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International Translation Day at SCIT

2 October 2015|

On 30 September SCIT trainers and students celebrated their professional day – the International Translation Day. A meeting with Yuri Lebedev, a retired lieutenant-colonel, historian and translator of military memoirs, set the festive mood for the day. Students and trainers from the Institute of Foreign Languages and SCIT came together at the Plenary Hall of the Herzen University Club to meet with the guest. Dmitry Boikov, Vice Rector for International Affairs, congratulated the participants on the occasion and spoke about the important role of language mediators in achieving cultural understanding. Vladimir Khodyrev, President of the North-West Transport Union and a member of the SCIT Board of Gaurdians speaking at the meeting stressed the national flagship role of language mediators at international gatherings. Tatiana Yudina, Head of IFL Translation Department, greeted the students and wished them professional achievements.

Yuri Lebedev told the participants about his professional evolution, from a sailor in the Baltic Fleet to a member of the Soviet Military Mission at the Soviet Embassy in Poland. He elaborated on his interest in the military history and memoirs, spoke about his public work. A vivid life story speckled with humour and illustrated by photos generated keen interest and questions from the audience.

As the tradition goes, the day ended with a party and potpourris of songs, jokes and quizzes.

Day of Knowledge at SCIT

2 September 2015|

On 1 September the St Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation opened its door to the new students. The Day of Knowledge was full of events: a lecture of SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva was followed by a meeting with Vladimir Yakunin. Vladimir Yakunin holds a Doctor’s degree in Political Science, and he is Chairman of the Board of Guardians for the National Glory Center and St. Andrew Pervozvany Fund, and  President of the World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations”.  In Herzen’s Armour Hall he gave a lecture on Modern Russia: Looking for its Own Way and Development Strategies and took questions from the audience.

At SCIT First Vice-Rector Sergey Goncharov and Vice-Rector for International Affairs Dmitry Boikov welcomed the trainees. The ceremony was also attended by the School administration, faculty and graduates. Happy School Year, dear Students!

“A Practicum in Simultaneous Interpretation”, seminar by Andrei Falaleyev

22 July 2015|

From July 6-17, 2015, the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation in St. Petersburg hosted a seminar led by Mr. Andrei Falaleyev titled, “A Practicum in Simultaneous Interpretation”. The seminar lasted two weeks, during which time two groups of students each worked with Mr. Falaleyev for four hours per day. As an instructor, Andrei set himself apart in his utmost professionalism, in his eagerness to help, and in both his desire and his ability to share his vast professional experience with his colleagues. These qualities, in combination with one-on-one interactions with Mr. Falaleyev, left the participants feeling that the course was an extremely rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. The skills and abilities which Andrei develops in his students will, without a doubt, play a key role in students’ further confident growth in the profession, helping to overcome difficulties and fears, and broadening the horizons of professional growth.

We sincerely hope that the School and Andrei will continue to maintain close ties, both professionally and personally, for years to come.

Diploma Awarding Ceremony at SCIT

7 July 2015|

On 1 July 2015 a diploma awarding ceremony to the 2015 SCIT graduates took place in the Mariinsky Hall, Herzen University. It was attended by Evgeniy Grigoriev, Chaiman of the Committee for External Relations in the Government of St. Petersburg, Clade Durand, Head of Unit for Multilingualism and Interpreter Training Support at DG SCIC, European Commission, Noël Muylle, Honorary Director General of the European Commission, Alexander Gorelik, Director of the UN Information Center in Moscow, and other distinguished guests. Irina Alexeeva, SCIT director, gave a report on the results of 2014-2015 academic year. Rector Valery Solomin addressed the graduates with a valedictory speech, Vice-Rector Sergey Goncharov and SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva also wished the graduates success in professional and personal life. Partners from international organizations and business circles greeted the graduates.

Thanks to the help from the Board of Guardians, the festivities continued with a boat trip along the Neva River and the graduates’ sketch performance at SCIT.

