Slavic Languages

SL-1 (T, 1:30-3:00pm) - ALL
Slavic Languages Annual Meeting
Nora S. Favorov, administrator, ATA Slavic Languages Division, and freelance commercial and literary translator, Orlando, Florida

SL-2 (T, 3:30-5:00pm) - ALL
Annual Susana Greiss Lecture: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful
Patricia Newman, honorary member, past ATA president, and co-author, Callaham's Russian-English Dictionary of Science and Technology, Albuquerque, New Mexico

This presentation, like some marriages, comprises two incompatible parts. The first describes the Callaham behind Callaham's Russian-English Dictionary of Science and Technology and the incredibly tedious process called lexicography. Anyone awake for the second part will hear a long-time user of translation and interpretation services talking about the good, the bad, and the incredibly beautiful from the customer's perspective.

[CANCELED] SL-3 (F, 10:00-10:45am) - ALL
Getting Down to Business: Translating Financial and Economic Terminology
Loren Tretyakov, freelance Russian-English translator, Chelmsford, Massachusetts

This presentation will focus on the translation of financial and economic terminology from Russian to English. Special attention will be given to terms regularly encountered in the Russian press, focusing on terms that might not be found in financial dictionaries. A glossary of Russian terms and suggested English translations will be provided. The presentation will also address differences in Russian business practices that create challenges for translators.

(F, 10:45-11:30am) - ALL
Recent Issues in Russian and English Translation: Avoiding the Pitfalls and Overcoming Business and Technical Challenges
Alex Lane, Russian-English translator and interpreter, and assistant administrator, ATA Slavic Languages Division, Pagosa Springs, Colorado

In recent years, the challenges facing translators working in English and Russian have escalated. This is largely due to the intense interaction between English- and Russian-speakers resulting from long-term associations and economic growth, and accelerated by an ever-expanding telecommunications infrastructure. These challenges include: concurring terminology, establishing a rational policy regarding acronyms, abbreviations, trademarks, and part designations, using the Internet for research, working with various file formats and other materials, and delivering bilingual documents. In this presentation, the speaker draws upon his extensive experience—in particular, his work with the joint US-Russian space program—to illustrate some of the pitfalls associated with these challenges, as well as working solutions to them.

SL-4 (F, 1:30-3:00pm) - ALL
Russian-English Cognates that Go Their Own Way
Steve Shabad, associate editor, Newsweek, and freelance Russian-English translator, Ossining, New York

They look alike, they sound alike, they have the same root—they may even have the same dictionary definition. But in many cases these words in Russian and English are not interchangeable. This presentation will look at some common examples—and a few that may be surprising or controversial. With a focus on the Russian>English direction, an effort will be made to come up with the optimum equivalents. Audience discussion will be encouraged.

SL-5 (F, 3:30-5:00pm) - ALL
Double Jeopardy: A Bilingual Game Show for Russian<>English Translators and Interpreters
Lydia Razran Stone, literary and technical translator, and editor, ATA Slavic Languages Division newsletter, SlavFile, Alexandria, Virginia; and Vadim Khazin, International Center for Environmental Resources and Development, City University of New York, and freelance translator/editor/interpreter, Colts Neck, New Jersey

This session will continue the Slavic Languages Division's tradition of holding a workshop on the Russian<>English translation of idioms, neologisms, and other challenging terms. However, this year we will try a "game show" format (including puns, bilingual rhymes, etc.), with both general audience participation and use of self-selected "contestants." No one will be pressured to participate, but a good working knowledge of both languages is desirable for full enjoyment/enlightenment.

SL-6 (S, 10:00-11:30am) - INTERMEDIATE
Challenges in Translating Russian Financial Statements
Bob Taylor, ATA-accredited (Russian>English and Italian>English), full-time Russian-English and Italian-English translator specializing in business and financial translations, San Diego, California

This is a repeat of a presentation given at the ATA Financial Translation Conference in New York in May 2001. It will cover key balance sheet and income statement entries in Russian with proposed translations. Special attention will be devoted to unique accounting practices used in Russia, how they differ from generally accepted accounting practices, and how these differences can have a potential impact on reporting. There will be a focus on avoiding false cognates, using specialized financial dictionaries with the proper amount of skepticism, finding financial translation resources on the Internet, and forming equivalents for entries that are unique under Russian accounting practices.

SL-7 (S, 1:30-2:15pm) - ALL
New Terminology in Polish
Ursula Klingenberg, freelance English<>Polish translator, St. Paul, Minnesota

Languages change and the aspect that is most liable to change is their vocabulary. If this is true for all languages all the time, the changes that have taken place in Polish within the last decade have shifted into fast forward. Owing to systemic transformations in the country and the region, revamped and new words and expressions have appeared. While old ones have been reinstated, acquired a new meaning, or attitudinal coloring, new ones have been introduced to reflect changing political, social, and administrative realities. This session is designed to help translators faced with the daunting task of keeping their head above water in a sea of new terminology.