From 14 to 17 February 2017 IBT held in its office a workshop for 18 participants from 10 translation projects (Abaza, Avar, Altai, Balkar, Chukchi, Dargi, Rutul, Siberian Tatar, Tsakhur, and for the first time Russian Sign language). Among them were future Bible translators, philological editors, exegetical advisers and comprehension testers. All the participants were professionals and experts in their own fields of knowledge. But in the near future they will have to face a new challenge - to master the art of Bible translation. This is why IBT has designed this training course. Experienced teachers from IBT: Andrey Desnitsky, Alexey Somov, Vitaly Voinov, Ketevan Gadilia, Natalya Manzienko, Elena Mosolova and Luka Manevich gave lectures covering a wide range of topics.

Participants learned about the history of Bible translation, the languages ​​in which the Old and New Testament books were written, and the historical and cultural context of the Bible. Introductions to the most important books of the Bible revealed their characteristics, structure and genre, as well as the translation difficulties that may be encountered in practice. Lectures were given on exegesis, translation theory, linguistics, and the procedures of translation, philological editing and the testing of draft translations of biblical texts. The course was designed so that the lectures were followed by practical work on translation, in which the participants had an opportunity to exchange views in face-to-face discussion.

Workshop participants emphasized the interaction between theory and practice, the high professional level of the lecturers, the accessibility and coherence of the presentations, the good organization, the meaningful and systematic hand-outs, as well as the warm and friendly atmosphere and mutual understanding between participants and organizers.