News

New academic year at SCIT

15 September 2022|

On 5 Septemeber  a new academic year started at SCIT.  Following the first classes there was an opening ceremony in the SCIT conference hall attended by the Herzen university officials and other guests: Rector Sergey Tarasov, Vice-rector for International Affairs Dmitry Mereshkin, Deputy Representative of the Russian MFA in St. Petersburg Igor Demianenko, SCIT administration, trainers and graduates. The guests wished the newcomers a fruitful year, physical and moral strength to overcome the difficulties, and wide horizons in the chosen profession. At the end of the day there was a traditional tea party where the new students could talk to the trainers and graduates informally and get to know better the School’s ways and traditions.

 

Слушатели ВШП побеждают в переводческих конкурсах!

23 May 2022|

На этапе завершения обучения в ВШП наши слушатели активно принимают участие в различных переводческих конкурсах и неизменно оказываются в числе призеров.

В апреле наши ребята приняли участие в Пятом международном студенческом конкурсе устного перевода, который проводился Кафедрой английского языка Факультета финансовой экономики Одинцовского филиала МГИМО. Всего ими было завоевано 9 призовых мест (4 первых и 5 вторых) в комбинациях “английский-русский”, “испанский-русский”, “китайский-русский”, “немецкий-русский” и “французский-русский”. Некоторые победили сразу в нескольких категориях. Вот их имена: Алексей Свистунов, Анна Токарева, Эльвира Курмашева, Валентина Бобачева, Анастасия Гарцуева, Анастасия Щепеткова. (Результаты конкурса можно посмотреть здесь: https://odin.mgimo.ru/nov-pod-mgimo/5226-pyatyj-mezhd).

В мае Оренбургский государственный университет совместно с Ассоциацией переводчиков Оренбургской области и Оренбургским отделением Союза переводчиков РФ проводил Всероссийский конкурс специального перевода, где в номинации «Юридический перевод» (немецкий-русский) победила Екатерина Кабанова. Также в мае состоялся конкурс «Digital Arctic Transfer», организованный Северным федеральным университетом им. М.В. Ломоносова и Архангельским региональным отделением Союза переводчиков России. Татьяна Науменкова заняла второе место в номинации «перевод с французского на русский язык» (Условия конкурса здесь https://narfu.ru/life/news/classifieds/?ELEMENT_ID=366493). Мы также гордимся победой Татьяны в международном конкурсе «Перевод как вектор сохранения национального и мирового культурного наследия», организованным МГУ им. М.В. Ломоносова и Сибирским федеральным университетом (https://ifiyak.sfu-kras.ru/news/mezhdunarodnyy-konkurs-perevod-kak-vektor-sohraneniya-nacionalnogo-i-mirovogo-kulturnogo). Она участвовала в конкурсе с итальянским языком, переводу с которого не учат в ВШП, но тем не менее показала достойный третий результат. Поздравляем победителей и желаем успеха в дальнейшей деятельности на ниве перевода!

Virtual class with CITS and MSLU

8 April 2022|

On 4 April  a virtual mock conference was organized by three Russian universities which offer T&I training programs aligned with international quality standards. These universities are Herzen’s  St. Petersburg School of Conferene Interpreting and Translation, Caspian Interpreting and Translation School from Astrakhan university, and Moscow State Linguistic University. The cooperation among these univerities started as a part of a broader program  of cooperation within international consortia  – CIUTI and MoU (Memorandum of Understanding with the UN), and we are glad that the cooperation is constatntly growing.

The conference on 4 April was devoted to the topic of child labour in the 21 century. The students were offered speeches addressing various aspects of this serious social issue. The students practised consecutive interpreting both into Russian and English. Those willing to pactise simultaneous interpreting went to the “dumb” booths. The trainers from three universities gave feedback, and it was a rare opportunty to get recommendations from other teachers than your own.

By and large, the participants were quite happy with this exchange and are resolved to continue this fruitful cooperation.

 

Aptitude tests for the next academic year are over

7 April 2022|

On 21-31 March St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation held the aptitude tests for the next academic year. The exams were organized in the distant format which allowed applicants from all over the world to take part without getting distracted from their current job or study.  Traditionally there are observers from international organizations present at SCIT’s  aptitude tests and final exams. This year the UNOG Russian Translation section and Russian MFA’s  Department of Linguistic Support assigned their staff interpreters to observe at the exams. We thank Mikhail Kuzmenko, Senior Reviser at UNOG’s Russian Translation section, and his colleague Anastasia Gavrilina, and Kirill Kazakov, Second Secretary of the Russian MFA, for their professionalism and constructive expert input during the aptitude tests.  Nine people are recommended for the study at SCIT. We heartily congratulate them and hope to see them in September!

