The participation of students from the translation departments of the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology in various translation contests is a long-standing tradition and an integral part of their professional development. This autumn, over 20 students from the translation departments took part in a large-scale 4th International Translation Contest within the framework of the International Forum “Languages. Cultures. Ethnic groups”.
The 4th International Translation Contest was traditionally dedicated to the International Translation Day and also to the 25th anniversary of the translation programmes in the Republic of Mari El. The venue for the event was the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Mari State University with the support of the Association of Translator and Interpreter Trainers and the Union of Translators of Russia.
Despite serious competition, participants from our university were able not only to take the first places, but also to win the grand prize. Victoria Artamonova, third year student, received the grand prize in the nomination “Translation from English into Russian”:
“I have been participating in translation contests since the 1st year at university, and it has been my sixth contest. I haven't always been among prize-winners, but I have never given up. I like the process of working on a contest task, I find searching for the right word exciting. This experience allows me to boost my skills, I have to reread my work, delve into the meaning, and brush up my translation. This expands my cognitive assets and makes me feel surprised at how many interesting things there are in the world!”
“I’ve participated in the translation contest for the first time, and, of course, I did not expect to be among the winners. It was interesting for me to try my hand, to apply the knowledge and skills that I have learned as a student. I realised that participating in the contest is a great opportunity to feel independent and to feel a professional drive! Now, I know for sure that I will continue to participate in such contests in the future!” said Elizaveta Zhiryakova, a fourth year student. Elizaveta took first place in the nomination “Translation from English into Russian”.
Ilya Shamraev, a first year master’s degree student, took second place, Anna Disperova, a third year student, and Sergey Dmitriev, a second year student, took third place in the nomination “Translation from English to Russian”.
“For me, the 4th International Translation Contest was a very significant event. It not only allowed me to reveal my potential, but also gave me the opportunity to speak my mind on the topic which is important for every person, the role of a mentor in the formation of a person. It was especially important to convey the emotional component of the original text, because speeches about the importance of the teacher in our lives are invariably permeated with gratitude and warmth. Since before this contest I had mainly worked with socio-political texts, which are characterised by a less emotional and more formal style, for me this experience was new and very important in a professional sense. When working on my translation, it was especially interesting for me to apply in practice the knowledge that I had received thanks to the teachers at our faculty. The result speaks for itself. There is no doubt that the skills I have acquired will benefit both me and others in the future!” said Ilya Shamraev.
“Training our students for such events and their participation in them allows us to comprehensively solve issues relating to the practical training of future specialists. This was the foundation for our initiative to actively involve students in translation contests. We keep statistics on student participation in such events, which allows us to trace the dynamics of their “competence growth” as a whole. The systematic participation of students in translation contests seems to directly correlate with the quality of teaching and the positive dynamics of students' educational achievements,” said Larisa Kuzmina, Head of the Department of Translation and Professional Communication.
