Training translators for a changing world
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International translators' forum CIUTI held its 2011 session in Beijing last weekend. Teachers and scholars from around the world discussed changing times, new technology, and new approaches to training interpreters and translators.
With the development of new technology and changing professional environments, customers want everything to be done faster but still demand the same high quality, CIUTI President Professor Hannelore Lee-Jahnke said. The challenge facing today's translators and interpreters is how to adapt to new situations and new technologies. Flexibility as far as languages are concerned is essential, as is the ability to make the best use of information and resources available on the Internet.
"It's important to learn several languages. English alone is not enough," she said. "We are living in a multicultural environment and every single city should be entitled to its own language. This is really the future."
This year is the first time China has hosted the CIUTI annual conference.
"Translation education in China is quite advanced," Lee-Jahnke said. "We have more languages, of course, but in certain things, like the recognition of the status of translators, China is much more advanced than us."
Professor Lee-Jahnke said translation training in China should concentrate on practical skills, because that is what the market needs. Practical training will ensure that student translators and interpreters find employment when they complete their courses.
Founded in 1960, CIUTI (International Permanent Conference of University Institutes of Translators and Interpreters) is an international association of university institutes with translation and interpretation programs. Guangdong University of Foreign Studies was this year elected as its 40th member, becoming the third Chinese university to join the organization after Beijing Foreign Studies University and Shanghai International Studies University.
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