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In the seventh year of the translation and presentation competition, the students of Charles University again won the first place in the category of presentations. The event is organized by the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies of Charles University together with the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic within the International Conference of Foreign Students of Czech.

The European Commission's professional translators evaluated almost thirty translations of a competition text, which was written by Filip Noubel. The editor-in-chief of the Global Voices portal focused on the history of the television programme Večerníček. Competitors translated to Czech from a total of twelve languages.

"Choosing the best translations was not easy. The high and balanced quality of the submitted texts surprised us and showed that Czech as a foreign language is taught at the highest level not only in the Czech Republic but also at a number of universities abroad," says Martin Stašek from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation.

"This year, when the Czech Republic is going to take over the EU presidency, the international dimension of the competition is gaining new significance. I believe in Europe and the importance of learning the so-called 'small languages', because it contributes to mutual understanding. This is evidenced by the fact that this year's competitors include representatives of the northernmost and southernmost countries of the European Union – Sweden and Greece," says Dana Hůlková Nývltová, Director of the Institute, about the importance of the conference and competition.

The students' skills were also compared in a competition of 17 presentations, in which students from six European and several non-European countries took part. The winner of the thematic round was Lucas Daniel Breheret (Germany) with the presentation "My Hobby in Germany". David Minnivaliev (Russia) won the highest award for the presentation "Intervertebral Disc Prolapse".

The International Conference of Foreign Students of Czech has been organized by the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies, Charles University, in cooperation with the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic, since 2016. It has two parts. The first part consists of a competition of presentations focused on hobby or professional topics and a translation competition, and the second, non-competitive part, consists of professional language and translation seminars and workshops. Along with diplomas, the competition winners received prizes such as tablets, readers and other.

The competition is held under the auspices of PhDr. Dana Hůlková Nývltová, Ph.D., ILPS CU Director. At this year's conference, there were lectures by, for example, doc. Petr Janeček from the Institute of Ethnology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, and Mgr. Martin Svášek, Ph.D. from the European Commission.

Results:
Translation competition:
1st place Katerina Stojanová (Sofia University of St. Clement of Ohrid, Bulgaria)
2nd place Mateusz Różycki (University of Warsaw, Poland)
3rd place Bence Bolla (Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary)

Thematic presentations:
1st place Lucas Daniel Breheret (Germany) - My hobby in Germany - ÚJOP UK Praha-Voršilská
2nd place Kinga Stanaszek (Poland) - The magic of flying or why in my opinion ski jumping is the most beautiful sport - Uniwersytet Warszawski Instytut Slawistyki Zachodniej iPołudniowej
3rd place Danqi Kuang (China) - Succulent cultivation - ÚJOP UK Praha-Hostivař
Professional presentations

Professional presentations:
1st place David Minnivaliev (Russia) - Prolapse of intervertebral disc - ÚJOP UK Mariánské Lázně
2nd place Dušan Dubaiić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - Radioactive waste management in the Czech Republic - ÚJOP UK Praha-Hostivař
3rd place Valeriia Abramova (Russia) - The breathtaking world of our memory: Interesting and ways of learning - ÚJOP UK Praha-Krystal