Linguists from every year took part in a new QE competition named after a well-known literary translator.
In the Anthea Bell Translation Competition, the Languages department invited pupils to translate a poem from either French or German into English. A separate list of winners was announced for both languages.
Anthea Bell, who died in 2018, translated works including Franz Kafka’s The Castle, but is best known for translating the Asterix comic books from French.
Through the competition, the Languages department aimed to develop boys’ sensitivity towards language and to think about the role of a translator. Teachers also encouraged boys to reflect on the importance of poetry in our everyday lives and to consider the themes covered in the poems. Boys in Years 8 & 9 were, for example, given poems to translate which dealt with racial inequality, thus sparking consideration of news topics such as the Black L
ives Matter movement.
Languages teacher Katrin Hood, pictured last term with Year 12 German winner, Siddhant Kansal, said: “It has been fantastic to see how brilliantly the boys have engaged with the resources provided. We have had fascinating conversations in class about how to translate rhyme, how to choose the right word when you have many different ones available, and how to conserve the overall effect of a poem.
“The boys’ competition entries were of an incredibly high standard and they should be very proud of their outstanding work.”
The competition materials were supplied by The Queen’s College, Oxford, which this term plans to invite up to 50 schools to take part in a new national competition named after Anthea Bell.
The year group challenges, and the respective winners, were as follows:
- Year 7 French – making shape poems inspired by the work of Guillaume Apollinaire. Winner: Jeevan Karthick Thiyagarajan
- Year 7 German – making shape poems inspired by the work of Reinhard Döhl. Winner: Nayan Santheepan
- Year 8 & 9 French – translating Marc Alexandre Oho Bambe’s Winners: Edward Muscat, Year 8; Hadi Al-Esia, Year 9
- Year 8 & 9 German – translating May Ayim’s Abschied. Winners: Tanush Gupta, Year 8; Chanakya Seetharam, Year 9
- Year 10 & 11 French – translating Paul Éluard’s Liberté. Winners: Darren Lee, Year 10; Theo Mama-Kahn, Year 11
- Year 10 & 11 German – translating Goethe’s Willkommen und Abschied. Winners: Arjun Patel, Year 10; Olly Salter, Year 11
- Sixth Form French – translating Loubaki’s France Amour. Winners: Zeke Essex, Year 13
- Sixth Form German – translating May Ayim’s deutschland im herbst. Winners: Siddhant Kansal, Year 12.
Year 8 German winner Tanush, who is pictured, top, with Year 8 French winner, Edward Muscat, said: “I really enjoyed the challenge of translating the poem, because at first, it appears to 
have jumbled-up words, but after rearranging them, the poem starts to make sense.
“The poem was very heart-touching and made me think more about how precious life is – which someone only finds out when they have very little time left.”
Darren, the Year 10 French winner, pictured left, added: “It was a fun and interesting experience that helped push me beyond the curriculum.”
Tanush and Darren’s translations are set out below, with Tanush’s first.
what should the last words be
farewell,
see you again
sometime, somewhere?
what should the last deed be
one last letter
a phone call
a quiet song?
what should the last wish be
forgive me
don’t forget me
I love you?
what should the last thought be
thank you?
thank you.
In the embroidered strings of gold,
In the war’s unbridled hold,
Engraved into king’s crown of old,
I shall write your name
In horizon’s tranquil plain,
And in the bird’s forbearing claim,
And in the mill’s dusky remains,
I shall write your name
And on the land’s beaten trails,
A network of sprawling scale,
And in the square of many tales,
I shall write your name
Etched into my untainted skin,
Written on my companions’ grin,
On every reaching hand with,
I shall write your name
While waves of health come rolling back,
While burning risk just fades to black,
His hopeful grin begins to crack,
I will write your name.
In a special lecture delivered via Zoom, Chris Budd, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Bath, first explained to the whole year group what mathematical modelling is, with contributions also coming from a number of his PhD students. In a highly illustrated presentation, he then set out modelling’s crucial role in determining the best strategy for fighting the pandemic, even drilling down into issues such as how shopping can be made safer in a pandemic.
The professor started his talk by revealing that, although not an Elizabethan, he had been born in Friern Barnet and had moved to Harrow Weald at primary school age, before going up to Cambridge to read Mathematics.
Professor Budd went on to explain how modelling has been used in the case of the Covid pandemic. There are three basic questions, he said. Firstly, how will the epidemic grow if the authorities do nothing (which was the case for the 1918 Spanish ‘flu epidemic)? Secondly, how can we stop the number of cases growing? And third, how should we change our behaviour to keep safe?
Modifying behaviour patterns is simply the most effective way to prevent the spread of Covid, which is why wearing masks, staying in closed bubbles and keeping 2m away from other people are the strategies the Government has been promoting most, he said.
The inaugural tournament champion was Year 7’s Aahan Shah, who won all five of his games to secure the title, beating Year 8’s Aryan Kheterpal in the final.
Building on the success
Both venues were chosen because they were large enough to allow full social distancing.
S
Siddhant will be working closely with the new Senior Vice-Captains, Sultan Khokhar and Paul Ofordu.
“The range of exceptional qualities within this diverse team is particularly striking. There are students: who have shown dynamic and imaginative leadership of a variety of in-school clubs and activities; who have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities on the sports field, or within their form groups; who have enriched their peers’ experiences of School through their superlative contributions to peer-mentoring or music; and who have stood out in the way that they have embodied the School’s values in the way they treat other pupils – those who have always shown kindness, sensitivity, patience and generosity of spirit towards others. In their different ways, all of them have the qualities to set the tone for and to lead the student body as a whole to the very highest national, indeed international, standards.”