On 31 March a representative delegation of Moscow State Linguistic University visited SCIT on the recommendation of E. Pokholkova, Dean of MSLU T&I Department.
Irina Shokina, Chair of ESL, and Elena Bovarova, trainer of simultaneous interpretation, acquainted themselves with SCIT facilities and had a talk with the SCIT administration. The colleagues learned about SCIT’s activities, and both parties are eager to broaden the cooperation.
On 17 March 2017 г. the Humanities Institute of St. Petersburg Polytechnical University (SPU) held the first international interpretation competition for students. The organizers are Maria Stepanova, SPU, and Boris Naimushin (New Bolgarian University, Sofia).
The first prize went to Polina Volkova, SCIT student (64 points), the runners-up with 63 points were Alexander Kussul (SPU) and Arthur Khaidarov (Herzen university), the third place with 57 points was shared by Alexander Verkhoglyadov (SPU) and Nikita Yakovenko (Herzen university). Congratulations to the laureates!
March was marked by a lengthy three-week visit of Mikhail Kuzmenko, RTS Senior Reviser, UNOG. In addition to regular daily classes in institutional translation, Mikhail and Debra Zhanna Benard, his UN colleague, gave two excellent master-classes in Human rights at the UN.
From 13-17 of March 2017 SCIT hosted Liam Long, Senior Interpreter of DG SCIC, European Commission. Liam arrived at SCIT to participate in the aptitude tests as an observer, but found time to hold intensive training sessions in English and French with this year’s students. He held 9 master classes in consecutive and simultaneous interpretation. We heartily thank Liam for his extraordinary industry and great contribution to the training process at SCIT.
It has become a tradition for SCIT students and trainers to hold a yearly meeting with Prof. Boris Naimushin, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, where the experienced interpreter shares professional expertise with the SCIT youth. Up to this day Boris Naimushin has interpreted Bulgaria’s top public officials. Prof. Naimushin’s lecture took place on 16 March.
Last week at SCIT was dedicated to the aptitude tests. The international experts from partner-organizations acted as observers, among them were Mikhail Kuzmenko, RTS Senior Reviser at UNOG, Noel Muylle, Honorary Director General of the European Commission, and Liam Long, Senior Interpreter at DG SCIC, EC. The tests were also attended by heads of partner translation agencies, William Hackett Jones (Eclectic Translations, St. Petersburg) and Vladimir Shebanov (Roid, Moscow).
The best candidates were recommended for enrollment. Additional aptitude tests are possible in June.
On 1 March SCIT opened its doors to the potential applicants or anyone interested in its activities. Director Irina Alexeeva and Deputy director Angelique Antonova gave advice regarding the pending aptitude tests. SCIT trainers Ekaterina Shutova, Sergey Afonin and Anastasia Gvrilina also attended the event and spoke to the participants. Tatiana Shikhmatova, a recent graduate, shared her impressions of working in the Russian Verbatim Reports Section in UNHQ in New York. Another graduate Anastasia Zausskaya told about her experience on the domestic T&I market. Today’s students commented on their SCIT studies, too.
On 16-18 February SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva visited the city of Saratov with a series of master classes for the students of Saratov universities. The master classes touched upon a variety of subjects, such as law, economics, ecology, advertising and others. She also held a master class for the teachers The race is got by running: the translation is done by translating where the participants discussed the specificity of interpreter training for international and sport organizations. The classes were hosted by the German Center in Saratov Regional Library.
On 20 February SCIT held a virtual class with the DG SCIC, European Commission. The working mode was consecutive interpreting with Russian and English in both directions. The speeches were of different topics: Birds in a big city, Agriculture in Ukraine, Protests in Romania. The retour was assessed by Kevin McCarthy, a SCIC interpreter. He spoke favourably about the performances of Fiodor Makhlayuk and Ekaterina Ageeva, and they certainly deserved the praise. SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva was equally satisfied with the English-to-Russian interpretation of other students and appreciated their Russian. The students themselves pointed to the problem areas: it is coping with fast-paced speeches or deciphering one’s own notes. The EC experts gave valuable advice concerning the language of note-taking when working into retour. The virtual class proved to be a success and a very useful exercise. We thank our European partners and hope for the continuing practice of virtual classes with DG SCIC.
Master-classes of Andrey Falaleyev, a renowned interpreter, has become a tradition at SCIT, and the latest event took place on 26 January, 2017. Our guest spoke about the priorities in the work of a simultaneous interpreter, and with the experience of working at the Rio Olympics and conducting a series of smash seminars in Ekaterinburg, Moscow and other cities of Russia behind him, Andrey’s ideas sounded especially well thought-over, dense and pointed. The students also learned about the sixth book for practicing simultaneous interpreters made by Andrey Falaleyev and Alena Malofeeva – Exercises for Simultaneous Interpreters. Cameo.
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