Final Exams at SCIT

7 July 2015|

From 22 to 26 June 2015 SCIT held a week of final examinations. Traditionally, the final exams were attended by observers from international organizations and partner-universities: Brian Gentle, a most experienced interpreter, represented DG SCIC, EC, a translator Jowita Gogolewska represented DGT EC, and Ian Newton, FTI trainer and interpreter for ILO, acted as an observer from Geneva University. Over five days the strict examination board assessed the students’ performance in translation and interpreting. Overall, one graduate earned the category «B» with English; the rest earned the combination «А»-«С»-«С» in their respective languages. Fourteen students received Herzen university diplomas, five of them were students from Kazakhstan, who studied under the Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO) grant agreement. Our congratulations to the graduates!

SCIT students meet Frank Peeters, CIUTI representative

8 June 2015|

On 1 July SCIT hosted Frank Peeters, CIUTI representative (Conférence Internationale Permanente d’Instituts Universitaires de Traducteurs et Interprètes). During an hour and a half the distinguished guest spoke about the audiovisual aspects of interpreting and the importance of language mediation for the blind people in understanding the world. Specifically, Mr Peeters dwelt upon the critical aspects of film-dubbing and audio guides. The students asked a lot of questions. The meeting allowed its participants to see the profession in a new light.

SCIT students meet Vladimir Chizhov

3 June 2015|

On 28 May 2015, Herzen University hosted Vladimir Chizhov, a veteran  diplomat and Permanent Representative of Russia at the European Union. The meeting with the SCIT students was preceded by a significant event: Vladimir Chizhov was awarded the Herzen University medal “In Recognition of the Services in Education and Science” for his substantial contribution in the development of international cooperation between Herzen University and the European Union and for the active participation in establishing Saint Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation.

Vladimir Chizhov told the students about the relations between Russia and the European Union, about economic partnerships, and the work of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation at the European Union. Vladimir Chizhov also took questions from the students and wished them professional success. «I am happy to be SCIT’s envoy in the Russian MFA, and I am looking forward to welcoming you as colleagues», said Vladimir Chizhov.

Virtual Class with DG INTE, European Parliament

19 May 2015|

On 24 April another virtual class with the Directorate General for Interpretation and Conference Management, European Parliament, took place at SCIT. For SCIT students this class marked a new stage in interpreter training: for the first time they had to interpret in both directions: from the foreign language into Russian, and into the foreign language (retour). Experienced European colleagues with Katerina Dara-Lepoura as their head subjected the students’ presentations to thorough analysis gave valuable recommendations and a lot of useful advice. It was another proof of how useful VCs are as a teaching tool and promotion of best practices.

Master classes of Anne Lafeber, Reviser at English Translation Service, UNHQ

28 April 2015|

On April 22, SCIT hosted Anne Lafeber, Reviser in the English Translation Service, UNHQ, and the Outreach and Internships Program officer at the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM), who gave a master class to SCIT students. The class was managed in a very warm and friendly way and SCIT students were eagerly interactive. Taking into account A. Lafeber’s direct involvement in improving the Language Competitive Examinations (LCE), it was only natural that her presentation was mainly dedicated to these exams. The LCE are designed to recruit new staff for the UN language services. In particular, A. Lafeber focused on the evaluation system in the framework of the LCE and tried to explain how it works. She also told students about the potential changes in the examination process. In addition, A. Lafeber spoke about her career and how she came to work in the UN, offering to the students some useful advice along the way. Overall, the master class of A. Lafaber was an extremely valuable experience for the SCIT students.

Marina Tkacheva
SCIT student

Master classes of Enrique Fernández-Vernet, Head of the Spanish translation section at UNOG

28 April 2015|

The week after the IV UN-MoU universities conference was rich in events: SCIT had the honor to welcome a lot of interesting people. Enrique Fernández-Vernet, Head of the Spanish translation section and coordinator of the UN Outreach program at UNOG, gave a series of master-classes to SCIT students. On his first visiting day, Mr. Fernández-Vernet spoke about the UN translation service, the competitive language examinations and preparation for them, about the work at the translation section in general and took time to answer all questions from the audience. The next day our guest gave a special master-class to the students with the Spanish language: the students’ translation of an abstract from the UN Convention was followed by a detailed analysis of typical mistakes when translating from Russian into Spanish and individual recommendations to the students.

Olga Silakova
SCIT student