Key-note Speakers
Eastern Vector of development of relations between the Russian Federation and Asian countries
- The Eastern Vector as applied to the system of international relations is a political, cultural and civilizational definition rather than a geographical one. In the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, approved by Presidential Decree No. 229 of March 31, 2023, there is no term “eastern vector” (nor “western,” and certainly not “northern” or “southern”). Nevertheless, the use of this concept seems in many cases quite justified for analysis and generalization.
- If we proceed from the above Concept, the notion of Eastern Vector logically encompasses, in whole or in part, such regional areas of Russia’s foreign policy as the “near abroad” (namely, Central Asia) and the Eurasian continent, including the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of India, the Asia-Pacific region and the Islamic world. Our strategic goal is to transform Eurasia into a single continental space of peace, stability, mutual trust, development and prosperity. The way to achieve this goal lies, in particular, in building a broad integration contour in the form of the Greater Eurasian Partnership, strengthening economic and transport interconnectivity, settling and overcoming the consequences of armed conflicts in the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia and other regions.
- The Eastern Vector should not be opposed to the Western one. For the Russian state, which has become a unique Eurasian power, it is not a question of a wrong choice between East and West, but a pragmatic pairing of potentials in the interests of effectively ensuring the country’s security, its modernization and sustainable development.
- The growing role and significance of the Eastern Vector does not only promise irreplaceable long-term benefits, but also gives rise to new challenges. Our country faced similar challenges at different periods of its history. In the past, military defense of the eastern borders and economic development of the territories east of the Ural Mountains were at the top of the agenda. Today, this has been supplemented by the task of effectively integrating Russia into the emerging multipolar world order, which is unthinkable without a powerful eastern dimension.
- The described processes are objective and therefore irreversible. As a consequence, appropriate human resources are essential. One of its indispensable components is the training of highly qualified interpreters and translators based on the centuries-old traditions of the brilliant Russian school of oriental studies.
The Status of the Russian Language in International and Regional Organizations
- The document development and the use of the Russian language in negotiations, search for co-authors in preparing resolutions and in promotion of Russian Federation’s interests.
- The importance of providing interpretation into the Russian language at significant events of the universal international and regional organizations as a way to secure the participation of the Russian experts in their work.
- The mechanisms and tools for promoting the Russian language as a working language in the universal international organizations with the purpose to guarantee the official status of the Russian language.
- Guaranteeing the correct translation of the official documents in the international organizations into the Russian language.
- The work to double check the translations to avoid the wrong usage and interpretation of some terms which do not answer to the interests of the Russian Federation.
- The use of the Russian language as a working language at key international events organized beyond the frames of universal international and regional organizations.
Perspectives on Russia – China relations
The unprecedented dynamics of Russian-Chinese relations in the context of the transformation of the system of international relations includes strengthening military-political partnership, enhancing trade and economic cooperation, consolidating interaction in the international arena, and joint efforts to build Greater Eurasia. Expanding and deepening contacts between people and strengthening the social base of the strategic partnership between the two countries are of key importance. The upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China will give a new impetus to our cooperation.
In the coming years, all this will require the availability of a large number of highly qualified specialists with knowledge of the Chinese language and, first and foremost, interpreters. Greater emphasis should be given to their training, both in terms of teaching theory and training the practical skills of simultaneous and consecutive interpretation, and in terms of students acquiring a wide range of background knowledge and cultivating in them the special character of a sinologist, which implies purposefulness, perseverance, disregard for difficulties, patience, love and respect for Chinese culture.
Session 1: Continuous Quality Assurance in the Training of Language Professionals for International Organizations and the Business Community
Quality Assurance System in Training Conference Interpreters in the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation
Today, any interpretation and translation (I&T) training program aspiring to excellence must be closely connected with the profession and based on innovative training methods, appropriate equipment, and cooperation, which will allow students to design their individual training paths. The system of training should also be dynamic, interactive, adjustable to changing needs, and pluralistic in its methodologies and training solutions. This type of training program is efficient only in a professional environment built in clusters. Continuity and coherence of quality assurance (QA) is crucial to the effectiveness of such programs. Thus, QA may be broken into three parts: pre-training QA, post-training QA and in-training QA, each with internal and external components.
