News

SCIT hosts Andrey Falaleyev

25 December 2014|

On 23 December SCIT hosted the famous interpreter Andrey Falaleyev who held a meeting with the SCIT students. The two hour talk raced by as A. Falaleyev, an outstanding virtuoso of interpretation, let the students understand what simultaneous interpretation and martial arts have in common. According to A. Falaleyev, to become a truly professional interpreter one needs to learn “to avoid frontal attacks”, to polish one’s “martial” techniques and to resist the hypnosis of the “opponent” (i. e. the hypnotic impact of the foreign language). For instance, a good interpreter must be cautious with Latinisms. During the meeting A. Falaleyev described the way he coaches his students and told a few anecdotes from his experience as an interpreter. All in all, the meeting was highly fruitful. The SCIT students thank Andrey Falaleyev for his talk and hope for another meeting soon!

SCIT welcomes Andrey Vavilov, legendary interpreter

17 December 2014|

On 8-9 December on the margins of III St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Herzen University welcomed Andrey Vavilov, a renowned MFA interpreter, diplomat and a witness of the Brezhznev-Nixon summit. The retired MFA counsel had a meeting with the students of SCIT and the Herzen School of Foreign Languages where he answered questions, shared his experiences (the audio recording is available at http://spbs.herzen.spb.ru). With his endowment of modesty, dignity and tact, as well as talent for finding effective linguistic solutions – our guest became a favorite role model for the students.

On 8 December Mr. Vavilov’s presentation at the round table “Living Word: Dialogue of Ages and Cultures in Translation” made a splash when he told the audience his personal story of interpreting for  Leonid Brezhnev, Richard Nixon and other decision makers of the period.

Mr. Vavilov’s visit contributed to strengthening the communion between the best of MFA’s interpreting corps and SCIT.

Oxana Yakimenko gets Pro Cultura Hungaro-Russica Award

16 December 2014|

On 5 December 2014 the Department of History and Letters of Budapest University hosted the Prize Award ceremony held by the Fund “For the Russian Language and Culture” and the Budapest University Russian Studies Centre. This year the Award went to Oxana Yakimenko, literary historian, translator of fiction and special literature, interpreter, lecturer at the St. Petersburg State University and trainer of the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. The Fund Board of Trustees awarded her the prize for “twenty years of service to the cause of study and popularization of contemporary Hungarian culture and literature (including XX cent.), teaching the Hungarian language at a Russian university and strengthening Hungarian-Russian ties and academic cooperation. Among the awardees of previous years were Lajos Vass, director of Budapest Opera (2007), Péter Gothár, a film director and screenwriter (2009), Géza Morscányi, a playwrite and translator (2010), the Russian Cultural Center in Budapest (2013).

http://oroszvilag.hu/?t1=kultura_programok&hid=5577

Master class of Irina Zubanova

16 December 2014|

On 9 December the SCIT hosted Irina Zubanova, an Associate Professor from the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU) and a practicing interpreter. The master-class was attended by all SCIT students, including the MFA of Kazakhstan trainees. Irina Zubanova also visited the class of Ekaterina Shutova, the SCIT trainer. The growing contacts between MSLU and SCIT were fortified during an informal session with the SCIT trainers, where Irina Zubanova presented a collection of jokes and sketches about interpreting and translation. The book’s title is “Metaphrasts Cracking Jokes”; it is a compilation by MSLU colleagues, proving that fellows translators keep their presence of mind and sense of humor in any situation.

Living word of culture

12 December 2014|

On 8 December 2014, the Mariinsky Hall of Herzen University hosted the round table Living Word: Dialogue of Ages and Cultures in Translation. The round table was dedicated to the cultural mission of language mediation and the “eastern dimension” in its today’s evolution. Nine presentations were made, and the discussions which followed brought together some 100 participants. The event was inspired by St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. The round table proceedings were published in the almanac The World of Culture and Cultural Studies which came out of print on the eve of III St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum of which the round table was a part.

SCIT as partner to UniGE and UP Comillas in European Parliament Grant to develop virtual training of interpreter trainers

28 November 2014|

On 26 and 27 November the three partners in the European Parliament grant – Herzen University, University of Comillas (Spain) and Geneva University (grant beneficiary) – held a meeting in Geneva to coordinate the efforts in developing a virtual platform for training of interpreter trainers. SCIT’s contribution to the project is developing a simultaneous interpreting module with a focus on retour interpreting. SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva, Deputy Director Angelique Antonova, SCIT trainers Sergey Yakovlev and Ekaterina Shutova are involved in the project.

