A student translation project can become much more than an academic exercise—it can connect people, cultures and languages across the world. At the School of Greek Language & Culture “Alexander”, we are proud to celebrate the work of our student Elena Rădoi, whose contribution to an international publication demonstrates how language learning inspires creativity, critical thinking and intercultural dialogue.
A Student Translation Project That Connects Voices
Elena recently contributed to The Gap, an international collaborative writing project that brought together participants from different countries, cultures and linguistic backgrounds.
The project invited contributors to reflect on carefully chosen themes over the course of more than a year. Every three weeks, participants received a new topic, wrote their reflections and shared them anonymously. Their texts were then collected into a single anthology, allowing individual voices to become part of a larger collective conversation.
Although the participants had never met in person and lived in different time zones, they formed a unique literary community through writing. The result is a book that demonstrates how language can overcome distance and create meaningful human connections.
Translation at the Heart of the Student Translation Project
Elena translated the introduction into English with great care, making it accessible to an international audience while preserving the richness and sensitivity of the original text.
The introduction reminds readers that translation is not simply about replacing words from one language with another. It is about carrying emotions, ideas and cultural perspectives across languages.
One of its most beautiful sections explores how different languages express the universal feeling of missing a person or a place.
For example, English says:
“I miss Athens.”
Greek expresses the same feeling differently:
«Η Αθήνα μου λείπει.»
Literally, this means “Athens is missing to me.” Instead of the speaker performing the action, Athens itself becomes the grammatical subject.
The introduction also compares expressions from French, German, Japanese and Romanian, showing that every language offers its own way of understanding longing, memory and human emotion.
As the text explains, languages never truly disappear when we write in another one. They continue to shape our thoughts, expressions and identity.
Why This Student Translation Project Matters
What makes this project particularly inspiring is its celebration of multilingualism.
The contributors came from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, yet they shared one common space through writing. Their different languages remained present beneath the English text, enriching every contribution with unique perspectives and experiences.
This reminds us that learning languages is not only about communication. It is also about understanding different ways of thinking, appreciating cultural diversity and building bridges between people.
These are values that we encourage every day in our classrooms.
We Are Proud of Elena
Throughout her time at our school, Elena has impressed both teachers and fellow students with her curiosity, dedication and genuine love for languages.
Her participation in this student translation project reflects the international spirit of our school and demonstrates how language learning can lead to exciting academic and cultural opportunities.
We are delighted to see our students contributing to meaningful international initiatives and sharing their talents with readers around the world.
Congratulations, Elena, on this wonderful achievement!
We wish you every success in your future projects and look forward to following your journey. Thank you for inspiring our school community and reminding us that languages have the power to connect people across borders.
See also:
A Visit to Literature House in Kypseli – Experiencing “The Gap” Up Close