New Challenges in Translation Industry. How Businesses See the Translator of 2023
The report analyzes the latest global challenges in the translation industry based on two key business indicators: demand and revenue. The data presented in this report is derived from a survey conducted by CSA Research1 in Q2 2023. The survey included 96 executives from language service providers with revenues exceeding $1 million.
The analysis reveals that an increasing number of translation companies are struggling to adapt to the changing reality. This decline is not limited to one business indicator, but rather affects all of them, except for rates, which remain stable. However, there is optimism among translation companies that the situation will improve in the long term, despite the ongoing volatility. Forecasts for the end of 2023 offer hope for this improvement.
The changing demand in the industry is driving translation companies to modify their services and the ways they promote them. Many companies are now focusing on industry- or content-specific offers, as well as providing specialized technologies and services to diversify their sources of income.
It is evident that translation companies wishing to remain competitive must enhance their translation technologies and optimize client interactions by incorporating modern automation into their business processes. This shift has led to the emergence of many “new professions” in the translation industry, while also challenging the qualifications of existing specialists such as translators, editors, and proofreaders, as well as to the recruitment of new professionals.
We hope that our analysis not only enables business owners to stay informed about the development of the translation industry but also helps them adapt their approaches to the promotion of their services based on the market trends identified. As for future specialists, our report will provide them with an understanding of the changing requirements for the qualifications that business owners seek. This knowledge will allow them to focus on developing the necessary skills that 100% guarantee employment in leading translation companies.
High-Quality Training of Professional Translators and Interpreters in the Era of Interdisciplinarity, Machine Learning Technologies and an Unstable Labor Market: Best Practices in Russia, International Experience
The presentation touches upon the realities which form the working environment of a translator and interpreter in the modern world; as well as the issues of high-quality training of the kind of language professionals the market demands. Representatives of the academia, as well as employers, have long been talking about the priority of interdisciplinarity. Now they pay special attention to the competencies that are at the junction of various specialties. Such competencies will become especially popular due to the need for specialists of a “blended” profile. The shift in the paradigm of the translation profession is largely associated with the concept of “Industry 4.0” – the fourth industrial revolution and the digitalization of more areas of life, goods and services offered, the development of new digital business models and platforms. Translators and interpreters somehow interact with all of this. Like in case of any other profession, translators and interpreters will have to change and adapt to new realities. The translator or interpreter will not only be multifunctional, multitasking and flexible, but also ready to master new skills at any time (often even from other areas), which will require a qualitatively different approach to learning and teaching. In this regard, the speech will highlight the actions taken by universities and employers as a response to the ongoing changes, namely: the shift in teaching trajectories and the creation of new training programs, new quality standards for training, a wider range of requirements for graduates, new forms and models of training etc. In addition, in the presentation the speaker will consider and describe a number of practical cases, as well as the requirements that major international organizations and companies set for translators and interpreters.
Section 2.1 Russian as the Primary Language of Communication across the CIS
Cross-Regional Schools of Translation as a Working Mechanism for Strengthening the Russian Language
Until recently the attention given to translator training in the regions of Russia has been insufficient. The training was largely concentrated in the big cities. The shortage of qualified translators is especially felt in the field of literary and pop science texts which is all the sadder given the deep-rooted tradition of literary translation in Russia. The presentation focuses upon the purposes, ideology and strategy of the cross-regional translation schools, their possible types and the place of the Russian language in organizing such schools. The emphasis is laid on the editing aspect of the training during such schools, where the close attention is given to the quality of the Russian language in translation. The presentation analyzes three cases of translation schools organized in 2023 (Nalchik (Kabardin-Balkaria), Kazan-Sviazhsk (Tatarstan) and Valdivostok (Far East).
