Translation and interpreting into 18 languages of the world discussed at the Winter School at St Petersburg University

The distinctive feature and advantage of the School on Translation and Interpreting is a particular emphasis on practice, said Svetlana Rubtsova, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at St Petersburg University. The event brings together experts from various fields of translation and interpreting, representatives of creative unions and associations, translation companies, and university lecturers. Despite the difficult international situation, among the speakers and participants were translators and interpreters from Australia, the Republic of Belarus, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, China, the Republic of Moldova, the UAE, the USA, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Estonia to name just a few.

Our participants say that every year the School on Translation and Interpreting is performing better and better and becoming more fascinating, and my colleagues and I are very proud that our efforts are yielding good results.

Svetlana Rubtsova, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at St Petersburg University

"We select experts who are willing to share their experience, and their presentations are inspiring for both early-career and experienced translators and interpreters. When the school has come to an end, its participants have an access to recordings of all the reports delivered at the panels, and I know that many lecturers use these materials to prepare their lectures," said Svetlana Rubtsova. 

According to Kseniia Anisimova, Director of the School of Translation and Foreign Languages at St Petersburg University, it is a large-scale event for experts in translation and interpreting and it has long become traditional for the University. "The online format of the 5th Winter School on Translation and Interpreting at St Petersburg University attracted many participants and expanded the range of languages. The programme included workshops in 18 European, Eastern and African languages," said Kseniia Anisimova. "It also included six round tables, an experimental workshop and a laboratory for research on the issues relating to Africa today".

After the school, its participants have an opportunity to go on to pursue non-degree, advanced training programmes or professional retraining programmes in translation and interpreting. On 5 February, the course "Modern Trends in Teaching Translation and Interpreting" starts for lecturers of translation, interpreting and foreign languages, while on 12 February, classes begin in the programme "Translator in the Field of Professional Communication" for translators and interpreters working with English, Italian, or Chinese languages. The first module of the programme ‘Simultaneous Interpreting and Intercultural Communication’, in its turn, is suited to those who strive to try themselves in simultaneous interpreting. 

The Winter School on Translation and Interpreting at St Petersburg University included panels on Yiddish, English, Arabic, Hungarian, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, German, Persian, Portuguese, Serbian, Turkish, French, and Czech. In 2024, it also featured panels in Persian and Hindi. The translators and interpreters discussed a wide range of issues. Among them were the following: consecutive interpreting during meetings of official delegations at the highest level; literary translation of poetry, prose, religious and highly professional texts; translation of opera librettos and Internet memes; and cooperation with athletes and law enforcement officials. 

Recognised experts in translation and interpreting gave plenary presentations on general translation topics. Among them were the following: Dmitry Yermolovich, the author of about 140 works on linguistics and translation, including the fundamental "New Large Russian-English Dictionary"; Marklen Konurbaev, the founder of the unique contest of simultaneous interpreters "Cosines Pi"; and Dmitry Buzadzhi, a lecturer at Moscow State Linguistic University and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (USA) to name just a few.

The Anniversary Winter School on Translation and Interpreting is set to mark two milestone dates: the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg University and the 80th anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad. In honour of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad, the School held the round table "Translation is destiny. Russia’s outstanding translators and interpreters". There was special emphasis placed on research ideas of Alexander Shveitser, known as a military interpreter and translator at the meetings of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo (1946-1948); Riurik Miniar Beloruchev, who interpreted Nikita Khrushchev, Charles de Gaulle, Fidel Castro; and the fate of the translators of the Nuremberg trials.

The school gained an insight into the specifics of working in the fields of diplomacy, art and creative industries, where products bridge creativity and digital technologies. This is a new type of cultural development that requires translators and interpreters to work with projects in the field of information and telecommunication technologies and gaming and to process phonograms and the results of performing activities. Participants in the virtual round table included Dmitry Puchkov, a popular blogger; Aleksei Kozuliaev, a co-owner of the RuFilms company; Ivan Borshchevsky, an audiovisual translator; and Elena Khudenko, a film translator and video game localiser to name just a few. 

At the round table "Art: the art of translation or the translation of art", Anastasiia Dudkina, Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages in the Field of Economics and Law at St Petersburg University, invited her colleagues to delve into the question: do non-verbal arts, such as dance and ballet performances, need a translator? "It seems that non-verbal art, such as dance, is unique in that it is understandable anywhere in the world, but now it requires translators and interpreters. They translate librettos, official websites of theatres, individual troupes and artists, information for social networks (from news to podcasts and interviews), work during the production process and workshops. It definitely requires special training," noted Anastasiia Dudkina.

In December 2023, St Petersburg University held a presentation of a collection of translations of Omani proverbs and sayings. The publication contains about 900 proverbs in Arabic and more than 1,000 proverbs in Russian, explaining the meaning of Arabic folk aphorisms.

Translators and interpreters were invited to take part in workshops on text processing in consecutive interpreting, mastering medical terminology, audiovisual translation and preparing early-career interpreters for professional activities. Classes for specialists and students who are just starting their career were conducted by lecturers at St Petersburg University. Among them were the following simultaneous interpreters: Natalia Kokoreva, Alina Khvostova, Anastasiia Karaziia, and Faina Musaeva to name just a few. 

A series of presentations by experts in African studies were held at the laboratory for studying the problems of modern Africa. Over the two days, 13 reports were presented on political, economic, socio-political and cultural issues; translations and interpreting; and languages and literature of Africa. Experts in African studies and in philology exchanged views with colleagues during the online bridge St Petersburg — Moscow — Dares Salam (Tanzania). During the experimental workshop of Romance languages, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese translators showed the subtle art of literary translation and presented their versions of poetic translations of "Eugene Onegin".