Why not celebrate with us!?
Today, September 30th, translators, interpreters and terminologists are celebrating International Translation Day.
Why an International Day of Translation?
The notion arose in 1991 from the International Federation of Translators (https://www.fit-ift.org/-), which, ever since its creation in 1953, has been defending the need to have a day to commemorate the figure of the professional translator. This is due to translators’ work promoting intercultural communication, dialogue and cooperation between countries, which has seen, as a direct consequence, an improvement in the maintenance of peace and the strengthening of relations between States.
A few years ago, on May 24, 2017, Mr. Andrei Dapkiunas, Ambassador of Belarus, took this initiative to the UN, defending the struggle of translators for transparency of communication, common sense and mutual understanding. This resulted in the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Resolution A/RES/71/288, which declares September 30th as the International Day of Translation. It is a day to pay tribute to all those who are dedicated to professional translation and to highlight the important work they do “in bringing nations closer together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to the development and strengthening global peace and security.”
Why September 30th?
The date chosen by the IFT to celebrate the International Day of Translation was not a coincidence and nor was it left to chance. September 30th was the date when Jerome of Stridon, better known as Saint Jerome, died.
Without a doubt, St. Jerome is known as the most famous translator in history. In 382, he undertook the most ambitious translation work in history: the translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. Despite its alleged errors, St. Jerome’s Vulgate, from the year 402, was the official text of the Catholic Church until the publication of the Neo-Vulgate, in 1979.
The milestone that this work represented, from a historical, linguistic and translation point of view, constitutes the foundation and basis for the consideration of St. Jerome as the Patron Saint of Translators. In addition to carrying out one of the most important works of Christianity, both on a religious and political level, he left us with a universal truth that even today stands as one the pillars of professional translation: “non verbum e verbo, sed sensum exprimere de sensu” (“Not expressing word for word, but meaning for meaning”).
Englishpanish is celebrating International Translation Day
As a translation agency, we would like to join in the celebration of this important day on behalf of all those professionally involved in translation in some way. To do that, we have decided to give you a little gift!
We have prepared a SPANISH – ENGLISH glossary of terms related to education, which we hope you will like and which you can download for free here.
To all our colleagues, interpreters, translators, terminologists, linguists, agencies, freelancers, freelancers and translation and language students, we wish you a Happy Translation Day!
