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Students from Poland and Ukraine received the highest awards at the International Conference of Foreign Students of Czech

The main prizes at the International Conference of Foreign Students of Czech were awarded on Friday 28th April to Kinga Stanaszek from the University of Warsaw in the translation category and to Anhelina Fitsai from Ukraine and Maria Krośkiewicz from the University of Warsaw in the category of thematic and specialised presentations. 

The award ceremony of the eighth International Conference of Foreign Students of Czech organized by the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies of Charles University together with the European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic was traditionally held in the European House. 

This year, the European Commission's professional translators evaluated 26 translations of a text on Bedřich Smetana's symphonic poem Vltava, originally written for the English-language broadcast of Czech Radio - Radio Prague International. The contestants translated from as many as twelve languages into Czech. 

Twelve students from eight countries, including South Korea and Azerbaijan, made it to the finals of the thematic presentation skills competition. The winner of the thematic round, Ukrainian Anhelina Fitsai, convinced the jury with her presentation on The Evolution of Dictatorship - Fascism. Maria Krośkiewicz from the University of Warsaw won the first prize with her presentation Beasts in our country.

"I am very pleased that you have decided to test your knowledge of Czech in this competition," said the Rector of Charles University, Professor Milena Králíčková, welcoming the participants from 16 departments of Czech studies from all over the world. There are currently 50,000 students studying at the university, 20% of whom are from abroad. In her speech, the rector invited the contestants to study at the most prestigious university in the Czech Republic. "It will be a great pleasure for me if the family of foreign students who study at the university in the Czech language grows," she encouraged the students.

"Although this year's competition text was by no means simple, all the contestants tackled it very well. All of them correctly rendered the meaning of the text from their languages into Czech, the best ones did so using really beautiful Czech," says Martin Stašek from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation.

"In the history of our university, the language used has always been associated with the historical period. Its universality and internationality is already implemented in its Latin name. Although English is currently the language of internationalisation in the Czech environment, your presence is the proof of the importance of Czech and the importance and contribution of multilingualism," said the institute's director, Dana Hůlková Nývltová, when introducing the institute. 

Results:

Translation Competition:

1. Kinga Stanaszek, University of Warsaw, Poland

2. Borjana Trajčeva, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria 

3. Jan Golba, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia 

Thematic presentations:

1. place Anhelina Fitsai, Ukraine, ILPS CU

2. place UUlgeldi Kumarbekovna Tabyldieva, Kyrgyzstan, ILPS CU

3. place Kinga Stanaszek, Varšavská univerzita, Polsko 

Specialised presentations:

1. place Maria Krośkiewicz, Poland, University of Warsaw, Poland 

2. place Nodirjon Fatkullaev, Uzbekistan, ÚJOP UK 

3. place Olga Kasperek, Poland, University of Warsaw, Poland

The International Conference of Foreign Students of Czech has been organised by the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies of Charles University in cooperation with the European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic since 2016. It has two parts. The first part consists of a competition of presentations on topics of interest or specialized topics and a translation competition. The second, non-competitive part, consists of specialized seminars and workshops on language and translation. The winners of the competition were awarded diplomas and received tablets, readers and other small prizes.

The competition is held under the auspices of Professor Milena Králíčková, Rector of Charles University, and Dana Hůlková Nývltová, Director of ILPS CU. This year's conference featured expert lectures by Sandra Bergmannová, Director of the Bedřich Smetana Museum, Martin Stašek from the European Commission or Petra Jirásková from the Methodological and Professional Centre of ILPS CU.

Text: Petra Köppl

Photo: René Volfík