Check out this clip of a KOMO news interview with Shuang Gou (MATFL Chinese ’10), Michael Rawding (MIIS board member), and his daughter. Shuang Guo, teaches the first ever Chinese course offered at the Bush School in Seattle, WA and Michael’s daughter is one of her students. The students’ parents and school administration are extremely pleased with her teaching. Michael Rawding called her “fantastic!”
Chiara Salce graduated from MIIS just last May (MACI, Russian). By September she was on a plane to Moscow, and it was no time at all before she landed a job at Focus Reports, a media company preparing a report on the Russian energy sector. She interprets for them during their interviews with CEOs and government officials. Here she is pictured with some colleagues in the Russian Duma (note the golden double-headed eagle of the Russian Federation on the coat of arms behind her) where she has been working of late.
Professor Cyril Flerov (T&I, Russian) was recently interviewed by Multiforma, a Russian translation company. The topics of the interview ranged from the difference between Russian and US markets, interpreter training outside of Russia, the future of the profession, and, of course, MIIS.
The interview is to appear on Facebook and the Open Translators Guild. You can find it here.
Students in Kelley Calvert’s English for Academic & Professional Purposes course, “Focus on Sustainability,” visited Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station on September 18th, 2012. Students toured the marine station, learning about its history as well as Monterey Bay’s transformation from industrial wasteland to marine sanctuary. Following the tour, marine biologist and writer Dr. Stephen Palumbi spoke to the class about his book Death and Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival.
The class had the privilege of being joined by Chinese and Japanese interpreters from Professor Laura Burian’s translation and interpretation course. The interpreters provided simultaneous interpretation of the tour, Palumbi’s lecture, and the Q & A session following.
Read about their experience here.
The Fourth Annual GSTILE
FOUND IN TRANSLATION
Lecture Series
September 25th at 12:15, Irvine Auditorium
Career Path for Language Professionals in a “Flattened World”
Macro-economic, political and technological trends point to an increase in demand for talented and skilled language professionals. Meaningful career opportunities for language professionals go beyond the conventional wisdom of working as translators and interpreters. The path towards the professionalization of our field requires those who excel in the art of our trade, as well as those in support of the practitioners. This talk will focus on how career paths for language professionals can be redefined, what the options are, where the resources are, and what mindset students need to adopt to maximize their potential.
SPEAKER BIO:
Winnie Heh, a graduate of the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), has worked in various capacities in the language services industry. She has worked as a Mandarin/English conference interpreter and was an Adjunct Professor for interpretation courses at MIIS. In her management career, she has extensive background in interpreter recruiting, testing, training, new market development, sales management, call center management, and software localization. Her current position is Senior Vice President of Global Operations at Language Line Services. She is responsible for all aspects of Language Line Services’ 24/7 service delivery of over 5,000 language professionals serving clients in more than 20 countries from offices in 8 locations around the world. A strong proponent for the professionalization of the translation and interpretation industry, she is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities in the U.S. and overseas.
For more information, please contact Prof. Córdoba Serrano at mcordobaserrano@miis.edu
The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University is now accepting applications for the 2013-2014 Qatar Scholarship Program. The Qatar Scholarship Program offers dedicated Arabic language students from the United States the opportunity to master their skills in an intensive Arabic language program at Qatar University (QU) in Doha for an entire academic year (September to June). The scholarship includes tuition, room and board in university dorms, round-trip airfare, local transportation, and books. Interested students must be US citizens or permanent residents who have obtained a Bachelor’s degree by the beginning of the program, have two years of formal Arabic study, and be at the intermediate level of proficiency in Arabic.
For more information and application materials, visit the scholarship website.
Jennifer Clowery, 2012 recipient of the JTG Scholarship, in Costa Rica.
Current MIIS student Jennifer Clowery (T&I Spanish) has recently been awarded the 2012 American Foundation for Translation and Interpretation JTG Scholarship in Scientific and Technical Translation or Interpretation.
