On 21 February 2020, a discussion on training Japanese-Russian interpreters and translators was held at Hokkaido University in Sapporo by the HaRP Secretariat. 29 experts from 7 Japanese universities and 3 Russian universities, the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Sapporo, METI Hokkaido, Hokkaido Government, companies, and a non-profit organization attended the meeting.

The meeting started with presentations from 9 universities participating in the Language, Culture and Tourism section on their activities related to the training of interpreters and translators and their 2 partner companies, who made presentations on good practices related to the agenda.

The participants shared information and discussed the following common challenges they are facing in their respective regions of Japan and Russia in training translators and interpreters:
– limited opportunities for practical training during their university years and for careers as interpreters / translators after graduation;
– limitations of improving students’ Japanese and Russian language skills within the classroom;
– the growing sophistication of technical terminology due to the increasing specialization in every field;
– the challenge of exposing students to real-life and/or simulated work environments during training and of motivating students.

The participants of the meeting engaged in a lively discussion on topics such as interpretation and translation skills in specific fields, promising future business areas for Japanese and Russian interpreters, non-language skills required of interpreters, and the problems faced by employers and HR staff.

This event was an important step towards building cooperation between the Japanese and Russian experts in the areas of language, culture and tourism, and is expected to contribute to solving the problems they are facing.

Please see the following link for the presentation materials and event program.

The participants of the discussion on Japanese–Russian interpreters and translators