If you are passionate about letters and Romanian culture, you are always welcome at the First Romanian School in Șcheii Brașovului, Brașov.
For every Romanian translator, whatever their specialization or the languages they know, discovering the secrets of the first Romanian school and of the first texts written in Romanian is a true professional revelation.
The First Romanian School is a magical and mysterious place, which you find in Brașov, in the Schei district, in the courtyard of the Church of St. Nicholas.
Here the first writings in Romanian saw the light of print, here the first grammar of the Romanian language was written, and here the anthem “Deșteaptă-te, române!” (“Awake, Romanian!”) was composed. It is a place with a real national and cultural charge.
The authorized translators of Syncro Translation Services, as graduate philologists, explain the cultural importance of the First Romanian School and suggest we reflect on the fact that this was, in practice, the cradle of the written Romanian language, and that the first printed text in Romanian started from here.
However much a language evolves and whatever influences it takes on through natural development and globalization, we have a moral duty to respect our language and to know its origins. A specialized translator, especially one working on literary and creative translation, knows this best. That is why, for large translations that require a “feeling for language”, mixed teams are put together: native translators, specialized translators and project supervisors. In a translation agency, language takes on a different life depending on the project being worked on.
From the 1550s onwards, deacon Coresi and his collaborators printed the first books for general circulation in Romanian, establishing writing in this language once and for all. In 1757, the first Romanian grammar was written in Schei.
In that first grammar book you can find definitions and grammatical categories very similar to today’s, and spelling and punctuation rules that are still valid. A very interesting feature is the grouping of verbs into two conjugations based on verb endings.
Even if a particular specialization takes shape over the course of a translator’s career, an excellent translator always cares about general culture in the field of language.
For everyone passionate about grammar, philology and the history of the Romanian language, a visit to the First Romanian School is an excellent recommendation.