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культурное пространство перевода на ii санкт-петербургском международном культурном форуме 2-4 декабря 2013 г.

20 December 2013|

St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation was among the organizers of the conference “Language Mediation as a Means of Spreading the Russian Language and Culture to the Global Space” held on the margins of the II St. Petersburg Cultural Forum. The conference took place in Herzen University’s Heraldic Hall on 2 December. Rector Valery Solomin welcomed the participants. Other distinguished guests, among whom there were Alexander Prokhorenko, Chair of the Committee for External Affairs in St. Petersburg government, Vladimir Khodyrev, Advisor to the Governor of St. Petersburg, and others greeted the participants in their welcoming speeches. Alexander Sokurov, a renowned Russian film director, stressed the importance of educational traditions in Russian culture and underlined the key role of translation in launching literary works into the global space. Alexander Sokurov’s speech set the tone for the following discussions at the conference: every presentation generated enthusiastic response from the audience. As a final chord, the conference adopted a resolution which said: «Today Russia’s policy in the sphere of culture and education requires active participation of a language mediator in broadcasting the Russian language into the global space. A translator’s painstaking work needs coherence and consolidation, and all the more so that translation has always been central to building a cultural space. Conceptual discussion related to broadcasting the Russian language and culture through translation should be followed by an inclusive discussion of these issues in mass media. Culture is a nation’s common heritage, and it is capable of uniting people over many barriers. These conclusions were a contribution of the Herzen University to the strategy of promoting the Russian language and culture in the world”. On 3 December, the Herzen University delegation headed by Rector Valery Solomin took part in the Forum plenary session. Noël Muylle, the School’s Honorary Vice-president and Honorary Director General of the European Commission, made a speech at the plenary session stressing the key role of such educational institutions as Herzen University and its School of Conference Interpreting and Translation in training professional interpreters and translators – par excellence advocates and champions of the Russian language and culture.

The proceedings the conference were interpreted by the School trainers and freelance interpreters Ekaterina Shutova and Sergey Yakovlev. 

выпускники вшп на ярмарке нон-фикшн в москве

20 December 2013|

School graduates Anna Balashova and Irina Khasanova were among the translators of the popular book published by the NLO Publishing House “Les Francais peints par eux-mêmes. Les Parisiennes”. The presentation of the book took place at the Non-fiction Book Fair in Moscow on December 1. Anna Balashova talked about the subtleties of translating the literature of the Silver Age. Vera Milchina nad Irina Prokhorova monitored the discussions at the presentation. To read more from Irina Khasanova’s translation follow the link:http://novostiliteratury.ru/excerpts/vera-milchina-francuzy-narisovannye-imi-samimi-parizhanki/

ежегодный семинар молодых переводчиков в москве и нон-фикшн

20 December 2013|

On 22-30 November, the annual seminar “Translating a Book” for young translators of literature was held by the School director Irina Alexeeva in Goethe Institute in Moscow. In rigorous competition (10 candidates per place) only the best were selected to take part in this seminar. The participants came from different parts of Russia: Izhevsk, Krasnoyarsk, Saransk, Saratov, Penza, etc. They came prepared bringing their draft translations of “13 True Stories” by a Swiss author Alex Capus. The presentation of the book and translation readings took place at the Non-Fiction Book Fair on 1 December 2013. Both the seminar and the publication were sponsored by the Swiss Fund “Pro Helvetia”

проблемы перевода на красноярской ярмарке книжной культуры

20 December 2013|

On 31 October – 4 November a series of important translation events and activities took place on the margins of the VII Krasnoyarsk Book Fair. One of them was a meeting of young translators of literature with publishers which was coordinated by the School Director Irina Alexeeva and Chief editor of the NLO Publishing house Irina Prokhorova. The meeting discussed issues of cultivating local translation traditions, drawing on the resources of the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation for the benefit of the local translation community, overcoming challenges of the growing translation industry in Russia, as well as publishing houses’ demands in this sphere.

Помощь молодым переводчикам красноярского края

20 December 2013|

On 26 November – 2 December a week-long seminar for young translators of literature from the Krasnoyarsk region was held by the School Director Irina Alexeeva and an authority of German translator Rosemarie Tietze. At the seminar special time was reserved for a presentation about St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation which drew a large audience. The seminar was organized by Goethe Institute-Moscow and the Siberian Federal University. Director Irina Alexeeva also gave three master-classes to the local faculty.

