Ma Rongyue, a postgraduate student majoring in Japanese in the School of Foreign Languages, ECNU, had to cancel his plan to reunite with his family in Henan province and stay on campus during the Spring Festival due to the COVID-19 outbreak. On February 29, he immediately signed up as a voluntary translator upon knowing that volunteers proficient in foreign languages were in demand in Changning District.
Daily Health Monitoring Record Book (Japanese version) translated by Ma Rongyue and his classmates
Changning district in Shanghai is home to about 124,000 expat dwellers from 150 countries and regions. 27 foreign consulates and more than 7,000 foreign-invested companies and institutions are located there. The district is also tasked with infection prevention and control at Terminal 1 of the Hongqiao International Airport, which becomes more and more onerous as the pandemic escalates in other parts of the world. In view of this situation, the Changning District Foreign Affairs Office decided to organize a team of voluntary translators to help communication between community and medical workers and expats.
On March 1, coordinated by Liu Yuqin, a teacher from the Russian Department, the School of Foreign Languages brought together a team of 15 volunteers speaking six languages -English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Russian - in just one day.
ECNU volunteers translate documents for Changning District
On March 9, five teachers of less commonly taught languages joined the team to proofread the translations.
Teachers proofread the translations
By March 11, the team had translated into six languages more than 30 kinds of brochures, documents and tables for the district's disease control and prevention center and subdistricts. They include health tips, sign boards at the entrance of residential estates, daily health monitoring records, quarantine notifications, and health observation questionnaires. FIve student volunteersmade bilingual audios, which helped community workers paying door-to-door visits to households.
The Health Reminder translated by ECNU volunteers
To make the translations more accurate, Zheng Jingjing, a teacher from the Spanish Department, meticulously treated each word in the original text, making sure that the translation was based on correct understanding and was idiomatic.They often spent an unbelievably long time checking the words to make the translations faithful.
"Languages differ greatly in ways of expression. A simple Chinese expression may be subject to many understandings. We have to understand the Chinese correctly before it is faithfully translated. What we are doing is very important to epidemic prevention and control. We must not slack off. Every word should be as accurate as a bullet, "Zheng said.
"When I was self-isolating on campus, I was taken good care of by our teachers. Now, I wish to pass on this great love of ECNU by doing what I can to help win the battle against the virus." Ma Rongyue said.
For their devoted work, professionalism, and efficiency, the volunteers have been highly regarded by the foreign affairs office of the Changning District.
ECNU volunteers
Source: School of Foreign Languages
Copy editor: Philip Nash
Editor: Yu Wenxi
