Interpretation & Inclusion: a Mock Conference with the Priest Maksim Burdin

On May 20, students and course attendees of the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation attended a unique interactive session with the prior of St. Nicholas Church Maksim Burdin. It was organized within the framework of CITS projects on creating an inclusive environment and interpretation practice, including the project Inclusive Linguistic Environment.  

The meeting with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church was held as a mock conference with simultaneous interpretation into English, performed by our MA students and attendees of the interpretation courses. The uniqueness of this event was that in addition to interpretation into English, there was simultaneous interpretation of Russian Sign Language (RSL), since the event was also attended by deaf and hard-of-hearing participants.

This meeting offered a great opportunity for CITS students to practice simultaneous interpretation in the booths and learn religious vocabulary. During his presentation, the prior Maksim told how the Christian community had originated and how it functioned in the modern context. He also shared interesting anecdotes from his professional life. After the presentation, the guests of the event asked the priest some questions, while the students got feedback from the school trainers about their work in the booths.  

The RSL interpreters prepared for the event thoroughly, since it was their first experience of simultaneous interpretation of speeches on this topic. Sometimes the excitement was so great that their hands were shaking, which makes it even more difficult for a sign language interpreter to work. Nevertheless, they coped with the task.

After the meeting, the students analyzed their performance together with Natalia Chernysheva, a practicing RSL interpreter. She told the RSL course attendees how to avoid mistakes in simultaneous interpretation of Russian Sign Language in the future. The deaf and hard-of-hearing participants of the meeting commended the quality of interpretation.  

Tatiana Borisova, the Chair of the Astrakhan branch of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, wished the students aspiration for new heights and ongoing improvement of their skills. She hopes that in the future the CITS course attendees will be able to join the ranks of RSL interpreters of Astrakhan.