29 октября: подписание Меморандума о взаимопонимании по вопросам обучения устных переводчиков между Европейским парламентом и Герценовским университетом

6 November 2013|

On 29 October, Herzen University and European Parliament signed a MoU on the training of conference interpreters on the base of the St Petersburg School of Interpretation and Translation. The University received this offer for a good reason. Professional excellence of the SPB SCIT’s graduates was appreciated by such organizations as the MFA, the United Nations, the European commission, and the signing of the MoU is another sign of this appreciation. To quote the Rector of the RSPU Valery Solomin, the European parliament is one of University’s and SCIT’s major partners to set the standard for professional training of interpreters. In turn, Director General of the DG of Interpretation and Conferenceы of the European Parliament Olga Cosmidou noted that SPB SCIT has made a real breakthrough into the top rankings of educational programs and won acclaim of main employers. There is no doubt that an agreement with the European Parliament will be instrumental in promoting SPB SCIT’s profile in the international professional community and in coordinating the education process with the requirements of the European market.

28 октября: Видеоконференция с Европейским парламентом

1 November 2013|

on 28 October 2013 the School opened the videoconferencing season with the  European Parliament. Following the School trainers’ request the European interpreters prepared speeches of intermediate level so they could get used to the videoconferencing mode. The topics varied from food banks to the Antarctica, the working languages – English, French and Russian. All participants did well at the conference, showed that they were flexible and adapted well to a changing agenda situation, had good command of the basic interpreting skills. Traditionally Katerina Dara-Leopura from the European Parliament coordinated the conference, and Natalia Malychina and Zivile Stasiunene acted as assessors. 

28-30 октября: мастер-классы Ноэля Мюлля, Почетного Вице-президента школы

1 November 2013|

On 28-30 October 2013 Noël Muylle, Honorary Director General of the European Commission and Honorary Vice-president of the School, came to visit. His stay at the School was timed with the ceremony of signing the Memorandum of Understanding on the Training of Conference Interpreters between Herzen University and the European Parliament, and Mr Muylle was actively engaged in all the festivities. His participation also gave a special meaning to the inauguration of the new training program on Congress Management initiated by the School, as it was Mr Muylle who introduced this idea some years ago. Besides, Mr Muylle gave a series of master classes in consecutive interpretation to the School trainees

8-11октября: старший переводчик ЕК Лиам Лонг дал серию мастер-классов по переводческой скорописи

1 November 2013|

On 8-11 October Liam Long, an interpreter of the Directorate General for Interpretation, European Commission, gave the first series of master classes in note-taking for the School trainees in the academic year. Appreciating the students’ good command of English and their robust skill in consecutive interpreting without notes Liam Long organized an intensive practice and engaged everybody in the complex interaction.The experienced interpreter gave valuable advice on developing a concise and efficient system of notes and shared some of his professional findings.

Translation Forum Russia 2013 в Сочи: под облаками

24 October 2013|

On 4-6 October, Translation Forum Russia, the largest Russia-based forum in the profession of language mediation, had a successful session in Sochi. As is usually the case, SCIT was an active contributor to the event. The Forum met not in the Sochi-city, but in the mountain cluster of the 2014 Olympic Games, the gorgeous Rosa Hutor, nested between the roaring waters of river Mzymta and towering snow-capped mountains. Down in the valley it was raining, though. But the rain did nothing to cool the tempers of the discussions at roundtables and thematic sections.

The Forum listened to the video-message of the Director General of the European Parliament Olga Cosmidou. She emphasized the need for a structures professional community of language mediators. Two other contributors represented the European Parliament, Susan Altenberg and Benjamin Mullet, shared their visions and experience. The keynote speech by Susan Altenberg on new technologies in translation at her roundtable was a landmark.

The Russian MFA was represented by the Chief, Linguistic Dept. Teymouraz Ramishvili for the second year in a row, who was as usual an attentive ear to things professional. Yuriy Shishayev, representing the UN Information Center in Moscow, spoke about the place of translation in the operations of the UNICM.

Yekaterina Shutova, a trainer at the SCIT, traditionally moderated  Interpretation session. All contributions in her section were noteworthy, however her own presentation  New Vision of Quality in Interpretation was a real blockbuster.

Irina Alexeeva authored a master-class on improving Russian language skills for translators. This was a preview in a way of a new electronic training guide Russian Language for Translators prepared by the School.

Angelique Antonova once again proved her skills of a moderator and keen navigator in the turbulent waters of the discussions.

All of this means that the School is a balanced mix of professional operators and administrators, holding high ground in the professional community.

You must have seen all that crowd dancing and having fun at the gala soiree! A la prochaine at the Olympic games!