After the successful launch of the translation portal ‘Maitree’ last year, the Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) School of Foreign Languages (SFL) organized a two-day international workshop in a bid to forward the mission of building bridges between cultures and nations.

The workshop is titled ‘Translating from Foreign to Indian Languages and & ViceVersa: Challenges and Implications’.

Expressing his views on the initiative, IGNOU Vice Chancellor Professor Nageshwar Rao elaborated upon the role of translation and the importance accorded in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Director of the School of Foreign Languages Dr. Deepanwita Srivastava said how important translation is in the present day and further highlighted the strategic role of the SFL and its contribution towards breaking the language barriers and creating dialogues with translation between India and the nations across the globe.

A Hindi- French dictionary was also launched during the event which is developed by the Central Hindi Directorate, Ministry of Education.

The Director SFL, talked about the dictionary emphasizing upon the crucial role such endeavours played during times promoting the spirit of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” one world, one family which underlined India’s foreign policy.

M.A. Spanish Language in the Open and Distance Mode was also launched and saw a huge response from participants.

Marine Michel, from the Embassy of France and Guillermo Martin Senderos, from the Embassy of Spain in India were also part of the event.

The workshop included four technical sessions in each language, along with a plenary session with interventions from Professor Christine Raguet from Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris and Dr Oscar Pujol, who is a renowned translator and Sanskrit expert, also the Director of the Instituto Cervantes, Embassy of Spain in India.

Around 70 participants from across the nation including university teachers, researchers, freelance translators and students of French and Spanish languages enrolled for the two day event.

The trainers for the sessions were Christine Raguet, Professor Emerita from Sorbonne Nouvelle, Professor Vidya Vencatesan from the University of Mumbai, Professor S.P. Ganguly Ex Chairperson Spanish Centre JNU and faculty from University of Delhi.