As part of the efforts made to ensure?the proper delivery of information produced by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in all six official languages of the United Nations, UNAI has been working over the past few months with a number of online volunteer translators recruited through the?, who have made a valuable?contribution to broadening the multilingualism of United Nations public information by making the UNAI website more accessible to Arabic, Chinese, French and Russian speakers. This article was written by one of the translators helping with the?UNAI website in Chinese.
My name is?Yangming Qu
I am a translator who also teaches translation. When I was a little kid I decided to learn translation and be a translator when I grew up. So I got my Bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature at Sichuan International Studies University and later my Master's degree in Translation and Interpretation at Beijing Foreign Studies University. I passed the China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters and started to translate documents for the Chinese version of The Financial Times and also for the Municipal Government of the city of Harbin, Penguin Random House China and other institutions.
During my undergraduate studies, the Dean once told us?to be the bridge between China and the world. I do believe translators and interpreters have a huge responsibility on this. What a better organization than the United Nations to use my skills. Once,?I got the chance to participate in the 6th China International Civil Servant Capacity Building Program which was sponsored by the United Nations Association of China. There?I found the noble cause of the United Nations which is to make the world a better place. An ideal and yet practical aspiration like that perfectly connects with my very own life pursuits.?
Why volunteer? Because there is nothing more satisfying for me to help others with what I have learned. Last year I started to work as a volunteer translator with UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and then I did the same with the UN Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and now, the UN Academic Impact (UNAI).?UNAI encourages, inspires, and motivates young students, the main force to create future, and universities and colleges, the powerhouse of knowledge, to participate in supporting and advocating its principles that are beneficial to the whole world.
With UNAI, professors and researchers mobilize their expertise to find solutions; students learn, apply what they have learned into practice and even popularize their ideas; more people are influenced and participate… I believe that this virtuous cycle will definitely bring a bright future for all of us!