Jennifer, a native of New York, spent this past summer working in San José, Costa Rica at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights with the Organization of American States as a summer translation intern. While there, she spearheaded an effort to streamline their translation processes and manage terminology through the creation of a glossary and translation memory accessed via secure cloud server. She is now back in Monterey for a new school year. Jennifer credits MIIS Professor Uwe Muegge with directing her towards various scholarship opportunities, including this one.
The JTG Scholarship is one of the most prestigious student awards recognizing excellence in scientific and technical translation or in interpreter training. It is awarded each year to an individual who has demonstrated achievement in the field, a strong academic record, acknowledgement from instructors, and a clear vision of future goals in translation or interpretation.
It is only available to U.S. citizens pursuing a degree in technical translation or in interpretation, as a full-time student, at an accredited U.S. college or university. Applications for the award are typically due in the early summer and the committee’s decision is announced in late August. The guidelines for the 2013 award have not yet been posted, but more information on the JTG Scholarship can be found on their website.
Congratulations to Jennifer on her accomplishment!
The International University Melendez Pelayo blogged about MIIS Professor Cas Schulman-Mora’s recent visit to the University, located in Spain. Please read the original blog post below (note: it is written in Spanish). The original post can also be found here.
Santander, 9 de agosto de 2012– La profesora de interpretación Cas Schulman-Mora ha asegurado hoy en Santander que, aunque en España las salidas profesionales de las personas que se dedican a su campo es “reducida”, las posibilidades de encontrar trabajo “se amplían cada vez más” si se piensa en viajar a otros países. “En Latinoamérica, por ejemplo, existe una clara necesidad de interpretes y traductores bien formados”, apuntó.
Así lo comentó durante una entrevista celebrada en las Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP) con motivo del curso que dirige entre esta semana y la siguiente sobre Interpretación. ‘International Conference Interpretation Practicum’ es el título de este seminario en el que los alumnos ponen en práctica las destrezas aprendidas en la carrera de Traducción e Interpretación aprovechando las facilidades técnicas que ofrece la institución académica.
Los matriculados participan en los encuentros ‘Homenaje a Alan Turing. 2012 Año de la Informática’, ‘Envejecimiento activo: promover la autonomía a través del compromiso y la responsabilidad social’ y ‘The International Association of Forensic Phonetics and Acustics’ que se celebran esta semana en la Universidad y donde han tenido la oportunidad de realizar prácticas reales en cabinas mudas.
Para esta profesora, que ha trabajado en organismos como los Tribunales Federales y Estatales de los Estados Unidos, el Departamento de Estado de EE.UU o las Naciones Unidas, en España existen “muy buenos traductores” aunque, según dijo, si se compara con otros países de la Unión Europea, este país “tiene una tradición menos desarrollada” como consecuencia del “bajo nivel de multilingüismo” que se aprecia desde la escuela.
Además, la especialista lamentó que, en ocasiones, “no se reconozca como debiera” la profesión de los intérpretes, precisamente, porque pasan desapercibidos al “hacer bien su trabajo”. “Cuanto más transparentes sean los traductores e intérpretes es mejor porque dejan relucir las palabras del otro”, comentó Schulman-Mora, quien añadió que le gustaría que la profesión estuviera “más comprendida, entendida y valorada”.
La directora de este curso comentó que las nuevas tecnologías están provocando un “gran cambio” en esta profesión porque permiten un “mayor y mejor” acceso a los datos, la información y la investigación. Para ella, la Interpretación es un “acto de comunicación humana” que, definitivamente, no cree que pueda ser sustituido por herramientas tecnológicas, sino que estas pueden ayudar a hacer más fácil el trabajo.
Respecto a la crisis, la profesora reconoció que aunque “por supuesto que se está resintiendo la profesión” a la hora, por ejemplo, de contratar interpretes y traductores para conferencias, congresos y otros eventos, también es verdad, dijo, que está aumentado la demanda en servicios básicos como la educación, la salud o el derecho. “Ahora hay una gran necesidad de profesionales que ejerzan de intermediarios culturales fruto de los cambios sociales y demográficos que vive este país”, afirmó.