Master classes of Liam Long, DG SCIC Senior Interpreter

27 November 2014|

On 17 – 19 November SCIT hosted Liam Long, a DG SCIC Senior Interpreter, who gave a series of master classes to the students. Despite its brevity, the visit turned out very productive, involving at least 4 hours of intensive work every day for each group. Under Liam Long’s supervision the students managed an impressive amount of work: making speeches, interpreting consecutively and simultaneously, analyzing their peers’ performance and giving them feedback. There is no doubt that Liam Long’s visit will strengthen the students’ determination in mastering the profession.

Irina Alekseeva speaks at St. Petersburg University of Culture and Arts

27 November 2014|

On 20 November the St. Petersburg University of Culture and Arts (SPUCA) hosted an event dedicated to translation on the margins of the Cultural Days of Germany in Russia. SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva gave a presentation on professional training of interpreters and translators and the role of language mediation in the modern world. The presentation as well as the talk about the SCIT attracted considerable interest of the SPUCA faculty and students.

SCIT takes part in the III Recors’ Conference organized by the European Parliament in Brussels

16 November 2014|

On 13-14 November Sergey Goncharov, First Vice-Rector, Vladimir Khodyrev, member of St. Petersburg Board of Rectors and member of SCIT Board of Guardians, Ms Angelique Antonova, Deputy Director of the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation, took part in the conference Delivering Excellence in Conference Interpreting in Brussels. The conference was organized by the European Parliament for the Rectors of universities and Heads of conference interpreting training programs supported by the European Parliament.

The plenary speaker Olga Cosmidou, Director General of Directorate General for Interpretation and Conferences, announced the foundation of the International Consortium of Master’s Programs in Conference Interpreting (IMCI) where she invited Herzen University to join. IMCI is open to universities which guarantee quality of interpreter training, confirmed by the graduates’ employment in the international organizations of the European Union and the UN. The participants had a lively discussion about the cooperation between the international organizations and conference interpreting schools, including the requirements for language mediators in international bodies, and, accordingly, the quality criteria to be met by the institutions offering interpreting training programs and willing to establish cooperation with international organizations.

Within the conference framework First Vice-Rector Goncharov had a series of meetings with the EU officials. The meeting with Ms Walter-Drop, who is Ms. Cosmidou’s successor as Director General of the Directorate General for Interpretation and Conferences, was focused on the issues of cooperation between the European Parliament and Herzen University. Ms Walter-Drop confirmed that she is ready to maintain the level of cooperation with Herzen University. At the meeting with Mr Durand, Head of Multilingualism and Interpreter Training Support Unit at DG SCIC, he confirmed the European Commission would maintain the level of pedagogical assistance to the School despite the budgetary constraints. Mr. Chizhov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation in the European Union, also took part in the conference. During the meeting Mr Chizhov noted the high qualification of the School graduates working in the MFA of Russia and, particularly, in the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the European Union. Mr Chizhov confirmed that the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the European Union is ready to support the St Petersburg School of Interpreting and Translation of Herzen University in the European institutions. Several meetings with the heads of interpreting programs from Geneva University (Switzerland), Comillas University (Spain), La Laguna University (Spain), SISU (Shanghai, China) and others also took place on the margins of the event.

Evgeny Grigoriev, Head of External Relations Committee, Government of St. Petersburg, visits the School

13 November 2014|

“Language mediation is a matter of national concern”, said Evgeny Grigoriev, Head of the External Relations Committee in the Government of St. Petersburg, during his visit to the Herzen University. First, the guest was invited for a tour of St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. Evgeny Grigoriev examined the equipment and tools used for translation, and attended classes in interpreting and translation where he engaged the students in a discussion about the standards of translating documents, as per the  textbook by Irina Alexeeva. This was followed by a meeting in the School conference room where the participants discussed the School’s progress and the need for state support. Special focus was on the preparation to the IV International Conference of Universities which signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations. The conference will be hosted by the Herzen University in April 2015. Evgeny Grigoriev inspected the University halls as the venue for the Conference, and noted the quality of restauration works.. The Head of the Committee also visited the University library, and showed remarkable knowledge of and interest to the book culture. During the visit, Evgeny Grigoriev was accompanied by Vladimir Khodyrev, Advisor to the Governor of St. Petersburg, Sergey Goncharov, First Vice Rector, Dmitri Boikov, Vice Rector for International Affairs, Irina Alexeeva, SCIT Director, and Angelique Antonova, SCIT Deputy Director.