MOSCOW, October 31 - RIA Novosti. Sign Language Interpreter Day is celebrated in Russia on Wednesday. Sign language interpreter is one of the most in demand and at the same time one of the most inaccessible professions in Russia. The director of the Center for Education of the Deaf and Sign Language named after A. G.L. Zaitseva Anna Komarova.
Gestures and numbers
In Russia, 120.5 thousand people use sign language. The profession of sign language interpreter was recognized as a full-fledged specialty only in 1992, and at the request of the Central Board of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf (VOG), it was included by the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation in the tariff and qualification reference book. According to VOG, there are only 1,100 sign language interpreters working in Russia, while at least 7,600 specialists need to be trained.
It will take more than one year to provide the country with such a number of translators, experts say. In addition, the training system must be extensive throughout the country. At present, in Russia there is only one university - Moscow Linguistic University - which trains the first and only group of bachelors of sign language interpreters. There are ten people in it, and students will begin classes in their specialty only in the second semester. “I was very surprised that I didn’t have to take an entrance exam in sign language. In our group, no one knows him at all except me,” said Valeria, one of the MSLU students.
In addition, in Russian universities there are elective classes and advanced training courses, including at Moscow State University, RGSU, Moscow Pedagogical, Volgograd and Oryol State Universities. But, as experts note, this is not enough to comply with state regulations and provide all social institutions with sign language interpreters.
Lingua incognito
Teachers at the Center for Education of the Deaf and Sign Language. G.L. Zaitseva, together with the Vog, developed a training program for sign language interpreters and proposed it to the Ministry of Education and Science. But the project has been suspended indefinitely: the creators themselves admit that there are not enough teachers to train the required number of sign language interpreters. “In total, about 20 people in the country have qualifications as teachers of the deaf, and about seven of them work in their specialty,” explained the director of the center, Anna Komarova.
In addition, sign language is a rich field of study, rapidly developing but little studied. There are still skeptics who claim that it cannot be considered a full-fledged language. However, it has vocabulary, grammar, written notation, but due to lack of research and educational literature, many problems arise. Sign language, like any other, needs to be felt. And best of all, this can only be done by native speakers - deaf people. They are the ones who are lacking among teachers of the deaf, the specialist stated.
“I can speak sign language fluently and translate, but I may not catch some nuance that only a deaf person can sense,” explained the center’s director.
How to officially become a sign language interpreter
Experts say learning sign language is not that difficult. In their opinion, it is simpler than, for example, English. You can master it at an everyday level in a few months, but everything, of course, depends on the student and how much he practices. To do this, you don’t need to go to university - just sign up for courses.
The main teaching method is immersion in the environment, mandatory learning of phrases in context.
You can’t learn this language from dictionaries - you need constant practice so that not only your head, but also your hands remember the gestures.
“The attribute is always placed after the noun, the question word at the end of the sentence, the tense marker after the verb. Passive or active voice is very important - the speed and intensity of gestures depends on this. You need to get used to it and learn it, and this can only be achieved with practice,” Komarova added.
Upon completion of the courses, students can, if they wish, undergo certification and receive an official permit to work as a sign language interpreter - for this purpose, there are two certification commissions in Moscow. To begin with, the examinee answers questions on the ethics of a sign language interpreter, there are about 20 of them in total: how he should be dressed, whether he can wear jewelry, where he should stand in relation to his interlocutors, and so on. “Everyone is always very afraid. We calm them down, but they are still afraid,” the teacher laughs.
The main part is, of course, translation: simultaneous, from sign language into Russian, from Russian into sign. Students also need to be able to interpret from a screen - this is much more difficult than talking directly to a person, but this skill is necessary because the sign language interpreter often needs to work over Skype.
All tasks are awarded points, and based on their results, a qualification is awarded. The highest rating is admission to work in court. “It’s one thing to work as a sign language interpreter, for example, in a hospital, and quite another thing to work in court. There, the accuracy of translation is incredibly important, because people’s fates depend on words,” Komarova explained.
