PhD MMath BA(Hons) BA(Hons)
Director of CLTL
After completing a BA and then a masters degree in mathematics at the University of Cambridge, Phil joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and moved to Papua New Guinea to work as a linguistic specialist, focusing on phonetics and orthography design. He spent most of the next fifteen years working for SIL in Papua New Guinea, primarily training mother-tongue translators in biblical languages and linguistics, and setting up an institute for comprehensive translation training. Phil specialised in developing courses targeted to Melanesian learners, using interactive oral learning techniques to teach Hebrew and complicated linguistic concepts to Papua New Guineans with very limited education. Along the way, he completed a BA in theology and PhD in Hebrew linguistics at London School of Theology, and in 2015 moved back to the UK with his wife Kate and two sons.
Phil is the author of ‘Surrounded by Bitterness: Image Schemas and Metaphors for Conceptualizing Distress in Classical Hebrew’ and several articles on translation and linguistics. He is particularly interested in semantics and how metaphors shape the way we think, as well as instilling a love of languages wherever possible. Outside of work, Phil can often be found with a camera or LEGO in his hand, with the results sometimes spilling into the classroom as stop motion teaching aids.
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