Yulia Trubitsina, Valery Kadatsky, Evgenia Kuznetsova, and Anastasia Posokhova won the international competition for young translators dedicated to the Year of Science and Technologies and the 30th anniversary of the Union of Translators of Russia. The competition was held from 1 June to 31 August 2021. The results of the competition were announced on 30 September 2021, which is International Translation Day.
The contest was organised by the Siberian Federal University and the Krasnoyarsk regional office of the Union of Translators of Russia. The competition committee was headed by Marianna Taimanova, who translates fiction literature into Russian, and included leading Russian and international specialists in the field of translations studies as well as well-known translators. 526 applications from 64 universities were considered.
Yulia Trubitsina, a third-year student (studying at the programme “Translation and Translation Studies”), took first place in the “Translation of a text dedicated to contemporary humanitaristics issues” nomination.
“The experience of participating in a competition is valuable because while working on the translation you can identify your weak points and find out what you need to improve. As for me, taking part in a competition is not only a chance to practice the knowledge that I acquired at university but also an opportunity to learn a lot and to analyse the aspects that cause difficulties in translation and required special attention. As the experience shows, you shouldn’t be afraid of difficulties when participating in a competition. You should learn to overcome them. It’s important to remember that each effort you make is not in vain, even if you don’t get the results right away. Each mistake is still a step forward. I’m really grateful to my scientific supervisor for their support!”
Valery Kadatsky, a third-year student of VSU Military Training Centre (studying on the programme “Translation and Translation Studies”), took second place in the “Translation of a scientific text dedicated to the issues of technology application in translation” nomination.
“A lot of translation competitions begin in late summer and at the start of a new academic year. Taking part in them is a great opportunity to get real translation experience. Time limits allow us to delve into this interesting creative process and work with the text. And, of course, you want to see how your work will be evaluated by experienced specialists. You get an interesting and useful experience and you feel the competitive spirit at the same time! I’m really grateful to Elena Pivovarova, the curator of our group, who keeps us informed on all news about the competitions and is very supportive! Thank you! If you have never taken part in translation competitions, you should try! It’s a very valuable experience. Good luck!”
Evgenia Kuznetsova, a fourth-year student (studying on the programme “Translation and Translation Studies”), took second place in the “Translation of a newspaper article dedicated to the translator’s profession” nomination.
“I think that participation in different translation competitions is a chance to practice my knowledge and skills. It’s an opportunity to be creative and at the same time take responsibility for all of your translation decisions when you send them to be judged by independent experts. It’s always very interesting to test myself because the texts selected for competitions aren’t that easy, although at first they may seem quite “harmless”. The same thing happened this time: the text was really interesting but it took a lot of effort when searching for information. I realised that I need to be more well-read and to watch and listen more. I’m also grateful to Svetlana Lukina, my supervisor, who has cultivated my enthusiasm and who is always ready to offer advice”.
Anastasia Posokhova, a fifth-year student (studying at the programme “Translation and Translation Studies”), took third place in the “Translation of poetry about science and scientists” nomination.
“Translation competitions are always exciting and interesting for me. My supervisor and my lecturers have taught me not to be afraid to experiment with the topic of a translation and try to discover something new. That’s why I chose the translation of poetry. This work is highly creative, and I didn’t think about any prizes while I was translating. The work itself was a real adventure for me because when you are trying to find a rhyme or express some image, you become a poet yourself. I’m really glad that I decided to do this creative experiment as it helped me to discover the unknown aspects of myself”.
“We found out that our students had won such a large-scale contest on the day for professional translators, which was the best congratulation for our department! It makes us happy that most students are willing to continue their work even in summer. Such great results show their attitude towards studying and their future profession!” said Larisa Kuzmina, Head of the Department of Translation and Professional Communication of the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology.