 

SCIT opens doors to potential applicants

18 February 2022|

On 16 February 2022 SCIT opened its doors to potential applicants. We chose to use the hybrid format to enable everyone willing to take part: some people came to the School to see it with  their own eyes, others joined virtually via the YouTube stream  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qKvyGijpT0) and chat. The participants asked about admission procedures, the status of the diploma awarded to the graduates, possible language combinations, job prospects after garduation. No question was left unanswered, the trainers, administartion and current year students gave full responses. Noteworthy that Kirill Kasyanov, head of the Russian booth in Nairobi and SCIT’s curator from UNON, also joined the Open Doors Day, albeit virtually, and helped to answer the questions and gave useful tips about succeeding in the aptitude tests.

SCIT takes part in the meeting of the Moscow Translation Club

15 December 2021|

On 10 December Angelique Antonova, SCIT Deputy Director, took part in the meeting of the Moscow Translation Club. The festive mood of the meeting did not distract the participants from discussing serious issues of the T&I industry. The discussions touched upon the ineraction between T&I schools and T&I providers and clients. The stakeholders discussed, among other issues, internships for T&I school graduates in translation agencies, clients’ and providers’ expectations and the conditions for fruitful cooperation with regard to respect for mutual interests.  The universities were represented by participants from T&I departments of MGLU (The Maurice Thorez Institute of Foreign Languages)  and the Higher School of Economics.

Master-class from SCIT to MGIMO students

15 December 2021|

On 9 December SCIT trainers gave a master-class on the introduction to simultaneous interpreting at MGIMO. Angelique Antonova, SCIT DEputy Director, and Liang Zuizhen, trainer of Chinese interpreting, told and showed the participants from different universities in Russia how simultaneous interpreting is introduced at SCIT.  The presenters offered practical exercises in interpreting from Chinese into Russian, commented on delivery, took the questions from the audience. The participants showed great interest in simultaneous interpreting and enthusiastically took part in the discussion. We hope the master-class  will attract applicants for the new academic year at SCIT, and SCIT’s innovative training methods will be disseminated throughout other universities of Russia.

The master-class was attended by Kirill Barskiy, ambassador at large of the Russian MFA.

9 December: Seminar ‘Terra Translatologica’ on interpreting from Oriental languages

13 December 2021|

On 9 December SCIT held another seminar within the frame of the Terra Translatologica project. This time the seminar was devoted to translation and interpreting from Oriental languages.  SCIT director Irina Alexeeva opened the meeting and introduced the speakers. She said, “It is a forum for discussions. The seminar started as a quarterly  meeting, and there were a lot of people coming, because we invite people to discuss broad topics, not something specialized or theoretical. We invite the people who take translation and interpreting out of the box, who have their own  view on translation. This forum is called to outline the existing problems and offer solutions.” She pointed that the speakers  chose topics for their presentations themselves, and invited all participants to join in the discussion. The topics of the four key speakers varied from the ethnocultural training of interpreters to the special difficulties of the Filipino language. Answewring the question about the place taken by translation in the speakers’ lives they said, “Part of my profession”, “part of my self-identification”, “career launch”, “my life balance”. Despite the distant mode of the seminar the discussions proved to be warm, stimulating and productive. The two key takeaways from the meeting are the following:

  1. It is time to provide a more intensive trainig to translators and interpreters from Oriental languages.
  2. It is time to develop the theory of translation taking into account the expreience of translation and interpreting from /to Oriental languages

3-4 December: DG SCIC – Universitites Conference

6 December 2021|

On 3-4 December DG SCIC held the conference for the partner-universities. The conference was dedicated to interpreting in the new digital age. The participants addressed a lot of important issues: the use of digital tools in interpreter training,  the new set of skills for interpreter in the digital age, the clients’ perspectives on remote interpreting, new projects on hybrid learning modes and new delivery models.  The DG SCIC officials attended the conference: Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, Director-General DG SCIC, Javier Hernández Saseta, Head of Multilingualism and Interpreter Training, Paolo Torrigiani, Senior Expert Multilingualism and Knowledge Development Unit DG Interpretation European Commission. The hybrid format of the conference allowed for the university representatives from all over Europe and other SCIC partners to take part int he discussions. Herzen’s SCIT was represented by deputy director Angelique Antonova.

Introduction into Simultaneous

11 November 2021|

On 10 November SCIT held the traditional student conference on introduction into simultaneous interpreting. This is always a special occasion at the School: trainers put much effort in the preparation, carefully choose and discuss the teaching materials. The conference takes the whole day, as to ensure the success of the first simultaneous experience one needs a lot of preparation: discuss expectations and neutralize fears, activate the background knowledge and the necessary vocabulary. An additional challenge is that the  introduction into sim is held for both working languages of the students.

We are happy that this year all worked well for our students! Braving the November fatigue they pulled the five hour simultaneous marathon, did their best in the booths and are now looking forward to conquering new heights, even if only in the training environment!