The chasm in the RYE: there are not enough sign language translators in Russia
There is a chronic shortage of Russian sign language translators in Russia: instead of the required 7 thousand, there are only about 1.2 thousand, experts say. This is one of the reasons why President Vladimir Putin called for ensuring the necessary number and quality of specialists. The problem concerns many: more than 200,000 people speak sign language in the country, and 150,000 use it on a daily basis. Why it is so important to have translators and why the problem has not yet been solved is in the Izvestia article.
Why did people start talking about RYE at the state level
Russian Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Council for the Implementation of state Policy in the field of support for the Russian language and the languages of the peoples of Russia that he was counting on new proposals to support people with hearing problems and using Russian sign language.
"We have almost 200,000 native speakers of this language in our country. And it is important to ensure the appropriate quality and quantity of teachers and translators in this field," the Russian leader said.
Then Maria Priemysheva, Head of the Department of Lexicography of Modern Russian at the Institute of Linguistic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, received the floor. Russian Russian sign language teaching programs should be developed in higher education and in secondary education, as well as unified textbooks on Russian sign language. In addition, to intensify scientific research in the field of vocabulary and grammar of Rye. Another suggestion is to create a unified dictionary of the Russian sign language. And the last idea is to develop a single platform with information for both native speakers of RYE and those who are professionally involved in its teaching.
"It is obvious that in the end we are talking about the centralization of this work in our country, about building it on a systematic basis. Some of this work is now being carried out to one degree or another by the All—Russian Society of the Deaf, and very actively by the regional branches of this society. But what is certain is that colleagues need government support," Maria Priemysheva said.
Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education, praised her initiatives, noting that they had already been discussed and supported in advance.
How big is the shortage of translators
Russian was officially recognized as the language of communication for people with hearing and speech impairments at the legislative level in 2012, later a professional standard for translators appeared and GOST for translation services was introduced. In 2025, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the basics of state language policy, which explicitly spelled out support for the development of Russian, the training of translators and teachers.
Nevertheless, experts have been talking about an acute shortage of qualified translators for many years. Andrey Gomanek, chief Specialist of the Department of Education and Employment of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf (VOG), points out that according to the results of the last population census in Russia, 239,930 people claimed to own RYE, and 157,354 people reported its daily use.
At the same time, there are about 1.2 thousand translators in the country, and the need for them is about 7 thousand people, the expert reports. Ekaterina Golovanova, translator of the educational and Methodological Center of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, added that the shortage of qualified specialists is especially acute in small towns and rural areas. There are regions where there is only one Russian sign language translator for several cities.
Because of this, deaf people regularly face difficulties, especially in hospitals and courtrooms, she notes.
— Modern life requires high-level translation for the development of education, science and technology. Russian Russian sign language is structurally and grammatically different from the Russian language, therefore highly qualified specialists are required, — the editorial interlocutor emphasizes.
Russians Russian Sign Language Laboratory Head at the NSTU Institute of Social Technologies, member of the expert group of the professional standard project "Translator of Russian Sign Language" Olga Varinova emphasizes that people who communicate in Russian should not be considered simply as disabled people with hearing problems.
— It is a full-fledged community with internal connections, having its own culture and its own language. It is the same language as Russian, and for many it is their native language. You can't just give it up," she says.
In this sense, the lack of a Russian sign language subject in schools is a big problem, as deaf children born into families with hearing parents are deprived of their first, full-fledged and maximally understandable language, adds Ekaterina Golovanova. They are forced to survive in a world of a sounding language that they cannot hear 100%.
"Such people come to sign language as adults, regretting how much they missed and how much information they could have received if they had known sign language," the expert adds.
Why do we need Russian language translators?
Andrei Gomanek explains that Russian language translators are paid either by the consumer of these services himself or by the state — every hearing—impaired person has the right to receive Russian sign language translation services at the rate of 84 hours per year, and the deafblind - 240 hours per year.
The Federal Scientific Center for Rehabilitation of the Disabled named after G. A. Albrecht says that Russian sign language translation services are provided to people with disabilities in accordance with individual rehabilitation and habilitation programs (IPRA). They can be obtained at sports and cultural events, rallies and demonstrations, in hospitals and polyclinics, at polling stations, on television broadcasts, religious ceremonies, etc. In order to serve a disabled person, it is enough for a translator to have a secondary professional education, higher education may be required to carry out "professionally oriented translation of the Russian sign language."
The Ministry of Labor calls the provision of aids and hearing prosthetics a top priority in social support and integration of the deaf: 4.28 billion rubles were spent on this in 2025. About 450 million rubles were spent on translation services into Russian sign language: more than 19 thousand people received assistance for this money in 2025.
You can apply for a transfer either through the Social Fund of Russia, or by using an electronic certificate through the portal of public services. In the second case, you can independently select a suitable specialist from the registry and pay for his services directly. This measure has been introduced since the beginning of this year.
