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PSU and University of Lousville Unite for Translators Contest

433 translations have been checked by PSU students and teachers, who performed as jury experts in the Perm City Translators’ Contest – a record amount for the whole venue history. The event was held within the framework of “Perm-Louisville: Twin Cities ’Cultural Heritage” projects, addressing schoolchildren and college students.

Two groups of experts worked on their jury tasks, comprising students of the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature, teachers from four Perm universities, officials of Perm city administration, and the University of Louisville, a long-time partner of Perm State University.

The jury of the first selection round included 20 undergraduate students in Linguistics, as well as 20 graduate and postgraduate students. 23 faculty members and 7 students from the University of Louisville joined them for the second round, to specially name long-time partners Professor Michael Losavio and Thomas Dumstorf, teacher of Russian language and literature.

For the second round, two pieces from a thriller “A is for Aliby” by Sue Grafton were offered for an English-Russian translation, and an excerpt from “The Territory of God” by Yuri Aslanyan, Perm-based author, PSU graduate in Philology – for a Russian-English translation.

“This time, the project attracted 467 participants from our city, which undoubtedly testifies to the growing interest in such events among the youth of Perm, and beyond! Thanks to the city-rooted,  citizen-voiced competitions and projects, PSU students and teachers join the international movement of twinning and peoples’ diplomacy,”

admits Svetlana Polyakova, project coordinator.

“I would like to thank the organizers of the Contest for an excellent opportunity to practice our translation skills – which mean less without practice. I am happy to support such initiatives, growing as a professional translator, and stretching out for new literary horizons!”

comments Yulia Repyakh, MA student, Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature.

To remind, “Perm-Louisville Twin Cities ’Cultural Heritage” Translators ’Competition became a winner project within framework, within the 23rd Perm City Competition of Social Projects “The City is Us”. The Competition was run by the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, Perm State University; Perm English Language Teachers’ Association (PELTA); Perm Krai A.M. Gorky Library; and Perm-Louisville Twin Cities Association.

PSU Translators Win Twin Cites Contest

PSU students have successfully performed at a regional international Translators ’Competition, contributing to Perm (Russia) and Louisville (USA) twin cities’ link.

15 undergraduate and graduate students from Perm State University are listed among 29 winners in various categories, representing the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature; the Faculty of Law; the Faculty of Economics; and the Faculty of History and Political Science, PSU. The Competition involved 135 students from 8 Perm-based higher institutions. In total, the Organizers’ Committee received 160 pieces, translated; a few participants challenged several translations at once.

Four pieces by contemporary American authors had been offered for the Competition: “A is for Aliby” by Sue Grafton, “Old Muscovy” by Massie Robert and “The Healing” by Gayl Johnes. All authors come from the sister city of Louisville (USA) and represent those writings previously untranslated into Russian. In return, two excerpts from the book “The Territory of God” by Yuri Aslanyan, Perm-based author had been offered for a Russian-English translation part.

The Translators ’Competition became a part of “Perm-Louisville Twin Cities ’Cultural Heritage” framework, within the 23rd Perm City Competition of Social Projects “The City is Us”. The Competition was run by the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, Perm State University; Perm English Language Teachers’ Association (PELTA); Perm Krai A.M. Gorky Library; and Perm-Louisville Twin Cities Association.

PSU Students Translate Modern British Prose, Win a Competition

Nine students from Perm State University (PSU) have been announced as winners and distinguished participants of the Regional Translation Competition 2020-2021, launched by the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, PSU.

In total, 409 translations from 337 participants from 54 schools and lyceums, 4 secondary schools and 5 universities of Perm and Perm Territory have been registered for the competition. Other national participants included Primorsky Territory, Karelia, Udmurtia, Khabarovsk and Saratov Territories.

In 2021, the Competition marked the 25th anniversary of Perm-Oxford twin sister relations. The tasks for the contest had been handpicked by Ms. Karen Hewitt, Professor at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, a holder of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for establishing academic and cultural links with Russia.

Besides students in Languages and Literature, participants from non-linguistic faculties (to name Geology, Chemistry, Geography, Mechanics and Mathematics), as well as schoolchildren were challenged by modern English authors, previously not translated into Russian: “The Day You Lost Her” by Julia Darling, “Reach” by Rachel Seiffert, “Headlong” by Michael Frayn.

“Thanks to competitions alike, our students and schoolchildren are capable to reveal their creative and translation potential. In addition, the competition helps to better understand contemporary British reality and promote the image of the University as an active participant in the public life of the region,”

notes Svetlana Polyakova, Competition organizer, Associate Professor at the Department of Linguodidactics and the Department of English Language and Intercultural Communication, Perm English Language Teachers’ Association (PELTA).

To remind, Perm-Oxford twin cities relationship started with university exchange as early as 1989. For years, PSU has been hosting numerous delegations from Oxford. Today, Perm State University confidently competes with leading Russian and world universities, providing a variety of English language-related courses and exchange visits, with an assistance by Oxford colleagues. In 2019, the Oxford University has granted PSU the Gold Standard Internship Host sign.

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