All semester long, translation students worked on their “Translation Station” event. The goal was to share the beauty of translation and how language can serve as a bridge between different societies.

Throughout the semester they worked to translate an entire children’s book, “My Friend Federico,” that was published in Spain.

The students hosted the “Translation Station” event to present their work at the Kent Free Library on Friday. Along with reading the book, the students had interactive activities such as charades, and graphic telephone meant to express the work of translation.

The event started with four translation students, Danayra Rivera, Bridgette Donohue, Anissa Martzall, and Alejandro Hurtado Viñas putting on a short introduction performance. The students followed by presenting their translation of the book and reading it in its English form.

Junior translation major Bridgette Donohue said they did face challenges while translating the book. 

“There were some things that were easier to translate than others,” she said. “But translating literary text is hard because you have to make sure the target audience understands, but also so you pay respect to the culture that [it’s] originally coming from.”

The book that the students created will remain in the Kent Free Library forever.

Kent State University is the only institution in the United States to offer degrees at all three levels—the Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts in Translation, and Ph.D. in Translation studies. 

Spanish instructor of the Spanish translation practice, Ph.D. candidate Javier de la Morena, wanted the project that his students were doing to have a social impact outside of the classroom. 

“We usually forget that a lot of the tales that we read are actually translations, so we just wanted to let the kids know why translation is important,” he said. 

Spanish translation practice is an introductory course that will begin to prepare students for a job in professional translation. Each of the four students in the class comes from a different background and has different reasons behind their decision to choose the translation major.

Senior Translation major Danayra Rivera from Puerto Rico said she hopes to help people navigate through learning a new language. 

“I didn’t understand English when I first came to the U.S. So, when I started learning English, I wanted to be the person to help other people like me to able to understand the world that they are coming into,” she said.

While the students didn’t have the turnout that they wanted, it was an important event. They hope to see more children in their future translation trips to spread the importance of translation and expose children to diverse cultures. 

Samira Brown is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].