Russian Language Day and the Role of Russian Translation

UNESCO established Russian Language Day to celebrate cultural diversity and multilingualism and promote the use of its six official languages. Russian is the most spoken East Slavic language and has over 250 million speakers worldwide, with 154 million of them being native speakers. Russian Language Day is celebrated on June 6th each year, commemorating Alexander Pushkin’s birthday (a poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era considered to be the founder of modern Russian literature. Read on to learn more about the importance of Russian translation and interpreting services for modern literature and space exploration:

Literature and Russian Translation Services

Russian literature has had a significant impact on world literature. While Europe underwent the Enlightenment Era in the 17^th century, Russia was introduced to European social structures and secularism a century later. The ideas of the Enlightenment spurred Russian thinkers and writers to create works which to this day stand as enduring classics in the world of literature. For example, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy sparked a revolution in literature that paved the way the modern novel by redefining the length conventions of the form.

To transfer and create an equivalent version of great written works for readers from different language groups, literary translators and localization services need to possess great knowledge of their target and source language to convey linguistic and cultural nuances from the source text.

Russian Translation and Interpreting In Space

Since 2000, the International Space Station (ISS) has been occupied continuously by five space agencies from 15 countries to conduct scientific research that can be used to create and improve technologies on Earth. Because mainly American and Russian astronauts work on the station and the commander of the capsule is always Russian, astronauts need to have intermediate Russian language skills before flying out to space.

Ensuring the safe return of astronauts requires the help of Russian and English interpreters that help astronauts on their flight home and the control center on the ground communicate. During sensitive missions such as spacewalks, the life of an astronaut often depends on proper communication. In these situations, interpreters can help decipher  their pleas for help if they stray too far from the ISS and allow for them to return back safely.

The Continued Relevance of the Russian Language

From the world of literature to the realm of space, Russian requires the help of interpreters and translators to convey its beauty and linguistic nuances to speakers of other languages. This principle also applies to the world of business. Only professional linguists with years of experience in your field can accurately provide translation services for important materials ranging from single page legal documents to employee handbooks. With over 30 years in the language service industry, Language Connections is uniquely positioned to serve as your partner for these types of projects.