International Translation Day is coming around again this month and it is the ideal opportunity to celebrate the important work that translators do. Established by the International Federation of Translators, it’s an annual celebration to acknowledge the way that translators provide a bridge between different countries and cultures, making the world a smaller and more globalised community.
We’d like to celebrate our own community of global translators. They enable us to support growing businesses as they expand into new markets.
In this article, we’ll explore the history and ongoing importance of International Translation Day.
30th September – The Feast of St. Jerome
International Translation Day is held every year on the 30th of September, which is also the day of the feast of St. Jerome, the first translator of the Bible and patron saint of translators.
Did you know: the Bible is the most translated text in history?
St. Jerome, most well known for his translation of the Bible into Latin, was a priest, theologian and historian born in Stridon on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, in modern-day Croatia.
His translation of the Bible was known as the Vulgate. St Jerome was fluent in Greek, and he also spoke some Hebrew too. When he began his translation, he moved to Jerusalem to improve his understanding of Jewish scripture.
What happens on international translation day?
Celebrations have been promoted by the International Federation of Translators (IFT) since 1953. In 1991, the federation decided to launch the day to officially recognise translators and show support for translators around the globe, the main aim being to promote the role of translation, which becomes ever more important, as globalisation continues to spread.
Each year, IFT chooses a theme for the day:
- 2014 − Language Rights: Essential to All Human Rights
- 2015 − The Changing Face of Translating and Interpreting
- 2016 − Translation and Interpreting: Connecting Worlds
- 2017 − Translation and Diversity
- 2018 − Translation: Promoting Cultural Heritage in Changing Times
- 2019 − Translation and Indigenous Languages during International Year of Indigenous Languages
- 2020 − Finding the Words for a World in Crisis
- 2021 − United in Translation
What’s happening this year?
The theme of International Translation Day 2021 is “United in Translation”. Living through the crisis of the global pandemic has required unprecedented global cooperation between nations to fight back against the novel coronavirus.
We’ve written about the importance of hyper local marketing in a globalised world and the difficulty (and importance) of medical translation during the pandemic. We think these are important themes that should be highlighted by International Translation Day this time.
If International Translation Day can help bring countries from around the world together to collaborate on the recovery from the pandemic in every sense of the word, it will have achieved a great thing. So, how will your business mark International Translation Day?
Perhaps just begin by having a conversation with your translation agency as a good start to celebrate the important work that translators do!
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