The names of the 27 winners of the European Commission’s annual ‘Juvenes Translatores’ Young Translators’ Contest are announced today. Around 3,000 17-year-old secondary school pupils – from Kells in Ireland to Marathon in Greece – sat the contest, setting a new record in the process: the number of entrants was up 25 % on last year and more schools than ever before applied to take part – more than 1 600 compared to 1430 last time. The winners – one from each EU country – will be invited to an award ceremony in Brussels on 7 April.
Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, said: “I am delighted to see that the Young Translators’ Contest continues to go from strength-to-strength. The record numbers involved highlights a strong commitment to language learning and I hope this will inspire other schools. Language learning opens doors and helps boost young people’s development and employability.”
The Commissioner partly attributed the success of the contest to its promotion through the social media. “There’s no doubt that this has made the contest better known among young people, with participants exchanging views and experiences intensively on Facebook and Twitter,” added the Commissioner.
