News

22-26 April 2019: Master-classes of Ian Newton

On 22-26 April SCIT hosted Ian Newton, former ILO Chief-Interpreter and trainer from FTI, Geneva University. With the Dual Degree Agreement still in operation between our schools, Mr. Newton was invited to give a series of master-classes in retour for the SCIT students. The guest lecturer was able to give the students necessary guidance and shared professional tips in interpreting into English, which are invaluable in the final lap of the academic year. The students appreciated the expertise, but also the engaging personality of Mr. Newton. Looking forward to new meetings with Ian!

DG SCIC Conference in Brussels

On 4 and 5 of April 2019 the traditional conference on the recent trends in interpreting and interpreter training was organized by the Directorate General for Interpreting, European Commission, in Brussels. Among the speakers were Florika Fink-Hoojer, Director General DG Interpretation, Javier Hernándes Saseta, Head of Multilingualism and Knowledge Development Unit, Filip Majcen, Director of Interpretation Services Management and Professional Support, and others. DG SCIC’s team also presented its Knowledge Centre on Interpretation, 2.0 and attracted a lot of attention. Universities’ representatives spoke about the issues of Artificial Intelligence, machine translation and technologies, and how they transform the learning and working environment for interpreters. SCIT was represented by Deputy Director Angelique Antonova.

SCIT takes part in EMCI General Assembly Meeting in Brussels

On 4 April the EMCI General Assembly meeting took place in Brussels. SCIT was represented by Deputy Director Angelique Antonova. The participants discussed the preparations for the student meeting in Prague which is to take place on 24-28 April. The meeting will be attended by four SCIT students.   Also much attention was given to the implementation of the European Commission grant projects in quality assurance control and developing resources and speech repositories for graduates about to take language examinations for IOs. SCIT is an active participant of these projects.

SCIT opens doors to potential students

On 21 February SCIT opened its door to potential applicants. Director Irina Alexeeva welcomed the guests and explained the selection procedure at SCIT aptitude tests.  She underlined that the selection process is rigorous, and successful applicants should prepare themselves for a year of hard work. “When we launched SCIT in 2008, said Irina Alexeeva, we were primarily concerned about raising the status of a translator or an interpreter in our country. Our second goal was  to turn out top-notch specialists for  international organizations able to maintain the high quality of work across the world”.

Deputy Director Angelique Antonova descibed the job prospects after graduation. She backed up her speech with illustrative statistics: out of 129 SCIT graduates 21 are UN staff interpreters and translators, 18 have worked for the MFA of Russia, around 30 are employed by the UN or its agencies on temporary contracts. A lot of graduates work successfully in business or free lance.

One of SCIT’s present day students shared his impressions: «Just a year ago I was sitting in your place and thought that getting into SCIT was impossible. But everything is in your hands. Just like us, you can succeed in the exams, if you are intent on learning and mastering the profession. I certainly advise you to try it. I won’t be easy, but you can do it, like we did. ».

SCIT trainers Tatiana Maruschenko, Yuri Shashkov and Sergey Afonin took the questions from the auadience.

SCIT celebrates the Diplomat’s Day

On 11 February a reception to celebrate the Diplomat’s Day took place in the Marble Palace, St. Petersburg. The representatives of diplomatic services, general consulates and the Government of St. Petersburg were invited to the reception. The MFA Office in St. Petersburg is a long-standing partner of Herzen University. Vladimir Zapevalov, MFA Representative in St. Petersburg, and the MFA Office in St. Petersburg took an active part in launching and developing the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. 20 SCIT graduates have been employed with the MFA of Russia over the past years.

The MFA Office in St. Petersburg recognized the achievements of Herzen University and its Rector Gennady Bordovsky (1986 – 2011) in promoting international cooperation. In 2009 Rector Bordovsky was awarded the Alexander Gorchakov Silver Medal “For the efforts in strengthening Russian sovereignty and unfailing service to the country” in recognition of his efforts in launching the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. In 2018 Director Irina Alexeeva and Deputy Director Angelique Antonova were awarded the Contribution Medal from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to mark the 10th SCIT anniversary.

The ceremony in the Marble Palace was attended by Gennady Bordovsky, President of Herzen University, Yulia Komarova, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, Director Irina Alexeeva and Deputy Director Angelique Antonova.