The Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators

This is a prestigious competition run by the Oxford University that is judged by a team of undergraduates from Queen’s College and professional translators Students were expected to translate poems or literary texts as well as a commentary on the linguistic choices they made

Well done to the following students from the Modern Languages Translation Club who entered The Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators:

Arthur Yip Level 3 Mandarin

Arthur Yip Level 4 Mandarin

Florence Kirk-Castle Level 3 German

Florence Kirk-Castle Level 4 German

Radhika Dohia Level 3 Spanish

Radhika Dohia Level 4 Spanish

Pippa Willoughby Level 4 French

Sadie Williams Level 2 Spanish

Amaya Amin Level 3 Spanish

Congratulations to Sadie Williams who won first place in the regional competition Her translation has been put forward for the UK-wide competition and these winners will be announced shortly.

The mechanical hare by Ledicia Costas By Sadie Williams Y10

In the upper part of my neighbourhood there is a skate park When I'm sick of everything, I come here There are trees and benches where you can sit at your leisure undisturbed I am reassured by the sound of skateboard wheels on the concrete track Skrrrrrrrr, skrrrrrrrrrrr, skrrrrrrrrrrrr It's actually quite mesmerising. I sit here, look at these guys and let my mind go blank. They're gliding around looking like they're freaking out, like they're doing something important I'm sure they feel like they're flying on the wooden board Most of them are just a bunch of local fools, but a couple of them stand out

There's one guy they call Lightning whose skateboard looks like an extension of his legs. Sometimes people come here just to see him in action He really flies

Commentary:

‘La liebre mecánica’ is by a Galician author, Ledicia Costas who decided to perhaps write this extract in order to show her serious love of skateboarding She felt the need to talk about how brilliant the activity was and therefore wanted to inspire young people to consider the thought of taking part in skateboarding I wanted to portray the relaxation of the sport, so therefore used informal language, for example I used ‘bunch of local fools’ I found this extract captivating due to its length and the vocab used jumped out at me. What was most difficult for me was figuring out what words sound best and whether to translate it literally or creatively. It was challenging to translate though due to the fancy vocabulary being used and the mix of short and long sentences Readers are therefore given a vivid impression of her beliefs and lifestyle through her use of past experiences The title, ‘La liebre mecánica’, directly translates to ‘the mechanical hare’, but the poet’s use of the adjective ‘mechanical’ suggests that the hare is like a machine, moving in the way machines work Possibly therefore suggesting that the hare is un animalistic, saying that he behaves as if he is an animal This is effective as it makes the reader want to read on, understanding what is wrong with the hare and why he behaves in such a manner The hare is linked to the skateboard as it presents how speedy they both are, comparing the two by sharing the same characteristics. In addition, another challenge I faced was finding an alternative for the sound ‘Trrrrrrrr, trrrrrrr, trrrrrrr’, I tried to relate the sound to others and then came to a decision to use ‘Skrrrr’. I chose this as it sounded most similar and thought it would be ideal, as it sounds like a skateboard going down a hill From reading the entire text, I gather that the author is very creative and knowledgeable through the use of interesting words used throughout the piece.

The Stephen Spender Prize 2023

Well done to the following pupils who took part in the Stephen Spender competition. The annual Stephen Spender Prize offers a chance for pupils to enter a creative translation competition and pupils translated a selection of poems in the following languages:

Rex Chan - Mandarin to English

Arthur Yip - Mandarin to English

Sienna Esmaeili - German to English

The Chinese Food Experience

On Wednesday the 14th of June we ran the Chinese Food Experience event with the Y7 Mandarin pupils.

Rhyme for the Chinese Food Experience by Isabel Yip Year 7

Chinese Food Experience was a lot of fun, And it’s good for everyone

Diving deep into the Chinese culture, Learning more about characters’ structures

Having fun with my classmates, Eating food on my plates

Dumplings, fried rice and spring rolls, It’s so enjoyable for our souls.

I heard we can make our own dumpling, Oh no My tummy’s rumbling

So much food to eat, Yet there’s work to complete. Although the fantasy will go away, I’ll always remember that day

We all had so much fun, But the real fun of Chinese has just begun!

Trying Chinese food by Naomi Garrett Year 7

Today was the best day of the week! I enjoyed the Chinese food and I’m glad I got to try it as it was something new, as well as learning new words 1 mi fan (rice) 2 Chun juan (spring roll) 3 Jiao zi (dumpling) My mouth was watering from the minute I saw the food and I couldn’t wait to try it I rarely try new things so this was like a whole new experience and it put me in a really good mood so it matched the nice weather. I really like to make my food look pretty so I made sure to decorate my dumplings nicely which is probably why I took so long The food overall was very tasty and the best thing I have ever eaten-especially the egg fried rice

Le Cordon Bleu Summer Festival 2023

Le Cordon Bleu Summer Festival is taking place in Bloomsbury London on Saturday the 1st of July featuring a variety of activities including cooking demonstrations, culinary workshops, wine tastings and the opportunity to sample gourmet products Tickets can be purchased via their website https://www.cordonbleu.edu/london/summer-festival/en.

This festival will host practical workshops throughout the day, allowing attendees to get hands-on experience cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary workshops cost £40 each and include festival entrance and the equipment required In addition to this, the Wine & Beverages Tasting sessions are priced at just £25 and also include entry to the festival. Each workshop focuses on a different discipline based on the skills taught on the programmes and courses offered at Le Cordon Bleu London If not purchasing a workshop or tasting, general admission to the festival can be purchased at a cost of £10