With the ever more sophisticated rise of machine translation dominating expectations for the future, it’s refreshing to see that this hasn’t spelt the end for traditional translation – not by a long shot.

That’s why every year the European Commission sets out to unearth the future of human translation; talented individuals who will ensure the future of interpreting and face to face translation is bright and children learning languages from an early age is kept under heavy focus.

Juvenes Translatores was created to uncover the best young translators in the European Union at secondary school level in 2007, and since has become an annual event that has inspired students across Europe to sharpen up on their language skills. Most importantly, it encourages students to be able to translate into other languages effortlessly. This year’s competition was officially announced on 2 September and gives interested schools and students until 20 October to register – which can be done here. Once the registration period is finished, the online translation contest will commence on 26 November with schools across Europe selected at random and the 2020 participants announced on 1 November. A maximum of 5 students can represent each school, with a minimum of 2, and all students born in 2003 are eligible for this years’ translation contest.

The Human Translation Challenge

Recognising the importance of having translation skills and children learning languages from an early age, is something the EU strives to see continue. Their motto ‘united in diversity’ promotes this, showing the need to understand other languages is vital for the future. We may have better technology than ever before that is closing the gap on helping people communicate in multiple languages, but the art of learning another language not native to our own shouldn’t disappear. At Talking Heads, we have linguists across the globe able to converse naturally in languages they have learnt to the point they have localisation perfected. These skills will only continue for future generations through inspiring the children of today, which Juvenes Translatores sets out to do.

The contest is by no means easy, with past examples including translating of rhymes and contestants judged as they would be as a professional translator on the accuracy of the text, their ability to use terms correctly and their ability to write fluently. Quite the tall order but to find the best young talent, the requirements need to push young aspiring translators in the right direction.

At Talking Heads, we want to wish any schools and students entering this years’ translation contest the best of luck and who knows, maybe one day you’ll become part of our strong and ever-growing network of 11,000 linguists worldwide!

For more information about our translation and interpreting services in your sector, please get in touch and find out more about us today.