Translator Astana

In the last couple of days I translated for His Excellency Ambassador of Philippines Jesus Yabes who came to Kazakhstan to present credentials to His Excellency State Secretary Kanat Saudabaev.

Ambassador of Philippines Jesus Yabes & State Secretary Kanat Saudabaev, Palace of President

State Secretary Kanat Saudabaev (right) & Ambassador of Philippines Jesus Yabes

On the first day, I met with the Ambassador and with Mr. Demdem, Third Secretary and Vice Consul. We went on a city tour. For me, it was a usual thing to do—to go on excursions—but it was my first time to be a tour guide myself. We drove around the new part of the city, stopped by the Ak Orda (Presidential Palace), passed by Baiterek, Han Shatyr and other sights in Astana. We also went to the Catholic Church and attended Mass.

The following day, we were invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I translated for the Chief of Protocol, who instructed Mr.Yabes, as well as three other Ambassadors, regarding how the ceremony of presenting the credentials would be conducted. Then, we met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and discussed relations between Kazakhstan and the Philippines.

On the 22d of June, we also went to the Ministry and, from there, we drove to Ak Orda, the Presidential Palace. The ceremony started. The Ambassadors, accompanied by their wives or consuls, were invited one by one to present their credentials. Having done this, His Excellency Mr. Yabes attended a bilateral meeting with Mr. Saudabaev, where I had the pleasure of translating from English to Russian and from Russian to English. This was followed by a press-conference. Mr. Yabes delivered a speech and I translated again.

I felt honored to have the opportunity to meet with and to translate for His Excellency Ambassador Jesus Yabes, it was also very nice to meet the same people at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with whom I had the pleasure of working before during the NATO Security Forum and the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions last summer. I was also very glad to meet Mr. Demdem who is a professional first of all and a very nice person, too.

From 11^th to 15^th May I worked as English-Russian translator in Almaty with Marwan Yaghi, Business Development Manager of Assa Abloy Company.

Translation in Almaty for Assa Abloy Company

First together with Mr. Yaghi we had searched for companies interested in dealing with Assa Abloy, then we contacted these companies and arranged meetings both in Almaty and Astana, then I flew from Astana to Almaty in order to provide interpreting services at the meetings and Mr.Yaghi flew from Dubai to Almaty.

Prior to the meetings Mr. Yaghi gave me some information about the company, so I learned that it is a Swedish company that has about 60 brands and which is operating in more than 50 countries. This company specializes in door solutions, so I have dealt with words like door closers, rim locks, exit panic device, etc.

Our meetings were held in the specialized shops, so I actually saw all the locks that we were talking about. We then went to a market and gathered some very useful information from shop assistants. Next day we had a meeting with a construction company where we discussed several forms of potential partnership.

Our trip to Almaty seemed to be quite successful and hopefully there will be some more in the coming next months. This was the first time I worked in Almaty as a translator and I really liked the city which is rather different from Astana in terms of climate, people and nature.

As for the door locks, they are not just locks to me anymore - now these are rim locks and pad locks Being a translator really changes one’s life!

As mentioned previously, I worked as a French-Russian interpreter for the French journalists Jean- Marc Gresta and Julien Monteaux when they were filming in Kazakhstan. We worked closely during one week, we visited sightseeings in Astana, drove to Borovoe -a resort not far from Astana, had several meetings and interview.

Now I am glad to say that the film is ready and is available on the Internet. The film covers a whole range of issues, from Astana being a new modern capital to the Assembly of the United Nations World Touristic Organization which was held in Astana in October 2009. But the main focus of the film is the spatial development of Kazakhstan. The French jouralists also filmed in Baikonur, and the launch of the spacecraft is a spectacular view.

Another aspect of the film is the French-Kazakh relations.

„The visit of the President of France in the beginning of October 2009 really marked an important stage of the strategic partnership between France and Kazakhstan.“ Stephan Janichewski, Associate Director General of CNES

I hope that thanks to that film people will learn more about Kazakhstan, its past and future.

