Specialist skills and knowledge in translation field at an giang department of external relations

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES  INTERNSHIP REPORT SPECIALIST SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN TRANSLATION FIELD AT AN GIANG DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS INSTRUCTOR: NGUYEN THI XUAN BINH FULL NAME: NGUYEN NGOC MINH CHAU CLASS: DH18TA STUDENT’S CODE: DTA176087 ACADEMIC YEAR 2020 – 2021 An Giang, May 12, 2021 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES  INTERNSHIP REPORT SPECIALIST SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN TRANSLATION FIELD AT AN GIANG DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS INSTRUCTOR: NGUYEN THI XUAN BINH FULL NAME: NGUYEN NGOC MINH CHAU CLASS: DH18TA STUDENT’S CODE: DTA176087 ACADEMIC YEAR 2020 – 2021 An Giang, May 12, 2021 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report ACKNOWLEDGMENT An internship would never be successful without the help and support of many people During my internship at the Department of External Relations of An Giang province, I have learned a lot of experience and skills for my future job I am thankful for the enthusiastic guidance, the false testimonials, the helpful advice that have helped me in completing my interesting and challenging internship First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr Vo Van Thang – headmaster of An Giang University, the Faculty of Foreign Languages, and the Department of External Relations of An Giang for giving me a chance to apply my English ability in the real working environment in this internship Besides, I would like to express the deepest appreciation to Mrs Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh who has been the guide and dedicated help during the practice of this internship In particular, I would like to thank Mr Nguyen Van Phuc for his valuable time to convey his experience, information, and knowledge to help me improve my English skills and apply them effectively to my job in the future In addition, I would like to thank all of my friends who practiced at the Department of External Relations that helped me to work in a team, improved my skill of translating, and supported me during the internship Last but not least, I also thank my family and friends who supported and helped me to complete my report I truly thank all people helping me to finish this internship report Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF PICTURES AND DIAGRAM ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE OF THE REPORT CHAPTER OVERVIEW OF THE INTERNSHIP AGENCY 1.1 Background 1.2 Office hours 1.3 Contact details 1.4 Duties 1.5 Organizational structure 1.6 Dress code CHAPTER 2: INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIES 10 2.1 Main duties 10 2.1.1 Theoretical learning 10 a) Foreign information 10 b) Economic diplomacy 10 c) Cultural diplomacy 11 d) Diplomatic protocol 11 e) Presentation skills 12 f) How to write an effective summary 12 g) How to write a Curriculum Vitae 12 2.1.2 Translation 12 2.1.3 Gaining experience from the instructor advantages 13 2.1.4 Listening and pronunciation practice 13 2.1.5 Presentation 14 2.1.6 Roleplaying 15 2.1.7 Meeting Director, thanks and ending this internship 15 2.2 Evaluation 16 2.2.1 Advantages 16 a) Equipment and working environment: 16 b) Supporting from Department of External Relations and An Giang University 16 2.2.2 Disadvantages 17 a) Limited knowledge 17 Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report b) No participation in actual activities 17 2.2.3 Solutions 17 2.2.4 My lessons from the internship 17 CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 17 3.1 Conclusion 17 3.2 Suggestions 17 3.2.1 To the Department of External relations of An Giang Province 17 3.2.2 To the An Giang University and the Faculty of Foreign Languages 18 3.2.3 To the students of the following courses 18 Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report LIST OF PICTURES AND DIAGRAM Picture Department of External Relations Picture Roleplaying Picture Meeting Director of Department of External Relations Diagram Department of External Relations Organization Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report ABSTRACT This report mainly aims to describe the entire process of my eight–week internship at the Department of External Relations of An Giang Province The first part of this report is the overall description of the internship agency, including position, functions, organizational structure, and staff of the department The focus of the report will be presented after introducing the Department of External Relations In this part, I would describe the activities during the internship including domestic and foreign information, necessary skills, and professional and non – professional knowledge In addition, I presented the advantages and disadvantages of myself the internship At the end of this article, I conclude and make some suggestions for the Department of External Relations, for An Giang University, Faculty of Foreign Languages, and students of the following courses Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report OBJECTIVE OF THE REPORT The goal of this report is to look back at the activities during the internship, recognize my own shortcomings, and then have a direction to improve myself to be better In addition, this report is also a reference database for the following students to help them intern better Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report CHAPTER OVERVIEW OF THE INTERNSHIP AGENCY 1.1 Background Picture Department of External