Juvenes Translatores

What is Juvenes Translatores?

Juvenes Translatores is an annual online translation contest for 17-year-old secondary school students across the EU. It’s organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation to inspire and encourage young people to learn languages and has been running since 2007.

Why take part?

Juvenes Translatores offers several benefits for students and schools.

1 Put your language skills to work

Students experience what translating a text feels like and are able to apply their language knowledge in a new context. This builds confidence in their skills.

2 Explore other cultures

Translating involves more than finding the right words. It requires students to understand different perspectives and cultures.

3 Gain recognition

Winning the contest is a significant achievement, recognised at EU level and rewarded with a 3-day trip to Brussels.

What previous participants say

"Meeting all these intelligent and kind peers from all over Europe and becoming almost like a small family, also experiencing how the EU functions, was an immensely valuable experience, one that I will always remember!"

Jacob Jörgren-Lasko, 2025 winner for Sweden

“Thank you for defending multilingualism not as a bureaucratic necessity, but as a democratic value. The EU is built on the radical idea that no language is superior to another. That every voice deserves to be heard in its own words.’’

Carla Machado, teacher of 2025 winner for Portugal

"I learnt that translation is so much more than just swapping words from one language to another, it is about carrying meaning, emotion, and culture across borders without losing anything important.”

Angelique Sciberras, 2025 winner for Malta

How the contest works

Schools apply online from early September to mid-October. We share the registration link on this page and on social media when registration opens.
We randomly select 720 schools across the EU through an electronic draw. There is a quota for each country based on the number of seats it has in the European Parliament.
Each selected school can enter 2 to 5 students.
Students choose any language pair from the 24 EU official languages.
On contest day in late November, students translate a 1-page text between any 2 EU official languages, under exam conditions, supervised by their teachers.
Students have 2 hours to complete their translation.
The contest takes place online. Schools must provide internet access and appropriate IT equipment.
Participants may use paper and online dictionaries, but not spell-checkers, machine translation, AI or computer-aided translation tools.

Choosing the winners

Professional translators from the European Commission assess all entries. They evaluate the translations for accuracy, correct grammar and expressions, fluency and creativity in finding effective translation solutions.

They choose 1 winner per EU country and may also award special mentions to additional participants whose translations show excellent quality.

We announce the winners and special mentions in early February.

What is the prize?

The 27 winners are invited to Brussels for 3 days in the spring. The programme includes an award ceremony and the chance to meet Commission translators and learn about their work. The Commission arranges and pays for travel, accommodation and some meals for each winner, accompanied by 1 teacher and up to 2 parents or guardians.