Greenville, SC, Oct. 11, 2019 — USC Upstate Department of Languages, Literature, and Composition and IVANNOVATION Language Management kicked off their collaboration on October 9 with a guest lecture from IVANNOVATION’s CEO, Yuri Ivanov, on translation technology and the professional life of the 21st century translator.
USC Upstate is home to the only translation and interpretation program in South Carolina. This fact reflects a relative dearth of translation and interpretation programs in American universities as compared with European universities.
The lecture and continuing collaboration between USC Upstate and IVANNOVATION Language Management adds to the continuous efforts to create new and strengthen existing translation and interpretation programs in South Carolina.
This collaboration between USC Upstate and IVANNOVATION will greatly strengthen the translation and interpretation program by allowing students to gain a better grasp of the practical workflow of translation tasks and to get hands-on experience with professional translation technology.
“There’s so much more to translation than simply knowing two languages,” Ivanov said. “It involves linguistic knowledge, business sense, familiarity with modern translation technologies, as well as translation best practices.”
The collaboration will also benefit IVANNOVATION by making new talent available. Ivanov said, “We are excited to collaborate with USC Upstate due to the difficulty of finding good translation and interpretation talent in the area. Working closely with USC Upstate will allow us to provide internships to aspiring linguists from various language backgrounds and to acquire top talent for our company going forward.”
The paucity of translation and interpretation programs in the United States means that language service providers nationwide have difficulty finding qualified talent.
“We want to fill this critical need for translators and interpreters to serve the Upstate community and beyond,” said Maria Francisco-Montesó, Senior Instructor of Translation & Interpreting and Spanish at USC Upstate.
Collaboration over the long term will involve guest lectures from IVANNOVATION personnel, representation of the company at USC Upstate job fairs, and internship opportunities for language students.
The first guest lecture by Ivanov on October 9 was to students of linguists Maria Francisco-Montesó, certified translator and interpreter, and Dr. Alexander Lorenz, Assistant Professor of German. It exposed the students to the technology and daily workflow of professional translators.
“This practical, nuts and bolts, demonstration of the translation workflow with the latest technology complemented our students’ linguistic and theoretical training in the USC Upstate translation and interpretation program. We, at USC Upstate, strive to offer innovative, career-relevant academic programs and high-impact experiential learning opportunities such as Yuri’s lecture to transform our classroom practices and give students a glimpse into the world of a translator,” said Dr. Lorenz.
IVANNOVATION Language Management is a premier translation and localization provider of user interface, documentation, and marketing materials for the IT, software development, legal, construction, and manufacturing industries. It provides translations of technical materials into all major European and Asian languages.
The University of South Carolina Upstate is one of the nation’s top public regional universities. The university offers language courses in American Sign Language, Chinese, German, French, and Spanish as well as a minor in Translation & Interpretation. Located in Spartanburg County, USC Upstate is positioned at the center of an international business hub. USC Upstate is a major producer of talent for the region, boasting more than 6,500 students, 1,300 new graduates per year, and about 30,000 alumni, many of whom live and work in South Carolina. USC Upstate was voted No. 1 Top Public University in the South by U.S. News and World Report.