Relations Department of External Relation is a directly specialized agency under the People's Committee of An Giang Province, assisting to carry out the governmental management and external of the province as well as executing some of the duties and authorities under authorization from the People's Committee of An Giang Province and the law 1.2 Office hours The Department of External Relations works hours per day from Monday to Friday 1.3 Contact details Address: 8/18 Ly Thuong Kiet, My Binh Ward, Long Xuyen City, An Giang Province Tel: +84 763 940 103 Fax: +84 763 940 104 Email: songoaivu@angiang.gov.vn 1.4 Duties The Department of External performs the function of advising the Party Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report (hereinafter referred collectively to as the provincial Party Committees) It is through the provincial Party Committee's People's Committee on the policy of international integration, to expand the relationship and fully implement the external affairs of the localities Organizing and managing the Party's external affairs in the localities according to the Party's regulations 1.5 Organizational structure The establishment of professional divisions under the Department must ensure full coverage of the work of the Department, clearly define the functions and duties of each department, and ensure no overlap with other units belonging to the department With the main function of managing external activities directly for People's Committee of An Giang Province, Department of External Relations has successfully structured the entire organization into the appropriate number of specialized division to fulfill their duties and works most effectively, as follow: Diagram Department of External Relations Organization Board of Directors International Relations, Border Management and Consular Division Inspection Division Office With the above organizational structure, each division has its staff to take on the role of each section Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report (a) Board of Directors - Mr Huynh Cong Huan – Director - Mrs Ngo Thi My Ngoc – Deputy Director (b) International Relations, Border Management, and Consular Division - Mr Dang Van Nen – Head of Division - Mr Men Mon Dy - Deputy Head of Division - Ms Huynh Quang Thanh Truc – Deputy Head of Division - Mr Chau Chanh Ke - Deputy Head of Division - Mr Tran Ky Viet – Official - Ms Nguyen Hong Nhung – Official - Ms Nguyen Thi Dieu Hue – Official - Ms Nguyen Thi Kim Yen- Official - Ms Ngo Thi Kim Ngan – Official (c) Inspection Division - Ms Ngo Thi Phuong Mai – Chief Inspector (d) Office - Ms Nguyen Thi My Chi – Chief of Office - Mr Nguyen Van Phuc – Deputy Chief of Office - Ms Trinh Thi Huynh – Official - Ms Nguyen Thi Kim Quyen – Official - Ms Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan – Official - Ms Huynh Ngoc Xuan – Official 1.6 Dress code When we interned at the Department of External Relations, we wore shirts with dark trousers Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report CHAPTER 2: INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIES 2.1 Main duties 2.1.1 Theoretical learning Because of COVID – 19, the first two weeks of internship, Mr Phuc gave me documents and asked me to read them at home This material provided me with the necessary knowledge during my 8-week internship I was introduced by Mr Phuc to the basic information, functions, and duties of the Department of External Relations on March 9th a) Foreign information In this part, Mr Phuc represented the basic information of countries that the Department of External Relations had cooperated with earlier The purpose of learning about foreign information is to promote the image of An Giang and find partners to invest in An Giang This work was done in sequence: - Overview of basic foreign information, economy, and culture - Orientation for investment and development cooperation - Understanding and cooperating with each country's region following local conditions - Contents of foreign information in local agencies and units b) Economic diplomacy Economic diplomacy includes works such as propaganda and information about our country, providing economic information, supporting businesses seeking capitals, partners, and markets In this section, Mr Phuc has cited several diplomatic policies such as shuttle diplomacy, gunboat diplomacy, golf diplomacy, and table tennis diplomacy The goals of economic diplomacy are to strengthen the competitiveness of An Giang’s key commodities in the supply and maximize the resources to serve the socio-economic development strategy of the province Through this section, I have some more additional knowledge on economics, which will help me catch up with trends and have more and more Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 10 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report opportunities to work in the future For example, I can easily find a job in an import/export company once I know about the economic situation, economic information of countries, economic trends of the country in the region and the world c) Cultural diplomacy Mr Phuc presented this issue in many aspects The first aspect of this issue is the goal of this cultural diplomacy Different countries have different goals For example, with Japan, through non-military measures such as economics, science, technology, and culture, cultural diplomacy aims to build a peaceful international environment, cooperation for the development of the country In addition, Mr Phuc also points out the difference between Vietnamese culture and the culture of other