The Russian Language as a Link and a Core for the Post-Soviet Countries and the Peoples of Russia
Russian Russian and the Russian language, the influence of Russian and Russian culture on the world is growing every year, despite the multidirectional nature of global political processes. Russian Russian has been losing its position in these new countries since the beginning of the nineties, after the violent division of the Soviet republics, it would seem that the Russian language began to lose its position in these new countries, more hours were devoted to English in schools, as a result of which young people were becoming less proficient in Russian. At the same time, the common past of the peoples, common ideals, aspirations, and even the common linguistic picture of the world that developed during the Soviet way of life were overlooked. However, after a very short period of time – in the twenties of the XXI century – the governments and peoples of the former Soviet republics discovered that the thinking that unites the republics, developed in the Soviet Union, is a bond that cannot be broken or rejected by the stroke of someone’s pen in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, as evidenced by representatives of many Soviet peoples, people coming to Russia to work, continuing to live in Russia, and even the new definition of “migrants”, which slightly hurts the feelings of people who survived the Soviet era, does not stop them from coming to Russia. They are still Soviet people, they are still ours in terms of thinking, understanding of the world, attitude to the Great Motherland. And it is not by chance that they bring their children to Russia – it is a desire to be with the Motherland, to raise their children in Russia, to give them an international upbringing and the Russian language. And it’s not just migrants. Russian Russian has been used by heads of educational institutions of near and far (Asia, Europe, Africa) foreign countries in the last few years, introducing it in schools and universities in a larger volume, Russian as a foreign language has become a conductor of Russian culture abroad.
On the Role of the Russian language in the Work of Russian Translators: a View from the Perspective of Integrative Translation Studies
The paper presents a view of the role of the Russian language in the activities of Russian translators from the perspective of integrative translation studies. On the basis of integrative research in the field of modeling private theories of translation and analysis of translation situations using Russian as the source language, the target language, and the intermediary language (in trilingual translation), the authors outline translatologically significant aspects of using Russian as an instrument of interlingual and intercultural mediation. These include, for example, the following: 1) Russian language as a meta-language in translation strategy and translation quality assessment; 2) Russian-language apparatus of translation research methodology; 3) Russian language as a state language in translation; 4) Russian language as a language of international communication in translation activity; 5) Russian language as a language of interethnic communication in translation using languages of the peoples of Russia; 6) Russian language as a regulator of translator’s moral and ethical behavior; 7) Russian language in the focus of translation speech culture; 8) Russian language as an “ethno-language” in the time of the Western Russophobia; 9) political correctness in Russian (linguo-ecological constant of translation); 10) Russian language in the translator’s legal field.
The Russian Language in the Aspect of Globalization and Localization
The report discusses some aspects related to the status of the Russian language in terms of globalization processes and localization processes. The author considers the peculiarities of the use of the Russian language by Russian Germans-migrants within the framework of the formative direction of migration linguistics. In addition, the author of the study conducts a free associative experiment with respondents from Russia, as well as from Tajikistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, who are fluent in Russian. The aim of the experiment is to identify the peculiarities of the perception of the Russian language by speakers in terms of positive and negative connotations. This perspective allows us to determine the degree of linguistic tolerance and linguistic conflict.
Session 2.2 Promoting Russian Culture through Foreign Languages in the 21st Century
Translingual Literature as a Means to Reveal the Author’s Cultural Identity
The presentation will discuss the phenomenon of translingual literature created by bilingual authors and including elements of their native or heritage culture. The definition of translingual literature, first published in the works by Steven Kellman, should be broadened, especially if we compare this definition with that of “contact literature” used by Braj B. Kachru, an American scholar. This term is also different from the concept “second language literature” suggested by V. V. Kabakchi. The paper will reveal basic differences between the terms and demonstrate major features of translingual and transcultural literature. Names of English-writing authors, whose works are based on and include elements of Russian culture, will be mentioned.
