Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
TIANJIN, July 19 (Xinhua) — “Relax your tongue, let the air flow vibrate it, try to pronounce “tr-r-r-r” or “d-r-r-r” first… In a “intensive reading in Russian” class at Nankai University, Huang Mingtuo, associate professor of the Russian Language Department at the Institute of Foreign Languages, patiently explains to first-year students the method of pronouncing the “r” sound, which is unusual for Chinese people, helping the students overcome this “main enemy” in learning Russian.
The students are actively trying, and the alveolar trembling sounds “tr-r-r-r” and “d-r-r-r” are heard in the classroom. Smiling, Juan Minto moves between the rows, humorously correcting and guiding the students, turning seemingly boring phonetic exercises into an exciting process. The classes are filled with cheerful laughter.
In his lessons, Juan Minto often uses various game methods. “In this relay exercise, each student must repeat exactly what the previous students said and add their own new sentence. Let’s see if we can complete the whole chain without making any mistakes!” As soon as he said these words, the atmosphere in the lesson instantly became both tense and lively.
“This is my teaching secret. ‘Relay Race’ not only trains students’ auditory perception, comprehension, short-term memory and fluency, but also imperceptibly strengthens their grammar and logical coherence,” Juan Minto explained.
The principle of “going beyond the language and embracing the culture” is a long-standing pedagogical focus of Juan Minto and another of his secrets for awakening students’ enthusiasm for learning Russian. When the text of the lesson mentions “Baikal,” he appropriately talks about the majestic landscapes of the lake that he has seen himself, shares his impressions of tasting Baikal omul, and touches on the geographic and cultural knowledge associated with it.
Juan Minto enjoys sharing with his students his impressions of the customs and traditions he received during his studies in Russia: from the strict theatre culture to the cultural and logical differences behind the idea that “Russians don’t like to smile.” He presents all of this in an engaging way during his classes. He has also become a “recommender” of Russian TV series and films: the TV series “Kitchen” and the cartoon “Once Upon a Time There Was a Dog” have become living teaching material for his students outside of the classroom. Watching visual content helps them improve their language skills and cultural understanding without even realizing it.
“Our classes are always very lively. Teacher Juan makes learning the language interesting, and the knowledge is absorbed unnoticeably. We not only master the language, but also feel the unique charm of Russian culture,” shared one of the first-year students.
Language as a boat connecting China and other countries. As the director of one of the projects of the National Social Science Foundation of China to translate Chinese academic literature into foreign languages, Huang Mingtuo devoted himself to translating and promoting the cultural history of the Yuan Dynasty in Russian-speaking countries.
“During the Yuan Dynasty, China and Russia had official contacts. The Mongolian region, as a unique geographical and cultural unit linking the two countries, has deep historical roots in their relations. The translation of the history of the Yuan Dynasty is intended to introduce the Russian-speaking world to this important chapter in the origins of our relations,” Huang Mingtuo said.
However, there are considerable difficulties in the translation process. Huang Mingtuo explained that the cultural history of the Yuan Dynasty contains a large number of Mongolian proper names and toponyms, whose Chinese spelling is itself a phonetic transcription from Mongolian. Therefore, before translating into Russian, it is necessary to first understand the Mongolian original.
Huang Mingtuo believes that the essence of translation is to “be understandable to native speakers,” so it is necessary to use expressions and logic familiar to Russian speakers. To this end, he specifically consulted and learned from graduate students who speak Mongolian and Russian. For specific ranks and names of institutions of the Yuan Dynasty that have no direct equivalents in Russian, Huang Mingtuo applied the method of “descriptive translation.”
Today’s witty and meticulous professor Juan Minto was himself a “hard-working student” more than a decade ago. During his undergraduate studies, in order not to disturb his classmates, he would constantly borrow textbooks and practice his pronunciation in a quiet corner of the classroom building corridor near a red fire hydrant. Students passing by would always hear the loud reading coming from there. Since then, he has been nicknamed “the senior at the fire hydrant.”
From a “senior student at a fire hydrant” to a “carrier of cultures between China and Russia,” Huang Mingtuo is full of confidence in the future of students studying Russian. Under multilateral mechanisms such as the SCO, BRICS, and the China-Central Asia mechanism, China’s cooperation with many Russian-speaking countries is deepening, opening up boundless opportunities.
“Teaching foreign languages has two missions: introducing China to the world and introducing China to the world. In the future, I will continue to use language as a boat and culture as a sail to cultivate more Russian language experts, so that Chinese stories can be turned into poetry, so that the light of dialogue can illuminate the mountains and seas, and so that every interaction between citizens of the two countries can become a bright drop on the crest of the wave of the era,” Huang Mingtuo said. -0-
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