countries in the world Thanks to that, I have more knowledge about the diplomatic culture of the countries and also see the good and the bad sides of this aspect This is also one of the important things to help me succeed and improve myself in the future For example, when working with foreigners, understanding their culture helps to communicate easily and behave properly, avoiding unexpected situations d) Diplomatic protocol Diplomatic protocol is a constituent part of diplomatic activities, it is very important, whenever there is diplomatic activity there will be diplomatic protocol In this section, Mr Phuc represented the rules in the diplomatic protocol including: ❖ The diplomatic protocol must be based on four principles such as mutual respect, equality, no discrimination, reciprocity, combining international law with national regulations and national traditions ❖ How to welcome a delegation of a foreign guest ❖ Seat arrangement according to the rank ❖ The way to receive foreign guests and give a party Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 11 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report ❖ Gifts – flowers ❖ The national flag, national anthem, a national emblem e) Presentation skills Mr Phuc introduced to us a book “Kỹ thuyết trình” and then he instructed us about presentation skill which is a key to success Mr Phuc offered how to use body language, eye contact, interact with audiences, emotional Through this process, I learned a lot, practiced, and applied what he taught into our next presentation at the Department of External Relation; even into the presentation at university Now I feel more confident and comfortable when I present in front of everybody f) How to write an effective summary Moreover, Mr Phuc also taught me and my friend how to write an effective summary, and then he showed us his summary of a meeting and shared his experience with us After that, we practiced summarizing documents This can help me get things done easily such as writing minutes and remarks in meetings, create professionalism in the work, shorten the time but still be able to know the contents of the meeting g) How to write a Curriculum Vitae My friends and I were assigned to write our CV by Mr Phuc and we would have an interview at the first meeting at the Department After all of us finished the interview, Mr Phuc helped us point out mistakes in CV writing He also showed our errors while we had an interview, and shared how to write an attractive CV This helps us remember better and avoid making mistakes in the future 2.1.2 Translation After a week of getting to know the Department of External Relations, we practiced translation, because translation is related to the work in the Department, including translation from Vietnamese to English and contrary: Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 12 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report + English – Vietnamese: We translated some documents following such as ‘Note Verbale to Oc Eo Cultural Relic Management Board’; ‘Strategic Management of Stakeholders’; ‘Job attraction and career choice motivation in a socialist-market economy: the case of the young Vietnamese workforce’; ‘Reverse Bloom: A new hybrid approach to experiential learning for a new world’; ‘Behavioural Adaptability in VUCA’ The translation was review and edited carefully by Mr Phuc and Ms Ngan, they also shared translation methods that can shorten the time and help the reader and the listener understand easily My translation skills was improved significantly + Vietnamese – English: In this part, we translated: ‘Letter of Intent’ and ‘Circular’ When completing the translation, Mr Phuc and Ms Ngan had corrected grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary 2.1.3 Gaining experience from the instructor advantages During the internship, Mr Phuc shared his life experiences, essential skills in work and daily life, effective learning, and working methods He also shared good books about work and life This helped me to broaden my knowledge He also provided career guidance and specific advice on future career options Thanks to his shared life experiences, I was able to step by step improve myself 2.1.4 Listening and pronunciation practice In the last week of the internship, Mr Phuc tested the listening skill of all of us This is one of the important skills, he gave us a video in English and we would take note and talk to Mr Phuc about what we had heard Then, he evaluated and guided us on how to write accurate information and catch up with keywords after listening During the internship, he used to check our pronunciation skills by interviewing, presenting, and answering his question If we pronounce the word wrongly, Mr Phuc will help us pronounce it right immediately Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 13 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report 2.1.5 Presentation In this section, Mr Phuc gave us eleven different topics such as Introducing a university or a region; the History of Vietnamese diplomacy; Sea and island issues, sovereignty; etc, then he divided all of us into three small groups and each group would present a different topic My group had four members and we talked about the History of Vietnamese diplomacy After the presentation, Mr Phuc would ask questions and we had to apply all the skills that he had communicated previously After this part, I could learn more knowledge about the history and even my friend's presentation Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 14 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report 2.1.6 Roleplaying