Ethnic Translation as a Way to Get Acquainted with the Cultures of Siberia
The research is focused on the prerequisites and prospects for the emergence of a new section in the translation subject field – Ethnic Translation Studies, the main object and unit of translation of which is an ethnic text, which serves as a repository of cultural information and memory of ethnic groups of the world. The paper examines the history of creation and further existence of secondary ethnic texts of the indigenous peoples of Siberia living in the Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), whose languages have got their writing system recently (from a century up to several decades). Translation is understood as a “key” to the cultural information of ethnic texts created by autochthonous population of Siberia and an effective tool for preserving unique languages and cultures, which belong to the category of endangered.
Russian Culturonyms in Contemporary American Literature by Bilingual Russian Heritage Writers
This work examines the novels by American writers and Russian heritage speakers Nicholas Kotar and Olesya Salnikova-Gilmore. The objective of this study is to analyze the use and portrayal of Russian culturonyms in contemporary American literature written by bilingual authors of Russian descent. Nicholas Kotar writes epic fantasy novels, such as “The Song of the Sirin” from “The Raven Son Series”, which are based on Russian folklore. The bilingual author mythopoetically transforms Russian linguaculture in his literary works. Olesya Salnikova-Gilmore’s debut novel “The Witch and the Tsar” is a mythopoetically reimagined historical fantasy inspired by 16th century Russia. As bilingual Russian heritage writers, Nicholas Kotar and Olesya Salnikova-Gilmore blend the two linguacultures, utilizing internal translation to create a hybrid linguistic culture. By integrating Russian culture-bound words and worldview into English-language literary works, bilingual authors introduce English-speaking readers to a hybrid Russian-English linguacultural setting. Research results may contribute to the studies of translingualism and transculturalism found in contemporary Russian-American contact literature.
Session 3: Roadmaps for Translator and Interpreter Training
Session 3.1 Training interpreters for international organizations and business community
Overlooked Aspects of Training Institutional Interpretation
Methods of training interpretation in Russian universities are still in the making. Today what we have on the menue is a Russian salad of advice, personal experience sharing, seasoned with customer wish-lists posing as professional standards, empty theorising and zero system. Yet, priorities do exist that must be trained as the basics of professional know-how. In his presentation the author navigates the landscape trying to identify key skills for training programs and to debunk some lasting myths and biases about what is right and wrong in interpretation training. Sadly, myths contaminate heavily the training space to the detriment of genuinely practical skills.
Educational Roadmap for Mastering the Programme “Vocational Interpretation Training”(the English language, Oil and Gas Industry) Based on the ” Bottom Hole Assembly” Module
The article considers the application of the roadmap for mastering the programme “Vocational Interpretation Training” (the English language, oil and gas industry) based on the “BHA” module as a tool for improving the quality of education and a strategy for mastering the discipline.
The article describes the main stages, objectives and methods of the roadmap for the programme “Vocational Interpretation Training» (the English language, oil and gas industry) based on the “BHA”.
Structural-Functional Approach to Training Translators
When training translators nowadays we have to form the competences which will help them survive professionally in a variety of surroundings. There competences refer to some attendant skills they have to master: communication patters, billing practices and a lot of others. Still, “traditional” requirements they have to meet, e.g., mastering structural-functional text analysis so that the translation be acceptable, are still in great demand.
Of special interest here are the constructions which are often referred to as ” peripheral” though being logically related to the system of the language. In English it is, e.g., participial construction with the Past Participle of the type when finished; in is quintessentially English as it relates to secondary predicativity which is much respected in English and belongs to the means of linguistic economy. The study revealed that this construction is not covered in translation manuals (with one exception if / when asked) which means that prospective translators are not likely to rely on it in translation practices. Another means is the infinitive construction featuring attendant actions which is often taken for the infinitive of purpose – I rose to go does not imply any purpose though translators often qualify it as such. The point is that these two constructions are homonymous, and it is necessary to find criteria which will enable the translator to distinguish the types/ The author will suggest such criteria in the presentation.
