Cecilia Wadensjö, Stockholm University
In this talk, I will share some experiences from two periods of lecturing at the University of Greenland, within their educational program for translators and interpreters.
The specific conditions in Greenland, an independent region within the Danish state, with a complex language situation, will be discussed. The lion share of all translating and interpreting is performed between Greenlandic and Danish. In Greenland, the majority speaks Greenlandic, an Inuit language. A minority speaks Danish, a Scandinavian language. The languages differ substantially, which implies challenges for translator and interpreter scholars. Their meticulous and careful work is of key importance, for the preservation of traditional linguistic forms and communicative resources, and for the development of new terminologies and text genres. The talk will highlight the importance of general and specific language training for the professionalization of translating and interpreting.