News

Meetings in the Russian MFA

20 February 2025|

On 20 of February a Herzen University delegation consisting of Rector Sergey Tarasov, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation and Internationalization Sergey Sheremet and Director of the St. Petersburg  School of Conference Interpreting and Translation Angelique Antonova paid a visit to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  At the meeting with Alexander Alimov, Director of the Department for Multilateral Humanitarian Cooperation and Cultural Relations, the parties discussed the prospects of cooperation in the extensive program of promotion of the Russian language and culture abroad carried out by this department. SCIT Director Angelika Antonova also spoke in detail about the university’s participation in the international celebration of Russian Language Day, celebrated annually on June 6, and about the regularly organized seminars of the professional upgrading for translators of international organizations working with the Russian language. Alexander Alimov noted that the format of such seminars developed by SCIT is of great interest for teachers of the Russian language abroad. The Russian MFA is ready to support and develop this project, and the SCIT staff , together with the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, are actively working to organize a new seminar “Russian Verbal Culture as a source of Humor in modern Russian public Discourse” in June 2025. Moreover, colleagues from the Asia-Pacific region also showed interest in the seminars, and the Russian MFA voiced a request to organize similar seminars on the Russian socio-political discourse for translators and teachers of the Russian language in China.

The guests from St. Petersburg also had a meeting with Sergey Gritsai, Director of the Linguistic Support Department in the Russian MFA, where prospects for cooperation between the department and the university were discussed. Rector Sergey Tarasov invited Sergey Gritsai to attend the diploma awarding ceremony for the SCIT graduates in June 2025, and also spoke about regular master classes, both in-person and remote,  held by the Linguistic Support Department specialists for the SCIT students. There are many SCIT graduates among these specialists, as 20 SCIT graduates have worked or are currently working at the Russian MFA. During the conversation, the parties agreed that in order to increase the effectiveness of training, veterans of the MFA  translation service should also be involved in giving master classes. We hope that this useful practice will soon be implemented.

Visit to the UN Information Centre in Moscow

19 December 2024|

On December 18, representatives of Russian and Belarusian universities who signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations met at the UN Information Center in Moscow. Such meetings are traditionally held in December and allow the members to report the results of the cooperation efforts over the year, share news and experience, discuss challenges of the present moment and prospects for cooperation in the nearest future. SCIT Director A.M. Antonova spoke about the results of the SCIT graduates in competitive exams at the United Nations, about the experience of cooperation with UNESCO in organizing a seminar for UN translators with Russian, and about participation in a round table dedicated to the Russian LanguageDay at the United Nations. The meeting was very productive and strengthened ties between Russian universities within the Memorandum of Understanding network.

Master class with Daria Mandrova, MFA interpreter

19 December 2024|

On December 13, the SCIT students had a remote master-class with Daria Mandrova, a SCIT graduate and a staff interpreter at the Linguistic Support Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Daria is a very experienced interpreter, she has repeatedly been involved in working with top state officials at important international meetings and negotiations. We are very grateful to Dasha that she found time in her work schedule to meet with the students, hold a training session, and share her best practices, techniques and professional know-how. It is very important for today’s students to receive support from a senior colleague who went from being a SCIT graduate to a top interpreter from the President’s pool. We hope that such master classes will continue!

SCIT graduate publishes a book

3 December 2024|

Recently the Publishing House “Mezhdunarodnye Otnoshenia” brought out a book written by a SCIT graduate Timofey Mineev. It is entitled “Sinkhron” /Simultaneous Interpreting/.

The author has worked as a translator at the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant named after E.S. Yalamov, worked free lance, and currently serves in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Without doubt, Timofey has something to tell you about sim. Hasten to read it!

https://imobook.ru/book/seriya-vysshaya-shkola-perevoda/sinkhron

SCIT takes part in St. Petersburg Science and Education Salon

26 November 2024|

On 26-28 November St. Petersburg holds the International Science and Education Salon. SCIT has become a part of the Herzen University exposition showcasing its innovative educational programme of training high caliber interpreters and traslators for the needs of international organizations, government bodies and business circles. The salon visitors could learn about the School via the SCIT video profile, the updated SCIT booklet and the slideshow about the graduates’ employment possibilities. Among the guests of the Herzen exposition were Vice Governor of St. Petersburg Vladimir  Knyaguinin, Head of the Committee for Science and Higher Education of the Government of St. Peterburg Andrey Maksimov and other guests. SCIT Director Angelique Antonova had a very productive talk with the University and City leadership about SCIT prospects.

SCIT starts a new academic year

3 September 2024|

The first Monday in September SCIT opens a new academic year. The ceremony was attended by Rector of Herzen Univesity Sergey Tarasov, Vice -Rector for International Affairs Dmitry Mereshkin, honorary guests, SCIT trainers and graduates.  Rector Tarasov addressed the new students with a word of welcome. He said, “The school forms a brotherhood of profesionals, which grows from year to year. It is wonderful, as the primary task of an interpreter is to build communication, help people to understand other people, cultures and world views. The school builds up this kind of communication very successfully, and this is the secret of its success”.  Rector Tarasov congratulated Irina Alexeeva on awarding her  the honorary title of the President of SCIT.