Last Friday I was translating at the business forum where different Greek companies were presented: marble, olive oil, furs, doors and windows… one could find anything there. I translated to Mr. Alexander Dimitriadis, Managing Director of Balkan company and also I helped Mr. Vasilis Giannakis, who represented another marble manufacturing company.

I already have experience in geology related translation, so words like „quarry“, „shear strength“, „porosity“ and the like were familiar to me. But there is always something new (for example, the term „slab“): Mr. Dimitriadis was so kind that explained to me difference between several types of marble: polished or ancient, with ot without fossils, more strong or more vulnerable and so on. He also had samples of about 20 types of marble from oll over the world: from his own quarries in Greece and from other countries such as Iran, Turkey, India. I was particularly attracted by the so called Snow White marble (the most expensive, it turned out ).

There weren’t too many visitors on that day, but those who did appear were real professionals in marble industry: they knew what they needed and what they were looking for.

After the exibition we went on the short excursion in Astana, visited Baiterek and several construction sites where marble was used.

Why I really like being a translator in Kazakhstan, is because I can always meet people from various parts of the world with different background and mentality. After rendering my translation services back on Friday, I knew a little more about Greece, marble and maybe even more Kazakhstan and its advantages over other countries.

Translation in Astana for NATO was possible due to Security forum that took place in the end of June 2009.

NATO Security forum in Astana: french-russian Translation

The Ministry of Foreign affairs of Kazakhstan selected volunteers for this forum. It was decided that some would work at the airport coordinating arrival and departure of delegations, some would locate in hotels helping out with accomodation, some would be responsible for transportation. Initially I was among those who would work with NATO advanced group in the international office. My skills in French language were quite useful since both French and English are official languages of NATO and I could translate from French to Russian directly. As one of NATO officers told me it was very nice speaking French because many English speaking people ignore their duty to be in command of the other offcial language. I was asked by some people to show them the city and to help with bying souvenirs so I had a chance to tell our guests more about Astana, its history and places to visit.
When the forum started I was assigned as a Liaison Officer of the French delegation. It means I was fully responsible for their stay in Astana – starting from visa issues and list of delegates to drawing up their personal schedule, arranging transportation and accommodation.

Me & NATO Officer

It was a very good experience for me since I could get to know more about the internal work of both Ministry of foreign affairs and NATO – now I know that one  can hardly get any rest during forum, working day doesn’t finish at 7p.m., cell phones never stop ringing but at the end there is a feeling of satisfaction of your own work

Kurt Lerras & translators

Summer 2008. Astana is filled with foreign guests from all over the world. There was one really important event: the 17th annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

I participated in organizing this session as a volunteer translator with some other girls. We worked for an International secretariat and we were involved in paper work. Before the session we prepared bags with documents for all members of delegation, put signs on the tables at the meeting rooms, spread stationery and so on.

We worked closely with two people from Denmark: Mr.Kurt Lerras-general services officer and Mr.Kim H. Pedersen – head of security. It was such a pleasure  to work with these gentlemen!

Translation OSCE

I did some translation but most of the time I just spoke English or French. One of our task was to issue some documents to a secretary of each delegation (that is about 50). When I came up to a person from French-speaking country I spoke French to him. Usually people were surprised as French is not as popular in Kazakhstan as English. People told me that they were tired of speaking English all the time and it was pleasant to hear French at long last. That is how for example I met memebers of the delegation of Monaco. Some days after I translated for them on an excursion to ALZHIR.

I learned a lot about OSCE that was new to me. For example I had an idea what sort of issues are usually discussed and produced at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly but I knew nothing about its structure.
Moreover I was lucky enough to meet a skilled simultaneous English-Russian translator. He gave me many pieces of advice that I really appreciated. It was for the first time that I’ve been in translator’s booth and seen all technical devices that are used in the process of translation with my own eyes. It was a great experience for me!

I liked the atmosphere of all this session so much! I noticed the fact that people who had a high position weren’t arrogant but friendly and amiable.

I hope to meet all these people in 2010 when Kazakhstan will be the Chairman of OSCE.