SCIT – News

I Siberian Philological Forum in Krasnoyarsk: More Attention to Translation

8 November 2016|

Throughout the whole week – from 24 to 28 October – I International Siberian Philological Forum took place in Krasnoyarsk. Above 100 participants from Russia and seven other countries presented their papers. The presentations and talks focused on old manuscripts, Old Believers’ literature, present day tendencies in the literary process in Russia and abroad, world literature in translations. The participants were unanimous that the quality of translations deserves a lot more attention.

The plenary presentation of Irina Alexeeva, SCIT director, devoted to The Dynamics of Perception of the Russian Classical Literature in Translations in XX-XXI cent. drew much attention.

VAN GOUGH UNITES: REMARKABLE BOOK PRESENTATION

28 October 2016|

On 14 October SCIT organized a remarkable event: Oxana Yakimenko, SCIT trainer, and Elena Zheltova, SCIT graduate, presented their translation work – two volumes of Van Gough: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith published by Azbuka Publishing House. The image of the famous painter existing in the public conscience due to numerous films and other popular forms of cultural production proves the importance of Van Gough’s documentary biography which found its place in the Russian cultural context due to the work of our respected colleagues.

17 October: Virtual Conference with the DG SCIC, European Commission

24 October 2016|

On 17 October SCIT hosted the first remote class with the Directorate General of Conference Interpreting of the European Commission. The class was devoted to interpreter self-training. On behalf of the DG SCIC the seminar was coordinated by Paolo Torrigiani, interpreter from the Italian section of DG SCIC, and Fernando Leitao, DG SCIC e-learning coordinator. After discussing the necessity of self-training and giving organizational tips, the coordinators held two self-training sessions in real time followed by an evaluation and final brainstorming. According to Vera Vinter, a SCIT student, the seminar on self-training was everything they expected it to be and even more. It was highly practical, well-structured, and effective. They had a chance to review from a different perspective some of the techniques end exercises they already used, as well as to learn new techniques. The students have already incorporated several tips into their self-training practice: interpreting for a pure customer, panel discussion (which was very helpful in preparing for the conference, setting clear and realistic objectives. Also, the students received advice on giving mutual feedback. All in all, the remote class encouraged the students to continue effective training.

Conference in Rome: Russian Language Issues at FAO, UN

11 October 2016|

On 28 September – 3 October FAO HQ in Rome successfully hosted the International Forum Russian in Global Context and International Organizations co-organized by Moscow State University, ESIT School of Interpreting and Translation (Paris), Saint Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation, Herzen University. The Forum brought together some 300 Russian language specialists and leaders of T&I programs from 43 countries. At the opening ceremony Mr. Louis Gagnon, Secretary-General of the Conference and Council at FAO, stressed the role of Herzen University in providing FAO with translation and terminological base and put great value on this cooperation. At the plenary session Irina Alexeeva, SCIT Director, gave a presentation Russian: Who is to Blame and What is to be Done? At the round table The Art of Translation – Interpretation in International Conferences two presentations by highly qualified professionals drew a lot of attention: Angela Keil, AIIC President, spoke about its principles and work, and Ekaterina Shutova, SCIT trainer, told about her work on Russia’s first Interpreter’s Code of Ethics.

5-8 October: Master-classes of Liam Long, DG SCIC Senior Interpreter

10 October 2016|

From 5 to 8 October SCIT hosted Liam Long, DG SCIC senior interpreter. His master-classes were an introduction into interpreter note-taking. As an experienced interpreter he explained the purpose and principles of note-taking for interpreter’s work and shared some elements of his personal note-taking system. Also, the master-classes provided an excellent opportunity for the students to practice consecutive interpreting and to get feedback from an expert. The master-classes were also attended by the IFL students, Herzen University, as observers.

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12-30 September: Master-classes of Dmitri Bloshenko, Senior Revisor of the Russian Translation Service at UNHQ

10 October 2016|

From 12 to 30 September 2016 SCIT hosted Dmitri Bloshenko, RTS Senor Reviser at UNHQ.

