The First “College English Cup” Interpreting Contest Held at SYSU

Source: School of Foreign Languages
Written by: Lin Lu
Photo by: Guan Xueer
Translated by: Wang Fang
Proofread by: Deng Zhihui
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On May 7, 2017, the First “College English Cup” Interpreting Contest Final was successfully held by the School of Foreign Languages at Sun Yat-sen University. A total of 92 students from different schools and majors signed up for the preliminary, 24 of whom gained qualification for the semi-final, and 12 made it to the final. The first prize was awarded to two students who minored in Translation and Interpreting, Mou Zekun from the School of Life Sciences, and Zhang Jiaxin from the School of Sociology and Anthropology.
 

The “College English Cup” Interpreting Contest Final
 

Sitting in the Judges Panel were experts in interpreting or professors in English teaching: the well-known conference interpreter, Associate Professor Gao Wenping from English Department; Interpreting Course Leader, Professor Deng Zhihui from Faculty of English Education; Professor Xu Dejin from English Department; Assistant Dean of School of Foreign Languages and Director of Faculty of English Education, Associate Professor Feng Pengpeng; and Assistant Dean of School of Foreign Languages, Senior Lecturer Wu Xiaoyan.

The final session proved fiercely competitive and exciting. Twelve finalists were randomly divided into three 4-student groups. Each group picked a final session topic by casting lots immediately after the semi-final and had around two hours for preparation. In the final, the four contestants took turns to interpret for a dialogue between a Chinese teacher and a native English teacher. The three topics were: “Language as the Core of Communication: Reading, Creative Writing, and More”, “Technology in Everyday Life: China vs the U.S.” and “Theory and Practice of Education: East vs West”. The contestants had done an impressive job in the final session, showing not only marvelous bilingual competence but also coping tactics for various interpreting difficulties including, for instance, idioms, humor, figures, or even poem lines.
 

Associate Professor Gao Wenping (first from right) and Associate Professor Feng Pengpeng (first from left) presented the awards to the first-prize winners, Mou Zekun (second from left) and Zhang Jiaxin (second from right).
 

In his comments, Head of the Judges Panel, Associate Professor Gao Wenping applauded the wonderful performance of the contestants, pointing out that real-time consecutive interpreting could be highly demanding in terms of source language comprehension and target language expression, particularly when it came to tones or other subtle signals implying the speaker’s emotion and attitudes. He suggested some very practical tactics to the audience and warmly encouraged them to further enhance their English proficiency as a powerful complement to their major. He noted that interpreters with multidisciplinary backgrounds, i.e. those who can “cross over” different fields would be the winner of the future interpreting profession.

Attachment: The First "College English Cup" Interpreting Contest Awards List:

2 First Prizes
Mou Zekun(牟泽鲲) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of Life Sciences
Zhang Jiaxin(张嘉欣) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of Sociology and Anthropology

4 Second Prizes
Lin Yuhong (林雨虹) Undergraduate student in grade 2016 from School of Foreign Languages
Wu Yubing (吴煜冰) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of International Studies
Liu Dong (刘东) Undergraduate student of long-term system in grade 2014 from Zhongshan School of Medicine
Cai Min (蔡敏) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of International Studies

6 Third Prizes
Wu Xinyun (吴心昀) Undergraduate student in grade 2015 from Lingnan College
Chen Bohong (陈博宏) Undergraduate student in grade 2015 from Lingnan College
Zhou Ruowei (周若维) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of International Relations
Lai Lichun (赖丽春) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of International Studies
Lin Ting (林婷) Undergraduate student in grade 2015 from School of Government
Li Jiaheng (李嘉恒) Undergraduate student in grade 2015 from School of Data and Computer Science

12 Winning Prizes
Chen Jintian (陈锦填) Undergraduate student in grade 2013 from School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Liu Shujie (刘舒婕) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of Chemistry
Lin Qinan (林绮楠) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of Foreign Languages
Qu Yuerong (曲玥蓉) Undergraduate student in grade 2015 from Lingnan College
Wang Man (王曼) Undergraduate student in grade 2015 from School of Tourism Management
Li Moying (李沫颖) Undergraduate student in grade 2013 from Business School
Wu Mengzhou (吴梦舟) Undergraduate student in grade 2015 from Lingnan College
Guan Huayu (官华宇) Undergraduate student of long-term system in grade 2015 from Zhongshan School of Medicine
Ma Ruibin (马瑞斌) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of Physics
Liu Ziqi (刘子琪) Postgraduate student in grade 2015 from School of Foreign Languages
Feng Youen (冯有恩) International student in grade 2015 from Zhongshan School of Medicine
Cao Tianqi (曹天埼) Undergraduate student in grade 2014 from School of Life Sciences