Mind your language: University of Pune offers diploma in translation

Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce has recently launched a part-time translation course for those who want to learn how to translate written English to Marathi. This course is the brainchild of head of Marathi department of the college, Snehal Taware. A well known professor in Marathi, she has been teaching in the college for over 25 years. Taware is also chairman of the board of studies (Marathi) of the University of Pune. She tells DNA about her new initiative for the benefit of the students.
 
What inspired you to start the new translation course?
A couple of months ago, the state higher and technical education minister, Rajesh Tope, sent a letter to the University of Pune to start a diploma in translation or degree course in order to help the government departments in translating English documents, which contain technical matters, to Marathi language. It was at this juncture I thought about starting such a course at least in our college.

I was fortunate enough that our college principal, Rajendra Zunzarrao, supported my move wholeheartedly. Translation of documents from one language to another is not at all an easy task. One has to bear in mind the grammatical rules and structure of both the languages.

What are the prerequisite qualifications needed to take up
this course?
The course has been designed for those who are passionate about translating English material to Marathi and those who know both the languages well. The course will help officials of various government departments. Even students and senior citizens can take up this course. Since this is the first year, there is no embargo on the intake of candidates for the course. So far, 15 candidates have enrolled for the course including an engineering student, an MA student and a medical practitioner. Moreover, we are receiving lot of enquiries from students regarding the course. The fee for the one year course is Rs800.

Classes are held on the college premises for an hour
every Saturday at noon. All the participants would be given certificates after successfully completing the course.

Who can benefit from this course?
It will help those interested in translation jobs, especially those working for the police department or are court employees. Also, the course will help society as a whole as many niche subjects like information technology will be translated to Marathi as everyone does not know and understand the intricacies of English language.
 
How do you teach the intricacies of translation skills?
The teaching is based on both theory and practical. We give exercise to students as they should inculcate the skills of the translation because the sentence structure of both the languages is different from each other. Fortunately, our former teacher Supriya Sahasrabuddhe expressed her willingness to take up classes so we are sure that the participants will learn the best of translation skills.