Monash Translation & Interpreting and Chin Communications: Celebrating a special connection that makes a real difference
On 15 September 2022, the Monash Translation and Interpreting Studies Program held a special event to celebrate both the recent publication of four books on Chinese-English translation and interpreting and the 30th anniversary of Chin Communications, one of our key industry partners.
This occasion also marked the 10th anniversary of the Chin Communications Master of Interpreting and Translation Studies Scholarship.
Chin Communications is a highly recognised Chinese interpreting and translation specialist, and one of the first language service providers that Monash Arts partnered with. Through this partnership, training and learning opportunities have been provided to enable students to acquire contemporary, workplace skills for them to enter the global language services market as well-trained and accomplished interpreters and translators.
As part of this, Charles Qin OAM, Managing Director of Chin Communications and Australia’s leading Mandarin-English Interpreter, has spent many years sharing his expertise with students as a guest lecturer at Monash, and has also established a work placement program that provides students with unique hands-on training and in-field experience.
“We value our relationship with Chin Communications in many ways,” says Dr Jim Hlavac, Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting Studies. “They have been a great model for the type of workplace practice that we want our students to be involved in.”
Associate Professor Kevin Foster, Head of the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, adds, “In a world that is complex and multi-layered, we need industry professionals and researchers who are able to provide services and informed responses to the communication needs of a linguistically and culturally diverse society.”
Chin Communications first launched their scholarship program in 2012 in celebration of their two decades in business. Now, ten years later, they continue to create a positive impact – rewarding excellence and providing assistance to budding Chinese-English translation and interpreting students through the granting of scholarships each semester.
Through this act of generosity and commitment to university-level training, they are helping to support Monash Arts in our mission to prepare our students for a multilingual and intercultural future.
SzHan Huang, Master of Interpreting and Translation Studies student and 2022 Chin Communications Scholarship recipient, tells us that, “It’s an honour to receive the Chin Communications Scholarship. It feels like recognition for all of my hard work over the past semester. Receiving the award has helped me strengthen my confidence in my studies and made me believe that choosing to study interpretation is the right decision. With enthusiasm and motivation, I can assure myself that I will seek excellence in my studies and future career.”
Through our outstanding industry connections, together with cutting-edge learning tools and world-class lecturers, the Master of Interpreting and Translation Studies is paving the way for students to nurture their passion for language and build an in-demand career as an interpreter and translator in today’s globalised world.
It offers a dynamic and diverse learning, teaching and research environment that helps to hone students’ critical thinking and discipline-related skills as they become pioneers of change in their areas of specialisation.
“Languages have always been my most considerable interest,” says SzHan, “and being a person who loves interacting with people, interpreting studies allows me to pave a possible career path that can combine my passion for languages and the need to interact with different people.”
The event concluded with presentations from teaching and research staff from the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Lintao (Rick) QI, Leah Gerber, Shani Tobias, Zhichang Xu and Jim Hlavac of four recently published research works on Chinese English translation and interpreting.
To view photographs of the event, please visit the Monash Arts Facebook page.
Find out more about the Master of Interpreting and Translation Studies.