Speech on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Asociation

Background

The Association of Professional Translators was founded on January 23, 1998 by a number of translators, 17 people altogether, active at that time in this area. On March 11, 1998 the Ministry of Justice issued the registration certificate of the Association of Professional Translators of Moldova. It is remarkable to mention that many of those who were at the beginnings continue, also at present, to be active members of the Association and I want to give their names: Elena Ciobanu, Natalia Alhazov, Iulia Timotin, Svetlana Chiriţa, Tatiana Durimanov, Lidia Cazacu, Tamara Burcă and the one speaking in front of you today. The incentives for the creation of the Association were simple and here I will read the statement made by our colleague Tamara Burca in this connection. I quote: "We felt the need to be together, to help each other and to promote ourselves on the translation market.  Besides, it is always important to talk to colleagues, to share with them certain difficult moments."

The necessity mentioned above kept the Association functional all these years. It used to play the role of a Club of ours, where we liked to meet, exchange experiences and look for advice whenever we felt our rights were prejudiced.

Achievements

It took the Association a couple of years to develop its internal regulatory framework and to carry out actions aimed at its affirmation in the society. It was not easy, if taking into account the fact that the translator’s profession was officially recognized and entered into the Classifier of Professions only in 2011. We kept, however, working and telling the world that we existed. In our work we used to count very much on the quality of our performance, different from everything else in use in translations in those days. We understood that, on top of the language knowledge, the translator’s profession needed to be enriched with additional skills. In this context, the Association organized an impressive number of internal trainings in various fields, namely: knowledge of the Romanian language with distinguished specialists, among them Irina Condrea and Ion Melniciuc,  knowledge of the literary and publicist translation with writers Vlad Pohilă (present at our reunion today), Emilian Galaicu-Păun and the distinguished translator and journalist Eugenia David; business regulatory framework with Alexandru Zgardan, Public Relations with Laura Bohanţov; behavior and correct pronunciation, communication and diction with Nina Vartic, Lecturer at the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts and Ecaterina Godoroja Trainer in Communication and, recently, Legislative Framework regulating Translation activity with lawyer Eduard Digore.

Also our colleagues Natalia Conovca and Veaceslav Musteață carried out a number of trainings dedicated to computer assisted translation tools, indispensable at present. We thank all mentioned above trainers and express our gratitude to them.

The School of Professional Translator. This is the heading under which ATP Moldova organizes trainings for outsiders - translators-beginners and people wishing to improve their skills. I dare say it is the only practical training opportunity in the field of translations in our Republic, especially in interpretation. This school has already reached its 7th edition, and has been successfully operating all these years. The number of people who attended courses within this school makes several hundreds. The ones who attended the courses gave a very positive feedback. Many current members of the Association attended these training courses in the past, fact which is very encouraging for us. I'll quote a statement of a colleague of ours - Ala Mătăsaru who mentions the following with regard to this school. “The School of Professional Translators represents the starting point of a person engaged in translation.  It is similar to a guidebook with theoretical and practical information for translators and interpreters and a true guide for those who wish to practice this profession full of challenges."

Additionally to the training activity the Association of Professional Translators carries out many other activities aimed at the representation of translators in the society. The recently updated Website of the Association helps us a lot in this. The feedback received from many public institutions and foreign organizations tells us how useful it is to have access to the information placed on the website by the ATP Moldova. Many institutions while employing a translator, be it a member of the Association or not, take into account the list of reference prices for translation displayed on the site.

We are glad that the Ministry of Justice keeps inviting us to attend various meetings, along with other professionals such as notaries, lawyers, etc. One should recall here the fact that at the beginning of the 2000 era the Association was actively involved in the development of the legal frame work regulating the translation activity in the judicial area. Many translators of the Association are also qualified as authorized translators, meaning that we also operate under the Law of Authorized Translators. I welcome on this occasion the presence in this hall of the President of the Union of Authorized Translators, Ms. Elena David. I also welcome the presence here of the representatives of Translation Bureaus cooperating fruitfully in their activities with numerous members of the Association.

Gratitude

We have reached the "thank you" chapter. I express my sincere thanks to all members of the Association who during all these years supported the Association by being present at reunions, by getting involved in the activities of the Association and, especially, by showing trust to its operation.

I express my special gratitude to all people and institutions that collaborated with the Association, showed confidence to the professionalism of its members and have entrusted them with important employments throughout all these years. The list is very big, but a number of these institutions are represented by our distinguished guests present at this event today and I shall name them: Embassy of Italy in the Republic of Moldova, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Institute of Public Policies, Ministry of Justice, Radio Moldova, Translation Bureau "Birou de Traduceri", Translation Bureau “Lex Artis”, Translation Bureau “Berlizzo” and Translation Bureau “Intart Design”.

Finally, I congratulate all translators present at this event and those who for various reasons could not do be with us today with the International Day of Translation, to be celebrated tomorrow on the international arena.

Now we offer the floor to our distinguished guests who might wish to say some appreciation words, but it is not excluded that they might also give us valuable suggestions.

Eleonora Rusnac
President of ATP Moldova

Category: Activities