CITS MA Students to Take a Virtual Visit to the European Commission’s DG Translation

Students of the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation made a virtual visit to the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission. The visit brought together students and representatives of various universities around the world.

In the virtual meeting, the staff translators from the European Commission shared some secrets of a perfect translation. Computer assisted translation was once again touched upon. It is interesting to note that the European Commission’s DGT is also divided over the use of CAT technology in translation. Staff translators talked about how to familiarize yourself with software and use machine assistance for the benefit of translation. It is pleasing to note that our MA students work with the same software products as translators in the Directorate-General.

A separate section of the conference was devoted to terminology. The audience was informed in detail about the Commission’s own terminology database, IATE, which is constantly being updated. Interestingly, the EU has recently published its own glossary of COVID-19 related terms.

The most interesting part of the conference for prospective translators was the information about employment and traineeships. Staff from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation explained in detail about how to become part of their team and what opportunities are open to freelance translators. Finally, the speakers shared their personal experiences and stories of how they got a job at this EU institution and offered some guidance to our students.