Chartered Institute
of Linguists

In conversation with a translator, Walter Chromic: “P.S. Don't forget to pack Vodka, butter and sausages on the way to the Soviet Union!”

This event will be in English so that colleagues who don't speak German will be able to join us!

Walter has 25 years of experience as a translator in the shipbuilding industry in Communist East Germany and the Soviet Union. He studied Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (translating and interpreting) at the University of Leipzig in Germany. He primarily translated technical language from German to Russian and English. Due to communist planning economy schemes, he had no right to look for a job on his own, nor follow his own aspirations. The decisions were taken by the institutions. Walter was sent to a shipyard in a Baltic seaport where he had to stay at least for three years. His work was demanding, sometimes even dangerous, yet full of anecdotes. In this interview, we'll discover how being a translator changed from the 70s until now, and we'll learn about unique and extremely unusual stories that Walter experienced before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Join our event and discover how translators worked in the past and how the political systems changed the demand, and about the severity of situations in specific periods,  not to mention Walter's unusual packing list! After the live interview, you are kindly invited to join a chat with Walter.

If you wish to attend, please email GLS@ciol.org.uk

We are looking forward to seeing you, bis bald!

Speakers

Walter Chromik

Romana Sustar

September 24th, 2020 7:30 PM   to   9:30 PM
Online event (Zoom)
Events +
Category German Language Society
Event image
Organiser

CIOL German Language Society