DGT Radio — Radio Lingvistika

Of the 10 countries that joined the European union in 2004, Cyprus was the only one that did not bring a new language to DG Translation, since Greek was already an official language of the EU. Yet the Cypriot Greek dialect possesses its own very distinct taste and flavour, even in unexpected fields like legal terminology.
In this episode, Spyros Armostis and Georgios Floros from the University of Cyprus delve into the island's linguistic landscape, shedding light on the phenomenon of diglossia and describing the growing prestige of the Cypriot Greek dialect. They also share the story of how the translation of Cyprus's post-independence legal system, initially planned to take 5 years, ultimately stretched over 3 decades!

Music: Τ​υ​λ​λ​η​ρ​κ​ώ​τ​ι​σ​σ​α / Woman from Tilliria by Monsieur Doumani; Days past by Inclosing

Enthusiastic about being part of a long-awaited historical moment, ready to do whatever it takes to meet deadlines, and happy to celebrate their achievements together! That is how Ildikó Faber, the first Hungarian recruited in DG Translation in Luxembourg, and Zsolt Varga, who was number 4 in the Field Office in Budapest, describe the spirit among DGT Hungarian translators in 2004, when their country joined the EU.

They recall how interesting and fun it was to create EU terminology in fields like fisheries (not much developed in a land-locked country…) and walk us through some of the specificities of their agglutinative language.

With music from the Luxembourg-based Hungarian rock band Toldi Mike.

Music: Űrlány (Spacegirl) and Madarak (Birds) by Toldi Mike; Days past by Inclosing

Dive into the history and intricacies of the Czech language with Martin Kukal, from the Czech language Department, in DG Translation. Illustrated with 3 poems by Jiří Žáček and a lullaby by Leoš Janáček.

Poems: Jádro problému, Hloupá otázka, Epitaf Učitele, by Jiří Žáček, read by Marie Kujinkova

Music: Dobrou noc, by Leoš Janáček, performed by Elise Artoisenet

What is a Large Language Model (LLM)? A neural network? A supercomputer? How and why is DG Translation building a new multilingual LLM? 

Cristian Brasoveanu and Bhavani Bhaskar, from the AI team in DGT, explain it all in simple terms. They walk us through DGT’s LLM project, describing its unique assets: high quality linguistic data, checked by language experts, running on state-of-the-art supercomputers. They also explain how these supercomputers age and rejuvenate, and give their (rather optimistic) vision of the environmental impact of AI.

Music: Thomas Perissino and 'Days Past' by In Closing

What’s it like to be a mentor in DG Translation? How do we welcome newcomers to DGT and help them adjust to a new job and life in a new country?
Boryana explains what she and the Knowledge Management Team have put in place to help new colleagues and their mentors, while Chris (English department), Thomas and Vincent (Danish Department) share their experiences and give us tips and tricks for successful mentoring relationships – which sometimes turn into lifelong friendships. 

Music: Days Past by In Closing

Three ‘big-bangers’ – Ivars Apinis, Valda Liepina and Liena Muskare – share their memories of the beginnings of the Latvian language department, 20 years ago. With some sound from Latvia (a waltz, a metal band and a famous poem), they recall their adventures, their excitement, their hopes, and also the many challenges they faced, with huge piles of documents to handle and numerous terminology gaps to fill in while slowly recruiting new colleagues. They also recall how the Latvian community grew and throve in those years, like one big expat family. 
Poem: Baiga Vasara by Edvarts Virza, read by Inese Ruse
Music: Melanholiskais valsis by Emīls Dārziņš, performed by Elise Artoisenet; Paliekas by Catalepsia; Days Past by In Closing

‘Invisible heroes’ of the European Union. ‘Voice’ of the EU institutions. ‘A line of soldiers’ marching on a battlefield. These are some of the images used by scholars to describe EU translators at work.

Prof. Łucja Biel, from the University of Warsaw, shares with us her fascination with the ‘complex phenomenon’ of EU translations and the development of what researchers call ‘eurolects’. She explains her main findings regarding the ‘Polish eurolect’, which she studied at length.

Malta. Just over half a million inhabitants — and a fascinating language, mixing Arabic roots with Italian words.  

Antoinette Camilleri, from the University of Malta, tells us about the tumultuous history of the Maltese language, and explains how it has developed since it became an official language of the European Union 20 years ago – in a country that is thoroughly multilingual.

Music: Days past by In Closing; iċ-Ċimiterju by Brodu; Tifkiriet by Simon Bartolo, performed by Amber and Mary Rose Mallia 
Poem: X'jibqa' fina by Adrian Grima, read by Stephanie Abood

"AI@EC network" , "e-briefing lab", "e-summary", "AI explorers", "DGT GPT Lab": what and who is behind these new tools, services and networks recently developed by the European Commission's DG Translation? Cristian Brasoveanu, from the informatics unit in DG Translation, tells us all about it.

Sound/music: Thomas Perissino and "Days past" by In Closing

For this special episode, 4 experts from the EMT (European Master’s in translation) and from LIND (language industry expert group) discuss what they do in their networks and how they wish to better work together, within what they see as a true “ecosystem”. Before their lively and enlightening exchange, we talk with 2 colleagues from DG Translation who tell us more about the EMT and LIND and how they brought them together into a brainstorming workshop.

With Britta Aagaard and Oleksandr Bondarenko (LIND); Alexandra Krause and Emilia Perez (EMT); Anna Kokkinidou and Inkaliisa Vihonen (DGT)
Music: "Days Past" by In Closing