - Orthodox Christian | |
| Internationnal Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade | |
| 26th | Khordad Sal (Birth of Prophet Zarathushtra) - Zoroastrian |
| 27th | Mothering Sunday |
| British Summer Time begins | |
| 30th | World Bipolar Day |
| 31st | International Transgender Day of Visibility |
Are you celebrating any festivals this month? Please get in touch and tell us all about it! Email nicole.kershaw@newham.gov.uk.
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Groundbreaking MRI shows benefits of medical translation
A £1.2m investment by the University of Aberdeen underlines the importance of communicating to patients in their own language.
A new MRI scanner at the university can now give patients information and instructions in 17 different languages, including the rare Scots language of Doric. In addition to the importance of giving medical information clearly, the move is also in recognition of the comfort that good communication can bring patients.
Simon Gall, public engagement officer with the Institute, says: “My grandmother, a Doric speaker who has dementia, struggles now with communication in English, but when … medical professionals use Scots, she is much more responsive.”
At TLS, we always use qualified interpreters, many of whom have specialist health skills and experience. If you would like to know more, get in touch.
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Meet The Team: Sumayyah Aleem, Punjabi and Urdu interpreter
Every month, we introduce you to one of The Language Shop team. This month, meet Sumayyah Aleem, one of our Punjabi and Urdu interpreters. Find out about her passion for helping people and how gardening helps her to relax.
Tell us about what you do for TLS
I have been providing face to face and virtual interpreting services for The Language Shop. My responsibilities include converting information from the source language into the target language, carefully communicating spoken messages with efficiency, clarity and sensitivity.
What’s been your favourite project at TLS?
I have worked on many projects so far, some of the projects I have been working on are still on going. It is difficult to choose one particular project, however I felt very satisfied and happy when a broken family was reunited. The young children were back together from the foster care.
What’s been the biggest challenge?
Home visits can sometimes be challenging, as patients can occasionally become aggressive towards the professionals; the challenge is to remain calm before leaving the premises.
If you didn’t do your current job, what would you like to do?
I would wish to continue to work in a setting where I am providing help and supporting people, in an educational or medical setting.
Tell us something interesting about you
In my spare time, I grow my own flowers, plants and tea leaves. I find that the process of gardening is quite meditative for me and I believe that it helps me feel more centred during interpreting sessions.
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I would have loved to have met either Mother Teresa or Princess Diana. Like many people, I felt a strange connection to them. They radiated warmth and humility, and both were such great humanitarians.
What are your ambitions for 2022?
My strong desire and aspiration is to learn another language this year, which should develop my communication skills and contribute to The Language Shop.
Say hello to Jacky on The Language Shop’s social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Keep up to date with all our latest news here.
No more exam halls: TLS remote examinations
The Ministry of Defence is just one customer using examination services developed by TLS, which we tailor to each organisation’s requirements.
Working across 70 languages, we remotely assess candidates at all levels of ability, from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. For the MoD, this has proven invaluable to their ‘boots on the ground’, who cannot easily fly home for exams.
Covid lockdown also meant that many educational institutions were unable to sit students together in exam halls. Our remote examination services have allowed the University of West London and the International School of Music to keep examining students throughout, too. Due to the success of these, the university has made the remote assessment a permanent fixture.
Find out more about our examination services.
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Rare language fact file: Mang
Here at The Language Shop we like to shine a light on some of the rarer languages spoken across the world, many of which have long and fascinating histories. This month we take a closer look at Mang.
Native to: Jinping, on the Chinese border with Vietnam.
Number of native speakers: Approximately 600 (speakers of the Vietnamese variety are greater in number).
Spoken by: The Mang people.
Learn some Mang: If you were to spend time with the Mang people, a useful word to know would be ‘ʑum’ (pronounced ‘zum’), which means ‘water’.
Interesting facts:
- The Mang, meaning 'mountain people', historically lived in the sparsely populated mountainous regions of Honghe and Wenshan, in south-eastern Yunnan, bordering Vietnam.
- In the 1950s, the Chinese government relocated the Mang people from their mountain huts to newly built houses on lower land. This was carried out in the name of improving hygiene.
- Although they have had their way of life substantially altered by this state intervention, they were exempt from the land reforms, which forced many rural Chinese to hand over their land to the state. This has meant that the Mang have been able to continue many of their traditional customs in way that other non-Han Chinese groups have not.
- The closest ethnic relatives of the Mang are the Palaungic people. It is thought both groups may have been part of the same kingdom in ancient times before splitting into two separate groups, which may explain the similarity in their languages.
The Language Shop provides support in any language you may need, including many of the rarer ones. Get in touch with us to find out more.
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
February dates for your diary
Calendar snapshots
1st February: Chinese New Year
This huge celebration is also known as Spring Festival and, as Chinese people return home to see family, creates one of the biggest movements of people worldwide. Celebrations include sweeping out the home, giving gifts of money in traditional red envelopes, putting up traditional paper decorations and eating special foods.
5th February: Vasant Panchami
This festival also welcomes spring and kicks off preparations for Holi, another Indian celebration. Hindus and Jains pray to Goddess Saraswati and many dress in yellow to symbolise the new beginnings of the season.
27th February: Meatfare Sunday
For Orthodox Christians, this date is the last opportunity to eat meat before Lent begins, and many will fast until Easter. Celebrations on this day tend to involve getting together with family and feasting on meat, in preparation for the forty days of privation ahead.
