A Student from the Faculty of Translation Studies at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences attends the conference "Translating Europe " in Brussels
November 15, 2022
Sonora Bogdanova, a student of the master’s program "Translation of Applied Texts" at the Faculty of Translation Studies of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS FTS), participated in the conference "Translating Europe" held in Brussels from November 9 to 11.
This spring, Sonora took part in the "2022 eMT challenge" competition for master's level translation studies programs, where she had to analyse a machine-translated text from English into Latvian, and ranked among the top three participants in this competition, which had 112 participants. The board of the European Commission's "European Master in Translation" cooperation network invited all the best participants in this competition from each language pair to the conference. The VUAS FTS master's program "Translation of Applied Texts" has also been included in the EMT network since 2011, which is a mark of the quality of this program.
Sonora shares her impressions: "The conference lasted three days and was very valuable – I gained experience and participated in a cultural exchange program. Of course, I also gained new knowledge about translation-related issues and various other life skills. The conference covered topics such as sustainability in the translation industry, translation in crisis situations, and the accessibility of translation services for people with disabilities. There was also a discussion about the challenges and difficulties faced by young professionals. It was very pleasing that the conference was interactive: during the panel discussion, participants were asked questions, which they could answer using the Slido app. This app also allowed listeners to ask questions to the speakers and vote on questions asked by other listeners, as well as provide insights in the form of keywords. The conference provided an opportunity to participate in a networking event where participants could meet other students who took part in the 2022 eMT challenge competition, as well as colleagues from the European Commission.
Sonora believes that this experience was great and gave her the opportunity to travel abroad and meet both new and experienced translators and interpreters working in Brussels institutions. "I would also like to thank my classmate Agnese Lukevica, who is currently doing a translation internship in Brussels and gave me the opportunity to visit the Council of Europe building and gain a little insight into other EU institutions, " says Sonora.
"I really appreciated this experience, and I am grateful to the EMT Network Board for this adventure that was given to me as a student! "
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