March has been an exciting time for the Département d’études françaises.
The department hosted its annual Francofête and celebrated Concordia’s success at the 10th Jeux de la Traduction (Translation Games).
Jeux de la traduction
This year's Translation Games were held from March 13 to March 15 at the Université de Montréal. Ten teams from universities across Canada came together to network, socialize and test their language abilities.
Over the course of the weekend, students competed individually or in groups of three, translating songs, texts, audiovisual clips, advertisements, and comics.
“It’s really demanding,” says Sébastien D’Auteuil, a co-op student in his last year, who won first prize for individual translation to French. “You don’t have much time and there are a lot of categories crammed in.”
Concordia’s winning team was made up of six students: D’Auteuil, Aurélie Burelle, Briana Farrell, Jane Gatensby, Julie Houle and Jean-Philippe Thériault — accompanied by a supervising professor, Christine York, and student volunteer and coach, Alex Gauthier.
The team not only won the Jeux de la Traduction Cup for the third time but also took home every individual and team prize, making Concordia the first university to ever do so.
“It was an amazing experience,” says Thériault, a second-year student who won the individual prize for translation to English. “I met a lot of people from all around Quebec and Ontario, and people working for translation companies.”
On top of their success in the academic challenges, Concordia also won the Gerry Award, which is given to the school with the most team spirit. To win, teams need to be social and participate in activities beyond the competition events.
“You meet a lot of amazing people who share the same passion as you,” says Aurélie Burelle, a second-year student specializing in translation from English to French.