Session 3.2 From translation skills to the job market
Subject-Oriented Approach in the Process of Training Chinese Interpreters
Despite the objective factors that limit the teacher in planning lesson formats in the form of a certain number of hours and students, in the process of training translators it is recommended to use a subject-oriented approach, conducting classes not only exclusively on the basis of printed and oral texts, but also using a specialized system of exercises and the format of conducting classes. The report is devoted to the subject-oriented approach in the process of training Chinese interpreters.
Terminology Project as a Quality Monitoring Tool
Recently, there has been an increased interest among the students of the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation, performing final qualification works in projects, commissioned by partners of the Astrakhan Tatishchev State University – World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This fact cannot but be welcomed by all participants of the educational process, since, on the one hand, taking into account the wishes of the examination committee expressed in different years, the number of works performed by order of a potential employer increases, and on the other hand, students get the opportunity to interact with a real customer, client and fulfil a real product and achieve that very tangible result, which is always welcome in the translation profession.
WIPO has its own terminology portal – WIPO PEARL – designed to connect the variety of terminology used in patent applications. Since 2018, undergraduates of the School have been carrying out projects to search for terms in English and select their Russian equivalents. This activity is carried out within the framework of the Terminology course.
At all stages of the project implementation – from March to June – undergraduates work under the guidance of not only a School curator, but also WIPO experts. At the same time, it is the latter, being a specific customer, who carry out the final monitoring of the quality of the entire project.
Academic Culture and Translation of Russian Academic Texts
The presentation focuses on the translation aspect of expressing one’s national culture in the academe. The author considers the concept of academic culture and the specifics of its representation in the national academic discourse. The study states the dominance of the Anglo-Saxon academic culture in international academic communication and English as the main tool for its promotion. The role of the translator of academic texts as an intermediary in the realization of intercultural communication in the academe is also examined. The presentation also deals with specific features of the English research paper relevant for translation and compares them against the Russian academic style. Having analyzed English translations of Russian research articles and abstracts, the author outlines translation issues that appear due to insufficient attention to cultural differences in the academe and suggests possible ways to overcome the cultural gap.
Prevention of Interference Errors when Translating Political Texts EN-RU
The report is devoted to the problem of overcoming language interference when teaching political translation from English to students of the educational program “International Relations”. Object of research – causes of errors at lexical and semantic levels. Typical cases of lexicosemantic interference in political translation have been identified by means of a comparative method and lexicosemantic analysis. Methods of correction and prevention of lexical interference are offered.
Bottlenecks – Editing Machine Translation for Beginners (Translation Students), and Current Practical Translation Theory.
The paper gives a brief overview of the latest trends in AI and machine translation work as applied to teaching practices and addresses the specific challenges of teaching translation in the current market and academic situation.
Session 4: Parallel discussions
Session 4.1 The Social Competencies of the Interpreter/Translator
Empathic Accuracy as a Factor in Community Interpreting
The work of interpreters in specific settings – in particular, during psychotherapeutic and psychological sessions – can form new, different requirements for the quality of interpreting. The experience of interpreting in the field of psychology and psychiatry shows the need to take into account a wider range of criteria of interpreting quality, including “empathic accuracy”, related to the ability of a professional (usually a therapist, but, in a situation where interpreting is needed, also that of an interpreter) to separate affect and mentalization. The proposed paper is an attempt to approach challenges of combining therapeutic and translation practices from the perspective of psychology and translation studies.
Svetlana Takhtarova, Tatiana Zaglyadkina
Softskills and Individual Approach to Interpreter Training in Kazan Federal State University
The report presents the experience of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University in the development of a digital tool for assessing soft skills and developing individual educational trajectories. The higher education system must respond to the needs of employers, for whom soft skills are becoming increasingly important when choosing a potential specialist. Despite the fact that flexible competencies are included in the Federal State Educational Standard, this area of specialist training remains quite controversial, including the issue of determining professionally relevant soft skills that are required in the labor market and should be included in vocational training programs.