February calendar
| 1st | Chinese New Year – Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist |
| Imbolc – Lughnassadh – Wicca/Pagan | |
| World Hijab Day | |
| World Interfaith Harmony Week begins | |
| 2nd | Candlemas (Presentation of Christ in the Temple) – Christian |
| 3rd | Setsubun-sai – Shinto |
| 4th | World Cancer Day |
| 5th | Vasant Panchami – Hindu |
| 6th | Zacchaeus Sunday – Orthodox Christian |
| Time to Talk Day | |
| 7th | UK Race Equality Week begins |
| 8th | Safer Internet Day |
| 11th | International Day of Women and Girls in Science |
| World Day of the Sick | |
| 12th | Red Hand Day for Child Soldiers |
| 13th | Triodion begins – Orthodox Christian |
| Autism Sunday | |
| 14th | Saint Valentine’s Day |
| 15th | Parinirvana Day/Nirvana Day – Buddhist |
| International Childhood Cancer Day | |
| 16th | Magha Puja (Sangha Day) – Buddhist |
| 17th | World Human Spirit Day |
| 20th | Sunday of the Prodigal Son – Orthodox Christian |
| World Day of Social Justice | |
| 25th | Intercalary Days begin – Baha’i |
| International stand up to Bullying Day | |
| 27th | Meatfare Sunday – Orthodox Christian |
| 28th | Lailat al Miraj – Islam |
Are you celebrating any festivals this month? Please get in touch and tell us all about it! Email nicole.kershaw@newham.gov.uk.
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Celebrations around the world: Lailat al Miraj, 28th February
TLS delves deeper into the festivals and events celebrated by different cultures around the world. This month we look at Lailat al Miraj on 28th February.
What: Lailat al Miraj is one of Islam’s most important dates, as it marks the Prophet Mohammed’s ascension into heaven.
Where: It is celebrated by Muslims across the world, both in mosques and family homes.
Why: The story of Lailat al Miraj begins in Mecca, where the Prophet was visited by two archangels. The angels gave the Prophet a winged animal called a Buraq, which he then rode from Mecca to the ‘farthest mosque’, Al Aqsa in Jerusalem. The Prophet ascended to heaven where he met all the previous prophets and joined them in prayer. Eventually he met God, who passed down the special instructions for Muslims to pray five times daily, known as ‘Salat’.
How: Celebrations are held in mosques or at home, where people make special additions to their night-time prayers. Parents also recite the story to their children.
Are you celebrating Leilat al Miraj? Please get in touch and tell us all about it! Email nicole.kershaw@newham.gov.uk
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Meet The Team: Jacky Ashton, Service Coordinator
Every month, we introduce you to one of The Language Shop team. This month, meet Jacky Ashton, the Service Coordinator for The Language Shop's on-demand team. Find out more about her official title and personal garden bar!
What’s been your favourite project at TLS?
Being part of the on-demand team since June 2020 when it was a team of five. This has now grown to a team of nine.
What’s been the biggest challenge?
Dealing with the old phone system - most days it was a challenge doing conference calls. It would often take a while to get all parties connected. Thankfully after a lot of hard work from TLS directors and other staff members, this has now been changed and calls run much more smoothly!
If you didn’t do your current job, what would you like to do?
Work in a wedding dress shop or to be a wedding planner.
Tell us something interesting about you
I have a title! It’s Lady Jacqueline Ashton. My husband purchased a title for us both a few years back. We own a very small plot of land in Scotland. It’s about the size of a carpet tile! The certificate that came with the title does say we can change our names on passports etc. to Lady/Lord and maybe get free upgrades on flights etc. We’ve not tried this out yet though. However it does not allow us entry to the House of Lords, nor is it transferrable to our children.
I also love the colour pink. When we moved to our house, my husband built me my own garden bar, which is called Jax Quarry Bar, as our address is on Quarry Road.
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
It has to be Princess Diana, just to tell her what an amazing human being she was and to ask for her thoughts on the current world situation.
What are your ambitions for the coming year?
Work wise to carry on providing excellent customer service for TLS. Leisure wise to sign up for dance lessons with my husband.
Say hello to Jacky on The Language Shop’s social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Keep up to date with all our latest news here.
British Sign Language bill receives government support
A Labour MP has received cross-party backing for a bill that would make British Sign Language (BSL) an officially recognised language. This would compel the government and public bodies to follow new guidance on BSL support for service users. The bill would also call for a British Sign Language Council to be set up, to promote the use of the language.
The bill must now go to committee stage, but its support from across the political spectrum in the Commons will give it a considerable advantage.
If you have a service user who needs BSL support, please call 020 3373 4000 to arrange a booking pr contact us on languageshop@newham.gov.uk
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Translation of Covid-19 information essential to public health, say health campaigners
In Australia, a recent move to more home testing for Covid-19 has once again highlighted the importance of translating health information into community languages.
Health campaigners have asked the Australian government to provide information to those without English on why they should test, how to test and what to do with the results.
In the US, local government bodies have also come in for criticism for a series of poor translations of Covid-19 related public health information. The Biden administration has released information on home testing in the country’s leading languages of English, Spanish and Mandarin, but campaigners fear this still leaves many without access to vital information.
The Australian campaign has asked for images on how to test to be included in instructions. In the UK, NHS home testing kits already provide pictograms, so that anyone with limited English and literacy is able to conduct the tests. Translations of the information are also available in many community languages online here.
If your service users need information provided in their own language by a qualified translator, please get in touch.
Keep up to date with all our latest news here and on social media – we are on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.