WHERE CAN YOU LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE???
This question can be heard with enviable consistency, although information about this can be found if desired. Our Center has been conducting Russian Sign Language (RSL) courses since 1991. The initial training program was developed jointly with specialists from the University of Bristol (UK) and meets modern European standards for teaching SL as a second (foreign) language. Teaching is conducted by qualified deaf teachers using the direct, non-translation method.
Our Russian sign language courses are designed for parents of deaf children, those who need basic sign language to work with the deaf and hard of hearing, as well as anyone who is interested in Russian sign language for the deaf for any reason: linguists, psychologists, social workers, speech therapists, those who have deaf relatives, classmates, employees or neighbors.
The courses are designed for adults (from 14 years old) who do not speak sign language and are learning the language for the first time. Perhaps, If you have some sign language skills and are not sure what level of training is right for you, you must first pass an interview with the course teachers.
It should be remembered that in order to obtain a sign language interpreter certificate, in any case, it is necessary to pass an independent certification commission. The courses do not train sign language interpreters (in the old terminology - “sign language interpreters”), but after the 3rd stage of training you can try your hand. You wouldn’t call yourself a French translator after six months of studying! And learning sign language well is no easier, but also no more difficult, than any other language!
There are the following programs:
- “1+” and “2+” levels - are intended for those who “do not reach” the next level in terms of knowledge, for example, they studied a long time ago and forgot a lot, decided to repeat, decided to prepare for the next level, or simply missed the language. These are groups to enhance communication skills and are held as needed. Usually classes are held twice a week for 2 academic hours, on weekdays in the evenings (after 18.00).
The number of students in one group is no more than 16 people.
The 1st and 2nd courses are held 2 times a year regularly. There are "Autumn" and "Spring" courses. The autumn course begins in early October and runs until the new year; registration for it opens after September 15. The spring course begins in early February and continues until the May holidays; registration for Geshl opens after January 15.
Beginning: 8000 per month
Experienced: 14000 per month
Professional: 20000 per month
* - information on salaries is given approximately based on vacancies on profiling sites. Salaries in a specific region or company may differ from those shown. Your income is greatly influenced by how you can apply yourself in your chosen field of activity. Income is not always limited only to what vacancies are offered to you on the labor market.
Demand for the profession
Today, the situation with the demand for sign language interpreters in Russia looks paradoxical. On the one hand, there is an urgent need for such specialists, on the other hand, there are few jobs for them, and salaries in government agencies are low. But with the development of the social sphere in the country, this situation should change. Now sign language in Russia is considered the language of interpersonal communication, while in many countries it has been given the status of a state language. If this happens in Russia, the profession of sign language interpreter will become in demand and prestigious.
Who is the profession suitable for?
A sign language interpreter must be kind and patient, understand the difficulties of deaf clients, have good hand motor skills, analytical thinking, a high intellectual level, and a high level of communication.
Responsibilities
- Translation of oral speech (telephone conversations, radio, television broadcasts, production meetings, meetings, conversations, training sessions, etc.) through sign language (direct translation) for deaf employees of organizations.
- Translation of oral speech through sign language of the deaf and dactylology in communication between deaf citizens.
- Reverse translation of sign speech of deaf citizens and dactylology into oral speech.
- Constant work on the unification of gestures to achieve better mutual understanding among deaf workers in organizations and educational institutions that have groups of deaf people, as well as in the system of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf.
- Participation in the work of speech and lip reading classrooms, promoting the further development of residual hearing and verbal speech of persons with hearing impairments.
- Representing the interests of deaf citizens when they visit organizations, ensuring mutual understanding between deaf citizens and employees of organizations.
- Organization of cultural, leisure and social rehabilitation work among people with hearing impairments.
- Participation, together with the personnel department of organizations, in the organization of work and the effective placement of deaf and hard of hearing workers at production sites, as well as in monitoring the attendance and academic performance of deaf and hard of hearing students, their performance of industrial practice, and maintaining established documentation.
