21 students from Russian universities took part in the 3rd Vietnamese interpretation contest held on March 30 at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) under Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, VNA reported.

The candidates were required to translate short sentences about socio-political issues from Russian to Vietnamese and vice versa. Meanwhile, final-year students and graduate students competed in translating a piece of about 200 words about official state visits, the current state of the Russian economy, or the role of ASEAN.

Former Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrey Tatarinov awards a contest winner. Photo: VNA

The jury at the contest included professional and veteran interpreters from Russia and Vietnam, former Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrey Tatarinov, Russian diplomats who are working in Vietnam, counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia Doan Khac Hoang, and Director of the Traditions and Friendship fund Nguyen Quoc Hung.

The third contest of this kind has showed its importance in training Vietnamese language experts, as well as developing the relationship between Russia and Vietnam.

Speaking at the event, Associate Professor of Linguistics, head of MGIMO Language Training Department Marina Chigasheva emphasized that Vietnam always plays an important role in Russia’s foreign policy.

She noted events that contribute to the two countries’ relations recently, including the phone call between Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 26, during which the two leaders mentioned economic cooperation and many other cooperative orientations.

Chigasheva said that the contest has been held for the third time and will become an annual one, which shows the sustainability of the two countries’ relations and the real need for Vietnamese translation and Vietnam studies in Russia.

The contest will help discover talents among learners of Vietnamese language in Russia, and contribute to promoting the Vietnam-Russia friendship relations. Photo: Xuan Hung/NDO

Director of the Traditions and Friendship fund Nguyen Quoc Hung, who has accompanied the contest from its first edition, said highlighted the increasing quality of the contest, and affirmed that the fund will focus on sponsoring activities to encourage students as well as teachers to teach and learn Vietnamese. He informed that the fund is promoting the teaching of Vietnamese at Russian schools.

Counselor of the Third Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Ivan Nesterov noted that the organization of the contest has become increasingly professional, attracting students across Russia.

Participating in the contest for the first time, Arina, a second-year student at MGIMO, told NDO's reporter that although she had prepared very carefully for the contest, when answering the judges' questions, she was still very nervous.

According to Arina, the contest brings together many excellent students with a deep understanding of Vietnamese politics, society, life, and culture. This is a competition that requires broad knowledge, quick thinking and good translation skills.

Arina said that next year she will continue to register to participate in the contest and after graduating, hopes to become an excellent Vietnamese translator.

Emphasizing that the contest is a very interesting experience, Mikhail Stepanishchev, who is studying a master's program at MGIMO, affirmed that the contest helped him become more confident in speaking and translating Vietnamese.

Mikhail shared that in this year's competition, there were many good students, which created great pressure for first-time candidates, but through the competition, most of them commented that they had a lot of information, understand more about Vietnam and are especially impressed with Vietnam's recent foreign policy. Mikhail also dreams of becoming a talented Vietnamese translator.

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