Social Skills in the Context of Remote Interpreting
There are different perspectives on the benefits of remote interpreting. This presentation will explore the practical aspects of RSI (remote simultaneous interpreting) and the transformational issues of communication, teamwork and information retrieval skills faced by simultaneous interpreters.
Session 4.2 Artificial Intelligence in the Training Interpreters and Translators
Artificial Intelligence in Translator Training: Potentials and Limitations of Machine-Translated Poetry
Based on an experiment performed with aspiring translators, this paper examines whether artificial intelligence helps or hinders poetry translation. At the core of the analysis lie the following key questions: Is machine output an obstacle to creativity because it leads to more homogeneous translations than humans would produce without machine support? Or, does machine translation enhance creativity by allowing humans to create target texts at greater speed, some of which may contain novel suggestions that humans might not otherwise consider? This phenomenon was observed by Kolb et al. in their research on English-language versions of Nestroy’s play Der Talisman (2023). They found that for neologisms or otherwise unusual language machine translation occasionally offered literal and thus novel target-language equivalents that human translators have avoided in favor of explanatory or naturalizing translations. For the poetry translation experiment analyzed in this paper, students rendered a previously untranslated poem from German into English. Some were not allowed to use machine translation, while others had to. Apart from translating the poems, the students also answered questions about their translation process. While this is not the place for conclusions, some preliminary assumptions can be shared: Although machine translation speeds up translation, it can have a limiting effect because it pre-empts choices for which human translators might otherwise consider multiple varieties. Notwithstanding this priming effect, when used well machine output can also encourage creativity in poetry translation. Thus, translator training should facilitate a skilled use of machine translation for a multitude of text types, including poetry.
Maya Lyutyanskaya, Elena Kokanova
Computer-Assisted and Machine Translation Technology Master’s Programme: First Outcome
The Master’s programme “Computer-Assisted and Machine Translation Technology” at Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Arkhangelsk, was launched in 2021 and is focused on promising practices and research on digitalisation, multilingualism, language acquisition, MT teaching and training, and other spheres with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It makes connections between different concepts across modern trends in MT and new frontiers of multilingual cooperation.
The programme treats the concepts of translation technology and digitalisation from different perspectives (education, research, ethics, law, information accessibility and employment). The programme is of an interdisciplinary nature, incorporating Language Studies, Translation Studies, Cognitive Technology, AI, etc.
The programme is to equip the students with a new knowledge of Machine Translation Studies and awareness of multilingual opportunities for education, research and professional development in the digital age.
The programme involves representatives of business and professional community in different fields (AKM Translations, Moscow, T-Service, St. Petersburg, and others), as well as academic staff from different Higher Schools of Northern (Arctic) Federal University: Higher School of Social Sciences, Humanities and International Communication, Higher School of Information Technologies and Automated Systems, Higher School of Natural Sciences and Technologies.
The first group of students received their Master’s degree in June 2023.
Computer-assisted and Machine Translation at the UN: Some Lessons for the Future
The author will try to show how CAT tools and machine translation have changed and are changing the working environment and methods of UN translators and what are the possible lessons and skills for the future.
Session 5: Round Table The Future of the Profession: Bridging the Gap between the Academia and the World of Work
Audiovisual Translator Training: How to Bridge the Gap Between the Trainings Courses and a Successful Career Start
The report presents an overview of the approach of Murmansk Arctic University in working out a master degree programme in audiovisual transition and media accessibility. The focus of such training is aimed at providing a well-balanced combination of theory and practice with students implementing their skills in real audiovisual translation projects for potential employers and customers.
Maria Ilyushkina, Olga Tomberg
Translator Training in the Universities Under Conditions of Digitalization and Automation of the Profession
Relevance of the research on the specifics of training of potential translators is caused by the contradictions existing in the translation services market, as well as by the changes in the external contexts of translation work, and by the need to revise the principles of training the specialists within the system of the higher education – from teaching the translation technologies to developing professional skills under digital conditions.