- Working with the heads of production departments, translating instructions when training deaf and hard of hearing workers in safe working methods, explaining production tasks to them.
- Organizing work to improve the skills of employees together with the heads of production departments.
- Constantly replenishing one’s knowledge of standardized sign speech, improving the technique of mastering specific means of communication for the deaf.
Free sign language courses are opening in Moscow, where relatives of the deaf, volunteers who are going to help communities of deaf people in Moscow and the Moscow region, and anyone interested in Russian sign language as applied to church practice will be able to receive training. This was reported at the Center for Work with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at the Church of All Saints Who Shone in the Russian Land, in Novokosino.
The courses were organized by the church community together with the Coordination Center for Work with Deaf and Hard of Hearing People at the Synodal Department for Charity of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Upon successful completion, students will receive initial skills in communicating with the deaf, initial experience in sign language interpretation of the liturgy and participation in church education for the deaf, and learn basic church prayers using sign language. They will also have the opportunity to begin a more in-depth study of Russian sign language.
Those who successfully pass the final tests will be able to begin practice, which includes sign language translation of fragments of the liturgy, presentation of a story with spiritual and moral content in a Sunday school for the deaf, visiting a boarding school for hearing-impaired children and communicating with them.
“Both our parishioners and church youth from other churches come to us asking where they can learn this language. There are several places in Moscow where you can learn Russian sign language. However, everywhere it is secular in orientation. Then we had the idea to open courses for studying sign language, but with a church bias,” said the rector of the church, Archpriest Mikhail Zazvonov.
“Sign language is a full-fledged language like any other. I have been studying it for only a few months, and naturally, until the last moment I was absolutely sure that I still knew absolutely nothing. Should I communicate with deaf people? But for me personally, my visit to a boarding school for deaf and hard of hearing children, which is located not far from our church, was a real revelation.
“This is the first experience of conducting such courses, based on its results we will make a decision on further enrollments. Those who complete the courses this spring will be able to continue further studies from the new academic year. We will provide our students with practice, they will have an audience - deaf people who will be happy to help them in their studies,” he told the portal Miloserdie.ru.
The courses will begin on February 24, classes will be held once a week. The training program lasts 2.5 months.
Target audience: the course is for a wide range of people who want to learn Russian Language from scratch.
Course length: 72 hours.
Purpose: for self-development and initial practice of communicating with the deaf.
Course “Russian Sign Language. Started." 80 hours
Target audience: course for teachers teaching the deaf in secondary and higher education institutions. Supplemented with lectures on the psychological characteristics of the deaf.
Course volume: 80 hours.
Purpose: for initial practice of communicating with the deaf as part of the educational process.
Therefore, this course will be useful not only for beginners to learn sign language, but also for deaf people for whom RSL is their native language: they will be able to see the living connection between signs and the language of hearing people.
The course volume is 72 academic hours.
This course provides the very beginnings of Russian sign language: the basic vocabulary and the beginnings of linguistics of Russian Sign Language. For the first time, gestures, as lexical units, are given not as a mirror image of Russian words, but as independent concepts, which is what they essentially are, and a variable translation of these into Russian is offered for these concepts.
The course includes lectures on the basics of the psychology of deafness, given by a candidate of psychological sciences, a professional sign language interpreter, chairman of the Academic Council of the institute Kuzmin Vyacheslav Vyacheslavovich.
Therefore, this course will be useful not only for beginners in learning sign language, but also for teachers of secondary and higher vocational education working with deaf people in inclusive groups.
The course volume is 80 academic hours.
For the first time, a sign language course is equipped with full multimedia support - that is, all gestures included in the educational vocabulary are captured on video, which saves students from the need to take notes on lectures and record gestures shown by the teacher (each note turned into Stirlitz encryption), which is inevitable led to distortions and made it difficult to memorize the material being studied. Now there is no need for this: each student is given a set of 3 books - a textbook, a workbook and a dictionary. Let's talk more about this set of teaching aids.
