Extracurricular activities
From its first days, the department has been aiming to create a new conception of the extracurricular activities. The Theater of English miniatures has managed to embody this concept, which enable the practical education of youth in extracurricular time and unite teachers and students for gaining the common goal – to break the trend of vulgar education and bring young people to understanding the civilized demeanor. The theater of English miniatures is the acting club involving up to 150 people who perform on the big stage of NTU ‘KPI’ every year. During its existence (10 years), it has generated more than 100 performances, including the stages of classic English drama (plays of O. Henry, B. Shaw and many others). The theater of English miniatures owes its existing to the remarkable directorial talent, devotion, and creativity of the department’s lecturer O. M. Golikova. In 2008 was the celebration of 10 years of its existence accompanying with the competition of theatrical performances in English, where the students demonstrated the mature and professional skills of acting art. The fragment of the event filmed by local television can be watched here.
Another important achievement is the Poetry Translation Competition, which takes place every year and includes the translation of English authors into Ukrainian by students-translators. It was launched in 2006 largely due to the translation and poetic talent of the department’s lecturer O. M. Golikova. The competition results are published in the Polytechnic newspaper every year. Among the outstanding achievements in the development of this area should be noted a 5th year student in “Translation”, Svetlana Starikova, who won the nationwide competition of literary translation, which was held at the Donetsk National University in 2008. The translations of students and department graduates are also published as literary works (for example, Yevgeny Bondarenko, who graduated in 2006, successfully translated the Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings”).
The department pays particular attention to the Students Olympiad that takes place every year among engineering groups and separately among translators. In the Olympiad of 2007-2008, the prize places were taken by students-translators Natalia Iranik, Daria Zheltuhina and Igor Kramarenko. Two years in a row, the students of the department successfully participate in the Olympiad on business English at the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, where in 2008 Daria Zheltuhina and Daria Udachyna won prizes.
An important area of the educational work is attracting the students majoring in translation as interpreters at the conferences (including international ones) held by NTU “KPI” (Daria Zheltuhina, Mary Malykhina, Anastasia Sobko, Daria Udachyna, and Julia Merynets). Traditionally, the department’s students also participate as interpreters the international dance competitions under the auspices of Kharkiv city council.
