The "Conference Interpreting" seminar, organized by the School of Applied Languages' Translation and Interpretation Department (TRIN), was held April 7 in the Mithat Çoruh Auditorium. It began at 9:30 a.m. with an opening speech by Tanju İnal, the Director of the School of Applied Languages and ended at noon with a closing speech by Asst. Prof. Şirin Yener.
Rector Prof. Ali Doğramacı delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of interpretation in relation to Turkey's path to the EU, and the close relationship of the field with technological developments like distance training and video- conferencing. Subsequently, Olga Cosmidou from the European Parliament, and Wolter Witteveen and Ekaterini Dara Lepoura from the European Commission also pointed out the crucial importance of the discipline in the EU negotiation and integration process. Unlike previous Conference Interpreting seminars, the standards, norms and technological dimension of the field were accentuated by each speaker.
Special attention was devoted to the importance of enriching the Speech Repository tool of EU institutions, with speeches delivered in Turkish by experts from a multitude of disciplines. The conference was held in three languages (English, French and Turkish) and the first graduates from the "Conference Interpreting - Master's Degree without Thesis" program provided simultaneous interpretation throughout the seminar. Participation was high, with students and professors from Bilkent and other universities in attendance.
Tuğçe Kayıtmaz (TRIN/II)
 |