Translators also have private orders. Olga Varinova tells how a few days ago she was approached by a hearing person who was buying an apartment from a deaf person, who at the same time stated that he did not need an interpreter.
"It was the customer who ordered the translation service and paid for it," she explains. — The customer can be any organization that holds an event and invites the deaf or hard of hearing. Sometimes it even happens that we come to an event, and there are no people there who speak sign language. We're transferring it anyway, once the service has been ordered.
Andrei Gomanek notes that translators face job insecurity — many work as self-employed or freelancers, which deprives them of social guarantees and income stability. There are also problems with compliance with regulations: for example, it is common practice for one translator to work without a replacement, although simultaneous interpretation requires periodic rest.
Ekaterina Golovanova notes that in a number of countries around the world, the profession of a national sign language translator is highly paid: in the United States, highly qualified translators earn from $400,000 per month. In Russia, she calls the actual ceiling 4 thousand rubles per hour.
Olga Varinova, however, notes that everything depends on the individual: it is possible to earn well in this profession.
Where did the problems with preparation come from?
Currently, three universities are training sign language translators: MGLU, NSTU in Novosibirsk and KFU in Kazan. The Training and Methodological Center of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf also has a retraining and advanced training program. There is training of specialists on the basis of the open source. Currently, there are a total of 259 students studying in Voronezh, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yoshkar-Ola, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Chita and Astrakhan. Basically, all graduates are employed, although there are also problems: for example, in Tyumen, out of 72 graduates since 2020, only 12 have been employed.
"But it's still not enough to close the need for Russian sign language translators," emphasized Andrei Gomanek. — But there are other problems: for example, there is a growing demand for translators of international gestures, but in Russia there is practically no training for them. An International linguistic conference is scheduled to be held in September, and it was difficult for us to find three qualified translators of international gestures.
Note that sign language is not international, it differs depending on the country. According to the Glotlog Registry of World Languages, there are more than 215 sign languages in the world. RYE forms a separate language family with Kazakh, Tajik, Moldovan, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Georgian and others. There are few specialists in foreign sign languages in Russia, mostly deaf translators, says Ekaterina Golovanova.
Another problem is that not all graduates become translators of the Russian Language. The fact is, she explains, that many graduate from university with two languages — besides Russian sign language, it is also English-sounding. And they choose the second one as the main one. Only a few remain in the translation profession.
This is understandable: depending on the region, a specialist receives around 0.5–1 thousand rubles per hour. This is without taking into account travel time, preparation for the transfer and the level of qualification of the specialist, the expert adds.
"This amount in no way justifies a four—year university education and subsequent internship necessary for full—time work, although such specialists are very necessary and important," the Izvestia interlocutor notes. — The complexity of Russian grammar can be compared with Chinese or Japanese, while Russian sign language remains not fully understood and not taken into account in existing teaching methods.
Varvara Kharitonova, a junior researcher at the Sign Language Research Laboratory at the MGLU Center for Sociocognitive Discourse Research and a leading specialist in the Department of Science, Education and Employment at the VOG office, is more optimistic. She emphasizes that the training of Russian language translators is developing noticeably, and applicants have an interest in the profession.
— Every year, students come to us at MGLU who want to enroll in the training program "Theory and practice of sign language translation of intercultural communication". However, training needs to be expanded beyond large cities," she notes.
The demand for Russian translators remains high: They are in high demand in courts, schools, hospitals, cultural institutions and at mass events.
How to solve this problem
Andrei Gomanek believes that in order to solve the problems, it is necessary to popularize the profession, raise its status and regulate the work of Russian language translators.
"But this will require a whole range of measures: improving legislation, developing educational programs, increasing funding for the field, creating quality control mechanisms for services, and supporting the professional community of Russian language translators," the expert emphasizes.
Olga Varinova notes that it is important to train young professionals — in many regions, translators are mostly elderly people. She also emphasizes that the demand for translators of oral cancer in general will continue, despite the development of technical rehabilitation tools and the appearance of cochlear implants that allow deaf people to gain hearing. The fact is that these rehabilitation tools do not provide one hundred percent opportunity to hear, and for many deaf people, hearing is not an end in itself.
— At this stage, it is necessary to expand the number of educational trajectories: to create new bachelor's degree programs, short modules for advanced training and retraining, — adds Varvara Kharitonova. — Distance learning methods with mandatory full-time practice can also be effective here. It is also necessary to increase the attractiveness of the profession for applicants, to ensure stable demand from the state and employers.
The Ministry of Labor reports that, together with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, they continue to work on training and advanced training of personnel, including translators of Russian language and specialists from rehabilitation centers. Uniform standards for comprehensive rehabilitation are also being implemented in all regions of the Russian Federation. Roadmaps in this regard are already in effect, and it is planned to complete the transition by 2030.
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