Focus on translation

1. Translate the text in the written form:

The Translation Services translate all official United Nations documents, meeting records and correspondence at Headquarters from and into Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Some official documents are also translated into German. The English, French, Russian, and Spanish Translation Services also prepare the summary records of meetings of intergovernmental bodies, which give an account of the proceedings of the meeting, including statements made and action taken.

All United Nations translators are required to have a perfect command of their first language and an excellent knowledge of at least two other official languages. They must also be able to write in a clean, clear and perfectly grammatical style in their first language. Since many readers of United Nations documents, in particular the representatives of the 193 Member States, will be working in a language other than their own, the goal of the Services is to produce documents that are readily comprehensible to all into whose hands they fall. It also needs to be mentioned that, although texts are generally translated for immediate use, they remain long after to serve as historic records. The results of the work of the United Nations translators are a lasting legacy of the work of the Organization.

The United Nations Translation Services use many modern technological tools in support of their work, such as terminological databases, document repositories with full-text search capabilities, bitext alignment tools, translation memory managers, and voice-recognition software. They actively track new developments in promising fields such as machine translation. However, translation at the level required at the United Nations remains a fundamentally intellectual endeavour.

(https://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/Translation.shtml)

FOCUS ON GRAMMAR

1. Rewrite the following sentences using the PASSIVE VOICE and then translate them in the written form:

1. For 20 years of activity in Kazakhstan UN Development Program has successfully implemented over 180 social projects.

2. In addition, higher education institutions of Kazakhstan widely use training materials and training activities developed by UNDP.

3. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Kazakhstan organized a series of events to celebrate IVD 2008, starting from the month of September with a competition for journalists and public awareness campaigns.

4. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty.

5. Cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UNECE involves the interaction in fields of energy, environmental protection and efficient use of water resources, transport and trade.

6. On August 29, 2013 the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Office of the United Nations organized an event to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

7. Kazakhstan handed over its Chairmanship in the Geneva Group of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to Djibouti on 18 January 2013.

8. The International Forum will reflect the role of President Nazarbayev in the development of independent Kazakhstan.

9. We are holding our traditional meeting in the jubilee year for Kazakhstan’s foreign policy.

10. Today, we mark the 20th anniversary of our country’s accession to the United Nations.

11. In January, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with the Peoples’ Republic of China, Great Britain and France, in February with Germany and in March with Turkey.

2. Rewrite the following sentences using the ACTIVE VOICE and then translate them in the written form:

1. Today, the Council is recognized as the leading international body for the protection of human rights, replacing the former Commission on Human Rights.

2. Kazakhstan’s UN Bid is based on four central pillars: food security, water security, energy security and nuclear security.

3. Kazakhstan was supported by 187 out of a total of 192 UN member states considerably exceeding the required minimum of two-thirds of the votes.

4. This necessity is caused by a complex of economic and social problems that are very severe in our region.

5. 15 member states to the Human Rights Council. Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Congo, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal, Netherlands and Qatar were elected for a three years term, beginning on 1st of January 2015.

6. The goals of sustainable development for 2015-2030 were developed by the Open Working Group, of which Kazakhstan is a member state.

7. The United Nations is widely represented in Kazakhstan, as 16 specialised UN agencies operate in the country.

8. International Day against Nuclear Tests was proposed by Kazakhstan as it marks both the closure of the former Soviet Semipalatinsk Test Site in 1991 in modern-day Kazakhstan and the date of the first Soviet nuclear test conducted there in 1949.

9. Over 2, 000 nuclear tests have been conducted since the very first nuclear explosion, the Trinity test on 16 July 1945 in New Mexico, United States.

10. Since the Millennium Summit, the work of the United Nations Agencies has been guided by a set of goals derived from the Millennium Declaration, signed by world leaders in New York in September 2000 including President Nazarbayev.

11. Environmental Sustainability is focused on improved and enhanced government capacities for integrated natural resources management