The aim of the study is to analyze the process of training potential translators for their future professional work in the context of digital transformation of the community and educational space. The paper pays particular attention to the analysis of the possibilities for digital learning in modern conditions. The emphasis is also placed on the formats for organizing self-work of the translators in the context of digitalization and automation of the profession. Knowledge of automated translation systems, development of literary editing, copywriting, and rewriting skills will contribute to the development of personal qualities, and to the increasing of competitiveness of Linguistics graduates in the modern labor market. The authors pursue the introduction of new disciplines and forms of work with texts and their translations. Moreover, the integration of models of comprehensive approach into the educational process of training translators at university has a high capacity in the implementation of effective teaching technologies. As a result of the implementation of comprehensive training, the authors of the research plan to identify the effective principles and methods of teaching in the higher educational system, which in the future will increase motivation of undergraduate and graduate students in online learning. The training complexes include series of exercises for the soft skills and switching skills development, which allows planning of the further integration of such complexes into the disciplines related to modern aspects of translation studies and online technologies for training potential translators.
The work also systematizes information resources that translators can use for self-improvement, employment and increasing the monetization of their own work.
New Implications of the Profession in the Situation of High Uncertainty Future
The uncertain environment we all currently live in, including all unforeseen processes at the global level, pandemic, geopolitics and natural disasters, requires another approach to planning and running business.
What does this mean for the translation industry? Does it change anything about the profession? It certainly does.
New technologies are developing at a breakneck pace, vendors and development engineers believe that we are on the verge of creating a valid and adequate AI. On the market, there appeared many new incredible software products, such as video avatars, speech and voice recognition and reproduction software, automatic audio translation, machine translation, etc.
There are other processes that are invisible and unrecognized by us for the time being.
Under these conditions, we need to clearly understand what kind of translators and interpreters we are training and for what purpose. Will there be any demand for human translation and/or interpreting on the market, and what do the customers expect from us already now. What types of translation and/or interpreting are emerging and will be required in the near future?
The author tries to give her own answer on the above questions including her view on training some professional skills and qualities which may ease and cut the trainee time of becoming a professional.
Teaching Film Translation as Part of Students’ Translation Practice, with the Focus on Its Intercultural Aspects and Perspectives
The presentation provides insight into conducting an annual translation practice for senior undergraduate students, both for study and future employment purposes, at St. Petersburg State University, the Faculty of Philology, the Theory and Practice of Intercultural Communication programme.
Since 2020, we have been cooperating with various international film festivals in Russia, such as «Message to Man», «FESTPRO», «SENSUS», «Pechka», «Unknown Film Festival», etc., to offer students the unique opportunity to translate foreign language documentary, experimental and narrative shorts into Russian for the first time. The subtitled films are subsequently shown to general public.
The talk will present a road map for translating short films for international festivals. First, students learn to deal with SRT files they receive from festival producers and obtain necessary skills to operate special subtitle editing software. After that, they turn to editing and proofreading in small groups, followed by creating subtitles and adjusting the timing. Finally, the subtitles are sent to festival organizers to be used at screenings.
Another topic that the presentation will address is intercultural features of translating contemporary shorts for recent film festivals held in Russia, with the primary focus on translating linguistic realia from different parts of the world. There will also be a discussion on issues such as the future usage of machine translation in the field of audiovisual translation, in particular film translation, as well as job prospects for up-and-coming film translators.
How to Reduce Time from the Graduation from the Higher Educational Institution to the Practical Translator
The presentation is devoted to practical tips with illustrative examples of how to become a practicing translator while still a student. The presentation provides examples of how to look for a job as a translator in different fields of activity. A detailed demonstration of the work of a military translator is given, which indicates that the translator can change the direction of his activity depending on the offers on the labor market and circumstances.