Working and studying in Paris
February 15th, 2011Last month I spent in Paris both studying in Alliance Francaise and working for ALSTOM Transport.
Most of the time I work as an English-Russian interpreter in Astana that is why I almost don’t practice my French. Working for ALSTOM in Astana changes that a lot, so French translation in Astana is more and more required. I decided to take some time off in Astana and go to Paris to refresh my French.
Courses of the French language in Alliance Francaise were very useful, we focused on grammar and also worked on our conversational skills. I also had access to the rich library of Alliance Francaise which comprised books as well as audio and video files. The best way of practicing the language was actually communicating with the natives and living in the french speaking environment. There was also such thing as Polyglot Club where people from different countries gathered and could practice basically any language. Many people were interested in speaking Russian to me.
Since ALSTOM headquarters is in Paris, it is no wonder that I contunued my work as a Russian translator there as well. It was nice to meet people from ALSTOM in Paris with whom I normally work in Astana.
By the end of my stay in Paris I got a request for Russian translation in Berlin. Berlinale film festival will take place there in February, 10th-20th. Among other films that will compete for the prize, there will be presented a Russian film „Innocent Saturday“ and there will be interviews with the actors and film director, that is why a Russian-English interpreter in Berlin is required.
I look forward to that exciting assignment!