Director Angelique Antonova warmly welcomed the newcomers and stressed the importance of making a closely-knit community withing the group and necessity to support each other on the way. Irina Alexeeva picked up the cue saying that the School’s collective consists of unique people who can work closely with each other and thanks to this achieve remarkable results.  She hopes the new students will adopt this mode and will benefit from it.

Igor Demyanenko, Deputy Reprresentative of Russian MFA in St. Petersburg and SCIT lecturer on International Law,  spoke about his course: “I will try to persuade you that the notions and categories we use in international law are applicable in everyday life, too. We will touch upon it in our classes, and I always welcome thought-provoking questions from students”.

Kirill Kasyanov, Head of the Russian Interpretation section at UNON, joined the ceremony via Zoom.  He  congratulated the new students and described the internship opportunities at UN offices for SCIT leavers. This coming autumn, for example, UNON expects four SCIT graduates for a week-long internship. He assured everybody that Russian linguistic services are always share their professional expertise with young SCIT interpreters.

Anastasia Gavrilina, 2015 SCIT alumna and presently Reviser in the Russian Translation section at UNOG spoke about her experience of studying at SCIT and wished the new students to absorb everything that SCIt has to offer.

The meeting continued with a traditional tea-party. The new students got to know their teachers and SCIT graduates, asked questions about the treaching process and School’s traditions.

Internship module with Russian section of VRS, UNHQ in New York

4 July 2024|

Strarting July, SCIT graduates embarked on their internship program. The first module was held in colloboration with the Russian section of the Verbatim Reports Service, UN Secretariat. From 1 to 3 of July the graduates had intensive distant classes with Alexander Pankov, VRS reviser . The graduates sincerely regretted the short term assigned for these classes as they proved very useful. According to the graduates’ feedback,  the classes were all practically oriented, together with Alexander they analyzed possible mistakes and discussed better options for the texts under study.  We are very grateful to Alexander Pankov for sharing his expertise and hope that one day SCIT graduates of 2024 will join the ranks of UN staff language specialists.

Final accords of 2023/24 academic year

28 June 2024|

On 27 and 28 June SCIT celebrated the finale of the 2023/24 academic year. On 27 July the students took part in the traditional end-of the-year conference for MFA officials. We attach much importance to this conference as this is the chance for the graduates to show themsleves at their best and possibly favourably impress the potential employer. This year  the students’ competence was evaluated by Sergey Gritsay, Director of the Linguistic Support Department, MFA of Russia. The students interpreted in the consecutive and smultaneous modes form English, German and French. The speeches dealt with the topic of AgI.

The conference was followed by the traditional boat trip along the Neva river and the canals. At the end of the day all participants of the festivitis gathered in the SCIT conference hall for the students’ amateur performance. The party was jolly, with songs and quizzes, and we all had a lot of fun!

28 July followed with the official diploma-awarding ceremony. The grand Mariinski Hall of Herzen Univrsity was full of guests. Rector Sergey Tarasov, LSD director Sergey Gritsay, SCIT director Irina Alexeeva gave welcoming speeches to the graduates. The Head of the Board of Guardians Vladimir Chizhov awarded the diploma to each graduate and presented them with a book.  The guests of the ceremony and SCIT trainers wished the new crop of graduates every success in life.

Final exams are over!

27 June 2024|

From 17 to 21 June SCIT students had to take final examinations. The examination board traditionally included observes from international organizations: this year Mikhail Kuzmenko, Senior Reviser from the RTS at UNOG, assisted the SCIT trainers in passing the final verict. Over 5 days strict but fair examiners evaluated the performance of the graduates in translation and interpreting. This year’s topic for simultaneous interpretation was Water Resources.

Now the exams are over, the academic year is drawing to a close. Heartiest congratulations to the new crop!

Round Table on the Russian Language at UNESCO

10 June 2024|

The round table on the Russian Language as a Basis for Integrational Dialogue was organized by the Russian Representation to UNESCO in Paris  as part of the celebrations devoted to the Russian Language Day. Angelique Antonova, SCIT Deputy Director, was invited to make a presentation at this event.  In her speech she addressed the role of the Russian language as a cultural mediator not only in international communication, but also within the multinational Russian environment. According to Ms Antonova, foregrounding the cultural component of international coomunication can serve as a locomotive for studying the Russian language abroad. She spoke about the national school of interlinguoculturology and the practice of organizing a competition Young Aitmatovs for young authors in Russia’s ethnic languages who use Russian for promoting their literary works in other languages of Russia.  All the participants of the round table agreed that such good practices will increase the role of Russian on the international arena and strengthen cultural ties among peoples within the country.

More about the event:

https://t.me/s/RFDEL_UNESCO/4363

https://russianunesco.mid.ru/ru/press_service/news/o_prazdnovanii_dnya_russkogo_yazyka_v_shtab_kvartire_yunesko/

https://tass.ru/obschestvo/21025973/amp