On the evening of September 23, the 4th Global Sino-Portuguese Translation Competition (the Cerimónia Online de Entrega de Prémios da Quarta Edição do Concurso Mundial de Tradução Chinês-Portuguesa) was held successfully. Under the guidance of Bai Jialin, the dean of the Portuguese Department of the School of Western Languages at JISU. Zhu Shuaijie and Yang Shirong, two students majoring in Portuguese who were enrolled at JISU in 2016, won the Outstanding Work Prizes. It is reported that a total of ten teams from nine universities won prizes, among which JISU and two universities from Macau carried off prizes for China in the contest that attractied 211 teams from fifty universities to participating around the world.

The world-level Edição do Concurso Mundial de Tradução Chinês-Portugues is a very grand event that hosts many registrants. It is highly popular, and has been held for four years now. It has attracted over 600 teams and more than 1,000 professors and students from countries and regions that speak Portuguese, including the Mainland of China and Macao. The contest was organized jointly by the Higher Education Bureau and Macau Polytechnic Institute of the government of Macau S.A.R (Macao Special Administrative Region). It aims to cultivate talented students in Chinese-Portuguese translation, strengthen the exchanges of teaching and research in Chinese-Portuguese all over the world, and promote the building of an “International Portuguese Training Center” and “Portuguesa-Chinese Talent Cultivation Base” in Macau. This will help boost the prosperity of countries along the “the Belt and Road Initiative”.

JISU started to provide enrollment in the Portuguese major in 2008. It is committed to cultivating application-oriented, functional, and students who wish to broaden their horizons by majoring in Portuguese in the fields of foreign affairs, economics and trade, and international projects. It enrolls about sixty undergraduates annually on average. The number of students majoring in Portuguese ranks first in China. Students at JISU have achieved great results in the national contest including translation, recitation, speech and singing. Now JISU has already fostered 400 graduates majoring in Portuguese over the past 9 years, who now work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, universities and training institutions, SOEs’ offices in Angola, Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries. They gain good comments from their employers because of their spirit of dedication and professionalism. For the past three years, more than half of graduates continued their studies at home or abroad.

Screenshot of the Award Ceremony: Bai Jialin, Dean of the Portuguese Department (second row, fourth from left), Zhu Shuaijie (second row, middle), and Yang Shirong (second row, fourth from right)

Bai Jialin, the Dean of the Portuguese Department, says that “We adopt effective measures to develop talents majoring in foreign languages by creating opportunities for them to exhibit, study and communicate. Students can broaden their international horizons and enhance their self-motivation while studying during the competition. The professors are also greatly inspired by curriculum models, professional progress and teaching reform in the course of guidance.”

Zhu Shuaijie and Yang Shirong, the two prize winners, said that the contest was not only a great opportunity to further their language-learning, but also a way to improve their translation skills. Yang Shirong said that “To be a good translator one should have a solid language basis, especially knowledge of the Chinese language and culture. I will keep on studying and strive to progress towards my goal of becoming better and more professional.” Zhu Shuaijie said that “Yang Shirong and I encouraged each other and worked together to perform well during the contest. I will remember the experience of teamwork and cooperation, working hard and realizing our dream. The contest helped me to have a better understanding that each opportunity provided by the university and the professors should be used fully by us to train, believe, and challenge ourselves. From now on, I will continue with my Portuguese study, and connect it with the construction and development of China. In order to contribute to the exchanges and cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.”