Press Release: Commission’s contest gives young Europeans a taste of being a translator

The translation skills of over a thousand students across Europe were put to the test in the 'Juvenes Translatores' (young translators) contest organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation on 14 November 2007.

The contest, which took place simultaneously in all 27 EU Member States, challenged 17-year-old students to translate short texts on a general subject from one chosen language into another from among the European Union's 23 official languages. Nearly 1,500 students from almost 300 schools were selected to participate.

Celebrating multilingualism, one of the fundamental principles of the EU throughout its 50-year history, the contest gave participants an entertaining and worthwhile opportunity to see what it is like to be a translator.