Finding the right words

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EXPERT TALK

By rya Ayswa hy Murt

Mounir Ouanaimi, Director at the new Translation and Interpretation Institute, talks about how their students will go on to play a subtle but pivotal role in bringing Qatar to the world.

Finding the right words Every

language holds the key to the collective knowledge and experiences of human civilizations through the course of history. With every language that dies – silent and unmourned –we are losing a valuable piece of the grand human puzzle. Ouanaimi says,“Advanced scientific and technological progress of the level we have achieved today wouldn’t have been possible without the sharing of knowledge through translation. Arab thought and civilization was significantly enhanced

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issue 19

2013

by the process of importing knowledge from other civilizations. In turn, through the translation of chef-d’oeuvres of major Arab thinkers, a more enhanced knowledge was imparted with the world. Today, even with English gaining a lot of territory, it is obvious that other languages are not receding but are in fact on the rise and the intersections of these languages are becoming increasingly significant. As languages expand, they don’t annul each other necessarily, they mostly co-exist making the translation and interpreting enterprise even more important.”

The bigger picture The first batch of MATS (Master in Translation Studies) students at the institute is yet to graduate (classes only started in September last year)


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