To help us better understand diplomatic etiquette, Mr Phuc gave us roleplay practice In which, the students would play the role of a Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City visiting An Giang province The rest of the other students would take on positions in An Giang's delegation to welcome the Consulate General We followed the steps introduced by Mr Phuc during the tutorial on diplomatic etiquette Through this role-play, we can better understand the process of welcoming foreign guests and grasp the diplomatic rules Picture Roleplaying Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 15 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report 2.1.7 Meeting Director, thanks and ending this internship On the last day of this internship, we and Mr Phuc met the Director of the Department of External Relations, Mr Huynh Cong Huan, to say goodbye and thank him and all the staff members at the Department of External Relations for allowing us to work professionally and helping us throughout this internship Mr Huan shared many experiences and career guidance for us Everyone in the Department of External Relations is very friendly and sociable, after the meeting, we took photographs to commemorate Picture Meeting Director of Department of External Relations 2.2 Evaluation 2.2.1 Advantages a) Equipment and working environment: During our internship, we work in the meeting room of the Department of External Relations, which is very spacious, airy, fully equipped with lights, fans, air conditioners, projectors, computers, which provided me the most favorable and easeful working environment b) Supporting from Department of External Relations and An Giang University During this internship, Mr Phuc let us feel free to choose the topic to present and created good conditions for us to promote our creativity, and achieve the best result Besides, he also answered all our questions, helped us understand the important issues, enabled us to learn more about external relations Moreover, the support from the university has made our internship even more successful Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 16 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report 2.2.2 Disadvantages a) Limited knowledge Because my economic, political, cultural knowledge is limited, I have had a lot of difficulties translating and understanding information b) No participation in actual activities Because of the COVID – 19 pandemic, the Department avoid crowds, we could not be involved in meetings or diplomacy, so we lacked experience in reality 2.2.3 Solutions This is a serious problem that I need to overcome Thanks to this internship, I see my shortcomings and will try to improve them effectively by learning harder 2.2.4 My lessons from the internship Through all of the activities above, I have learned a lot of new, practical, and precious experience and skills: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Gaining new knowledge in different fields Improving considerably in translation skills Having more and more useful information for future work Knowing how to attract the attention of people when presented Improving listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills Through my internship, I realized that I still have a lot of shortcomings I need to listen and understand to be effective in teamwork In addition, caring and helping members in the group also helps me improve my work efficiency CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 3.1 Conclusion The eight-week internship brought me a lot of knowledge and interesting things I can apply the knowledge learned at school as well as through the internship to apply it to life Also through this internship, my friends and I got to know each other better and were able to work in a better team together These are valuable things that will help me succeed in work after graduating from An Giang University 3.2 Suggestions 3.2.1 To the Department of External relations of An Giang Province In addition to the advantages that the Department of External Relations has for us, I have a suggestion The Department should allow students to take part in the actual activities of the Department so that students have more opportunities to learn Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 17 Instructor: M.A Nguyen Thi Xuan Binh Internship Report 3.2.2 To the An Giang University and the Faculty of Foreign Languages To attain of students more smooth and more effective in the internship for next year, I have a recommendation for An Giang University and the Faculty of Foreign Languages They should change the internship time so that students can learn more because the internship is short Moreover, if the internship takes place after the course, students can practice their internship better 3.2.3 To the students of the following courses I have some advice for English major students as follow: ▪ The students need to be an more active when they find a company or a place to intern They should investigate fully the information about this place such as position, activities, the time of the internship ▪ If the students have any problems, you should immediately contact the instructors to receive guidance ▪ The students should study hard in a serious way to prepare fully knowledge and skills for the internship That will be your luggage to step into the new world of creating success in the future Students should prepare their knowledge of economics, politics, and foreign cultures so that they can complete the internship if they practice at the Department of External Relations Nguyen Ngoc Minh Chau – DH18TA 18