Alice Cooke, Modern Language Hispanic Studies student of the School Of European Culture and Languages (SECL), has won the first Translation Challenge – an initiative from the Modern Languages department to provide an engaging challenge to students eager to demonstrate their translation skills.
Modern Language Hispanic Studies student, Alice Cooke
The Translation Challenge series was created by Dr Aina Marti-Balcells to showcase students’ language skills; including translation, localisation and communication, in a task requiring the critical thinking and research skills that comes from a four year language degree.
Alice won the first Translation Challenge with her translation of Catalan singer Belén Aguilera’s song “t’estimo” into English, which can be found here.
Alice said of the process: ‘Whilst translating this song, I found it really satisfying that the beginner’s Catalan module that I took at Kent this year had paid off. One of my favourite things about learning languages is the moment when you can read a whole piece of writing in your target language and realise afterwards that you understood it!’
Dr Marti-Balcells said of the translation: ‘When I heard the actual song proposed for the challenge, I loved it. I thought the slow rhythm would be fantastic for beginners. It’s a real honour to see that this initial idea has encouraged my colleagues in other languages to continue the concept and it is very satisfying to see the students engaging with the challenge.’
A second translation challenge ‘MFLconnectKent’, this time for German, is ongoing and the site will soon launch an Essay Prize as well.