NEWS
ICU student wins Grand Prix in JACI Simultaneous Interpreting Grand Prix 2019 Student Division
Update: July 11, 2019
The JACI Simultaneous Interpreting Grand Prix 2019 organized by the Japan Association of Conference Interpreters (JACI) was held on Sunday, June 9, and ICU student Ms. Ryoko Haruta (fourth year student, College of Liberal Arts, Media, Communication and Culture) won Grand Prix in the Student Division. This is the second year in a row that an ICU has won this competition, held for the second time. Finalists for this year's Grand Prix included two ICU students; not only Ms. Haruta but also Ms. Ayako Iwasaki (second year student, College of Liberal Arts).
This competition is divided in two parts: Student Division and Open Division. The former is limited to undergraduate, graduate, college and vocational school students who have enrolled in courses related to interpretation, those who have attained CEFR* C1 level/EIKEN Grade 1 within the past 5 years or those who have attained an equivalent grade or score in a comparable English proficiency test.
* CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment)
* CEFR （Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment
Ms. Haruta progressed through the preliminary rounds, was chosen as one of the four finalists of the Student Division, and on the day of the competition, she performed simultaneous interpretation from Japanese to English and vice versa to compete with the other three finalists on interpretation skills.
Comment from Grand Prix winner Ms. Haruta
It was a great honor and pleasure for me to participate in the JACI Simultaneous Interpreting Grand Prix 2019.
Although I have been studying interpretation in college, I was very nervous before the competition started, because the idea of sitting at a real interpreter booth and performing simultaneous interpretation in both ways, from Japanese to English and the other way round, put great pressure on me. I remember my heartbeat going wild when I actually sat at the booth and saw the audience. Visiting Professor Tomoko Tamura who gave me instructions shortly before the competition emphasized to "always be considerate of the listeners." I was repeating this word in my head as I entered the competition stage. In the English to Japanese part, despite having spent a lot of time for preparation beforehand, I was overwhelmed by the flood of numbers and technical terms that was poured over me. It was an experience that made me realize the difficulty of interpretation, that you can never tell what will come out of a conference. Once you sit in the booth, all you can do is just do your best. At the same time, I was able to rediscover the fun and excitement of interpreting.
The Grand Prix competition helped me realize my weak points that I had not noticed through practice in college. It was also very stimulating to have a chance to hear and see with my own ears and eyes the performance of professional interpreters. I am now filled with renewed determination to continue to improve my skills.
Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to JACI members and everyone who organized the Grand Prix and for offering such a great chance to us. I would also like to thank my instructors at ICU, my classmates in the interpretation course and everyone else who participated in this event. Thank you very much.