Since the master classes were scheduled at the beginning of the academic year, Mr. Dmitry Bloshenko had to adapt the teaching materials to the beginner’s level of the students who have just started their schooling. During the classes the students analyzed and translated the letters of Permanent Representatives to the UN Secretary General, various reports, journal articles on political and economic issues. To their surprise, the students found that UN translators often have to deal with translated materials rather than original documents in English. At the classes the students worked to expand their vocabulary, analyze the sentence structure, the meaning of the text, and understand the precise idea and position of the author. As a final exercise the students did a test UN translation in true-to-life conditions (without access to dictionaries or the Internet). Some of the master classes were also attended by the SCIT graduates and the students from the Institute of Foreign Languages, Herzen University. All agreed that the master-classes were very useful and highly effective.

Translation as cultural diplomacy

22 September 2016|

IV International Congress of translators of fiction took place in Moscow on 8-11 September under the slogan Literary Translation is a Means of Cultural Diplomacy. Over 300 renowned translators came to Moscow from all over the world. Among the delegates was Irina Alexeeva, SCIT director. She made a presentation about translators’ mission in today’s world. The Congress was crowned with the awarding the laureates of the prize “Read Russia”. One of the awardees is Lisa Hayden (USA) who translated Eugen Vodolazkin’s novel Laurus.

September 9, 2016: meeting with the delegation of West Flanders, Belgium

12 September 2016|

On September 9, SCIT hosted the delegation from Belgium headed by H.E. Mr. Carl Decaluwé, the Governor of West Flanders. The delegation included the representatives of KU Leuven, Antwerp, and the officials from Televic Group.

The participants of the meeting discussed the Televic offer of up-to-date e-learning equipment for conference interpreters and the possibilities of cooperation with the KU Leuven within the “Erasmus +” framework.

Mr. Carl Decaluwé thanked Acting Rector Vassily Rabosh and Herzen administration for their eagerness to cooperate: “Herzen University offers a high level of education, Televic Group offers high quality equipment, together we can offer top class services. Both structures work for people, and we are happy to be able to cooperate”.

Lieven Daneels, CEO of Televic Group, stressed that his company considered cooperation with European universities, including Herzen University, an important aspect of their work. Dirk Verbeke, Sales Director of Televic Education, presented the up-to-date solutions for interpreter and translator training. The partners learned about Televic’s participation in providing equipment for international events and organizations such as G20 meeting, the UN, the European Court of Justice, universities of Newcastle, Geneva, and Pompeu Fabra.

Prof. Hendrik Kokaert, Dean of KU Leuven, shared his experiences of using the Televic software for translation assessment and real-time feedback, which allows to save time and improve the quality of assessment.

The meeting was attended by Filip Cumps, Consul-General of Belgium in St. Petersburg, Noël Muylle, Honorary Director General of the European Commission, Vladimir Khodyrev, Advisor to Governor of St. Petersburg and President of North-West Transport Union, Dmitry Boikov, Acting First Vice-Rector of Herzen University, and Angelique Antonova, Deputy Director of SCIT.

5 September: SCIT opens its doors to the new intake of students

12 September 2016|

On 5 September SCIT opened its doors to the new in-take of students. Traditionally Herzen University leaders and SCIT partners from international organizations and the city of St. Petersburg welcomed the newcomers. Dmitry Boikov, Acting First Vice-Rector, Vladimir Khodyrev, Advisor to the Governor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Center in Moscow, Igor Demyanenko, MFA Deputy Representative in St. Petersburg greeted the students and wished them every success. SCIT trainers welcomed the students. SCIT graduates stopped by to greet the trainers and students.

4-8 July 2016: SCIT-UN seminar Russian for Interpreters of International Organizations

13 July 2016|

From 4 to 8 July 2016, St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation held a successful seminar Russian for Interpreters of International Organizations. Eight interpreters from UNHQ, UNOG and UNOV spent five busy days at SCIT discussing with their Russian colleagues, SCIT trainers, lexical solutions and semantics of the Russian public policy discourse. Both SCIT trainers and UN interpreters considered this format useful and suggested organizing such seminars in the future.