Interpretation & Inclusion: Mock Conference with the Priest Maksim Burdin

The Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation has held 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 inclusive linguistic environment project.

The meeting with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church was held as a mock conference with simultaneous interpretation into English, performed by the MA students and attendees of the interpretation courses of CITS. This meeting offered a great opportunity for them to practice simultaneous interpretation in the booths and learn religious vocabulary. 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.

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.

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.