On April 22, CFLC hosted the Cross-Strait Chinese-Russian Interpreting Contest and the first China Collegiate Chinese-Russian Interpreting Invitational Contest. The competitions drew 24 students from 22 universities in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Russia, including Peking University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Tamkang University, Fudan University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Shanghai International Studies University.
The invitational contest kicked off at 9:15 am on April 22. It consisted of two parts: interpreting of a keynote speech and interpreting of a conversation. It tested contestants’ ability to transmit messages in Chinese and Russian accurately, as well as their overall proficiency in the two languages.
The topics of the keynote speeches for interpreting included environmental protection, thinkers in ancient China, tourist attractions in Beijing, and modern modes of transportation. They were designed to test the contestants’ ability to analyze, extract and memorize information, as well as their pronunciation, diction, and fluency in the two languages. The contestants’ solid command of the Russian language, quick thinking and composure on the stage impressed the judges and the audience alike. After preliminary rounds of competition in the morning, the 12 contestants with the highest scores advanced to the final in the afternoon.
In the final, the contestants were required to do consecutive interpreting of a conversation between a Chinese speaker and a Russian speaker with the help of notes. The topics of the conversation ranged from international film festivals to regional international organizations.
Байрамова Карина from Lomonosov Moscow State University claimed the grand prize. Wu Shilei from Peking University and Wu Danfeng from Xiamen University won the first prize. Sun Jianing from Nanjing University, Liu Yu from Sichuan International Studies University, and Huang Mingtuo from Heilongjiang University received the second prize. Winners of the third prize included Wang Hefei from Jilin University, Zeng Yalin from the Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Xu Xiangqian from Xiamen University, Lou Yihua from Tianjin Foreign Studies University Hua Tingting from Beijing Foreign Studies University, and Кустов Денис from TomskPolytechnicUniversity.
The panel of judges included Prof. Huang Mei of Beijing Foreign Studies University, who is also vice president of the China Russian LanguageTeaching Research Association; Prof. Bai Wenchang of Heilongjiang University; Prof. Su Shuyan of Tamkang University; Prof. Yang Shizhang ofShanghai Foreign Studies University; Prof. Yang Jie of Xiamen University; and Анна Аллаберт, a presenter with China Radio International.
The invitational contest built on the success of the Cross-Strait Chinese-English interpreting Contest, inaugurated in 2009. It was intended to inspire enthusiasm for the interpreting profession and to promote Russian language teaching.
