I was really lucky enough to have been awarded the 2012 IATIS conference bursary right before 2011 Christmas. I am thankful for the Bursary Selection Committee members who have taken all the efforts to read through piles of our applications carefully. My thanks also go to Mark, Rachael and all the Organising Committee members who have helped me with the flight, accommodation booking and local arrangements. I would also like to thank Dr. Dorothy Kenny and Professor David Johnston for your kind introduction and positive feedback to my conference presentation.

As a freshly-graduated PhD and young scholar, this conference is such an academic feast to me: the pre-conference workshops and keynote speeches offered by the leading scholars in the field of translation and interpreting studies, the interactive presentations and discussions, and the international participants.

As my PhD dissertation focuses more on dialogue interpreting (also called liaison interpreting, community interpreting, public service interpreting, etc.), I have found some really interesting ideas for my future research: the case analysis from Professor Claudio Baraldi and Professor Laura Gavioli has shown the interpreter-mediated culturally-sensitive issues in the authentic women’s healthcare dialogue interpreting; Dr. Harold Lesch also revealed to us the linguistic and extra-linguistic reality in healthcare interpreting in the Western Cape in South Africa; the presentations from Professor Graham H. Turner and Dr. Svenja Wurm were extraordinarily interesting and fascinating with the introduction of digital video technology; the qualitative study of Professor Jemina Napier has revealed to us the key themes and issues in healthcare communicative requirements of deaf communities; the ‘Interpreting in Virtual Reality’ from Dr. Sabine Braun and Dr. Catherine Slater has offered us a new insight into discovering the application of emerging technologies in interpreter training; the Sosa Fluidity Model of Reflective Model from Professor Tamesia Sosa from the USA has shown the interpreter how to guide the patient and healthcare provider from the periphery of the interaction. All of those presentations have unfolded to me such an immense research field of dialogue interpreting which would demand many of my future explorations. I only wish I could have heard more of the parallel sessions in the broader field of translation studies.

However, in view of all the presentations of this conference, the voice from mainland China’s interpreting research is still rarely heard. With China’s increasing communication with all the other countries, interpreters’ involvement in assisting business negotiations, trade fairs, factory tours, training sessions, etc. is now playing an important role in mainland China’s world business. Therefore, I wish to bring back the new perspectives and thoughts which I have learned from this conference, while at the same time be refreshed by updated research issues. In addition, as my current department (School of International Studies) has newly established MTI (Master of Translation and Interpreting) degree course program since 2010, I firmly believe that my participation in this conference will shed lights on our future curriculum design.

In addition to the wonderful academic schedule, the social programs of this conference were also amazing. The happy Irish Theme night with the beautiful music and performance, the gorgeous City Hall reception by the mayor of Belfast and yummy conference dinner, together with the kindness and warmth of Belfast people, will be an unforgettable part in my memory about 2012 IATIS conference in Belfast! Attached with this email are the photos from the conference to share with you.

Lihua Jiang

University of International Business and Economics (UIBE)

 Beijing, China