Contest – Young Translators

Are you 17 years old and passionate about languages? The European Commission is offering you the chance to put your language skills to the test and experience first-hand what it’s like to work as a translator.

Juvenes Translatores is an annual translation competition organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation since 2007. Every year, thousands of students from across the EU take part in this initiative, which promotes language learning, cultural exchange and European multilingualism.

Participant profile:

The competition is open to 17-year-old students, i.e. young people born in 2009.

Selected schools may enter between 2 and 5 students.

The following are eligible to take part:

• Public or private secondary schools.
• Schools offering a full curriculum, including those providing vocational training.
• Schools located in an EU country and recognised by their educational authorities.
• Schools that have the necessary IT equipment and internet connection.

Purpose of the competition:

Students must translate a text of one to two pages between any two of the 24 official languages of the European Union.

Each participant is free to choose their source language and target language.

The competition will take place online, but from the school’s own premises and under the supervision of teachers.

Participants will have 2 hours to complete the translation.

During the test, you may use:

• • Printed dictionaries.
  • Online dictionaries.

You may not use:

• • Spell-checkers.
  • Machine translation.
  • Artificial intelligence tools.
  • Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools.

Translations must be saved and submitted via the competition platform.

Selection of winners: 

The translations will be assessed by professional translators from the European Commission, who will take into account aspects such as:

• Accuracy of the translation.
• Grammatical and stylistic correctness.
• Fluency.
• Creativity and effectiveness of the translation solutions.

One winner will be selected from each EU country, and special mentions may be awarded to other participants who have produced translations of a high standard.

Prize:

The 27 winners will be invited to Brussels for three days in spring 2027.

The programme will include:

• An awards ceremony.
• A meeting with translators from the European Commission.
• An opportunity to gain an insight into the work of the EU’s translation services.
• Activities to meet other young participants from across Europe.

The Commission will cover the winner’s travel, accommodation and some meals; the winner may be accompanied by a teacher and up to two parents or guardians.

Benefits of taking part:

Juvenes Translatores enables students to:

• Put their language skills into practice in a real-life translation situation.
• Discover how translation connects different languages, cultures and perspectives.
• Meet young people from other European countries.
• Gain an insight into the work of translators at the European institutions.
• Gain experience and recognition linked to a Europe-wide initiative.

Furthermore, the experiences of former participants show that the competition can be an opportunity to discover new perspectives on translation, multilingualism and Europe.

Registration process:

Interested schools must register on the official Juvenes Translatores platform by 12 October 2026 at 23:59 (Brussels time).

Participating schools will then be selected by means of an electronic draw.

The selected schools must prepare their pupils for the test and ensure they have the necessary technical resources to sit it.

Preparation materials: 

The European Commission makes the following available to schools:

• Information about the competition and its key dates.
• Frequently asked questions for teachers.
• Translations from previous editions for practice.
• Information and resources on the competition and the EU’s language activities.

Important dates:

• School registration: until 12 October 2026 at 23:59 (Brussels time).
• Selection of schools: by electronic draw. 720 schools from across the EU will be selected.
• Announcement of selected schools: at the end of October 2026.
• Competition: 26 November 2026, from 10.00 to 12.00 (Brussels time).
• Announcement of winners: early February 2027.
• Trip to Brussels: spring 2027.

Important: registration must be carried out by the school, not directly by the student.

 

More  information: Eurodesk