News

Seminar at the UN Information Centre in Moscow

On 1 December the UN Information Centre in Moscow held an annual seminar for the MoU universities.  The seminar became a meeting place for the university representatives, heads of linguistic services in the UNHQ in New York and UN offices in Geneva and Vienna, and the MoU coordinatiors from partner-universities. The Department of Linguistic Support of the Russian MFA acted as a co-organizer of the seminar, and was represented by Sergey Chudinov and Alexey Fedorov. The participants discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to the staffing of linguistic services in international organizations and the training of language specialists at the MoU universities.  The colleagues from the UN shared their vision of how to maximaize the impact of the Memorandum of Understanding, and university representatives spoke about  their work in 2023 stressing the benefits of the pedagogical exchange between partner universities and the importance of quality assurance. SCIT was represented by Deputy Director Angelique Antonova. She spoke  about the practice of organizing seminars for interpreters of international organizations with Russian and of other efforts to promote the Russian language  on the international arena.  One of such events was the international conference dedicated to SCIT’s  15th anniversary  “Quality of Translator and Interpreter Training in the Era of Globalization, Human-Centric Innovation and Artificial Intelligence” which took place on 11 and 12 of October at Herzen University. Such meeting are undoubtedly very productive as the exchange of ideas allows to maximze the benefits of the mutually beneficial cooperation.

SCIT receives guests from Uzbekistan

From 20 to 25 November 2023 SCIT opened its doors to the guests from Uzbekistan: two university professors, Khilola Ruzimetova from Tashkent State Pedagogical University and Shahklo Kharatove from Tashkent State Transport University paid a five-day visit to the School. During these days the guests got acquainted with the School administartion and trainers, learnt about the professional equipment and technologies available at SCIT to train top-notch language specialists, discussed the innovative appraches to training interpreters and translators, attended the classes and a mock-conference where the students showed an impressive level of training.  The parties agreed to continue the cooperation between the unversities.

Introduction into Simultaneous Interpreting

Two months of studies have flown past, and on 8 November SCIT students had a conference to introduce simultaneous interpreting. This kind of work is new to many of them; yet SCIT has tremendous experience in making intro into sim engaging and interesting. At the stage of conference preparation all trainers meticulously choose the visual support for the first sim speech – usually a painting by a famous master, – think over the details of description, prepare the speech itself.   At the conference the students are talked through the painting in all their working languages, and no time is spared for that, as it helps to eliminate the possible fears and difficulties and give students a taste of their first success in simultaneous interpreting early on.   For the trainers the conference is a wonderful opportunity to get together and discuss the training outcomes at this stage and discuss possible strategy adjustments. We hope that the students were also filled with enthusiasm and are ready to storm the peaks of simultaneous interpreting. Our congratulations to the initiated!

SCIT holds a conference to mark its 15th anniversary

On 11 October Herzen University’s Coat-of-Arms Hall opened its doors to welcome the participants of the international conference Quality Assurance in Training Interpreters and Translators in the Era of Globalization, Human-Centric Innovation and Artificial Intelligence. The conference was designed to mark the 15th anniversary of St. Petersburg School of Conference and Translation.

Rector Sergey Tarasov warmly welcomed the participants of the conference. He stressed the substantial contribution SCIT made to strengthening the positions of the Russian language  on the global arena. «What matters in interpreting is accuracy and professionalism, he said. Our interpreters work on the top level and facilitate the communication among the nations. The impressive results achieved by SCIT are guaranteed by the techniques, methods, approaches  adopted by the SCIT trainers».

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov sent a congratulatory address to the conference participants. He specifically wrote, “Over the years the SChool has strengthened its reputation as a centre of excellence for certified interpreter training”. The address  was delivered by Sergey Gritsay, Head of the Linguistic Support Department of the Russian MFA, who in his own person remarked that over the 15 years  of its existence SCIT has turned out above 170 language professionals, which makes a substantial contribution to the training of language specialists for the UN linguistic services.

Other guests of honor also addressed the audience with welcoming speeches. Among them were Vladimir Zapevalov, Representative of the Russian MFA in St. Petersburg, and Alexander Prokhorenko, deputy Director of the State Hermitage. Movses Abelian, UN Under-Secretary General for General Assembly and Conference Management, sent in a videoaddress to congratulate SCIT satff and faculty on the  occasion of SCIT’s 15th anniversary and to greet the conference participants.

Angelique Antonova, SCIT Deputy Director, moderated the conference’s first plenary. The key speakers were Igor Khovaev, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian MFA, (Perspectives of the Russia-Asia Relations) Tatiana Shlychkova, Deputy Director of the Department for Multilateral Humanitarian Cooperation and Cultural Relations of the Russian MFA, (The Status of the Russian Language in International and Regional Organizations), and Kirill Barsky, Head of the Department of Diplomacy at MGIMO (Perspectives on Russia – China relations).

During panel discussions the participants looked into the aspects of Russia-Asia relations, dwelt on the potential of the Russian language as a means of communication in international organizations, tackled the issues of T&I training and popularization of the Russian culture through foreign languages.  Moreover, the participants discussed the transformation of the linguistic profession under the conditions of rapidly changing environment and the changes it necessitates  in the training methodology.

SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva and Deputy Director Angelique Antonova gave their presentations on the role of the Russian language in T&I training and quality assurance in interpreter training respectively during the plenary session.

The first conference day was devoted to strengthening the position of the Russian language and culture in the age of global challenges, the second day – to the roadmaps for T&I training.

On the margins of the conference there was an exhibition organized for the universitites to present their T&I programmes. The exhibition also featured the books translated by the SCIT trainers and other participants from English, German, Spanish, French, and Hungarian languages.

SCIT takes part in the CIUTI Forum

SCIT took part in the annual CIUTI conference organized in Ghent (Belgium) on 18 and 19 September. The conference was devoted to the Multiplicity in the public service interpreting and translation. SCIT was represtented by Deputy Director Angelique Antonova. she gave a presentation about training T&I speciaists in the age of artificial intelligence. The presentation evoked a response and generated a lively discussion among the audience.

The conference participants covered a wide range of issues related to T&I services in health care, legal shpere, other humanitarian areas; a lot of attention was given to interpreting sign languages and the challenges of remote interpreting. A special panel was devoted to the challenges of trainig interpreter trainers. The conference programme was very rich: it included 5 parallel panel sessions  which addressed the most topical issues of the T&I industry, share the expertise in teaching methodology and research.  It was a pleasant surprise that one of the presentations was devoted to the work of Alexey Fiodorov, Soviet and Russian scholar.

On 20 and 21 Septemebr CIUTI held the General Assembly. Traditionally, the GA participants discussed the results of the 2022-2023 academic year and the plan for the year to come. A round table discussion was devoted to translation issues and the changes produced in the industry by the wide application of modern technologies. For the first time the CIUTI Asian Pacific Office presented a report of its ativities to the General Assembly.

We are pleased that CIUTI is a truely actively workng organization bringing together the experrts in T&I education and creating condition for a fruitful exchange of opinions, experience, good practices and useful contacts. Herzen University and SCIT find this cooperation very beneficial.