Translating and Interpreting Studies (Taught)

We live and work in a linguistically and culturally diverse world, fuelling the demand for strong linguists with a combination of interpretation and translation skills to support global communication. Master a set of marketable skills to start working as a translator or interpreter, with the option to specialise in conference and public service interpretation.

Our Translating and Interpreting master’s programme aims to transform your advanced language skills to qualify as a translator or interpreter.

We offer the following languages: Arabic, French, Gaelic, German, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

Develop essential skills in interpreting at a professional standard to meet the needs of a highly demanded industry. Gain world-class training in interpretation with our cutting-edge conference interpretation suite to enable communication, trading and cooperation at an international level. Installed by Televic, the interpreting suite allows you to operate professional systems used as standard at major international conferences and institutions such as the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN).

We offer an introductory course to conference interpretation to build your specialist knowledge and technical skills required for interpreting in a conference setting. There is a follow-up course in conference interpretation to progress the skills learnt in the introductory course. We also offer training in public service interpreting if you wish to work in a public service setting. Develop transferable skills from research and writing skills to intercultural communication and enhanced cultural knowledge, offering you opportunities to work across various industries and sectors.

Work with professional interpreters and participate in class-based activities designed to advance your skills in comprehension, discrimination, retention and expression. Learn in a controlled and familiar interpreting setting, with guidance from highly qualified academics with professional interpreting experience across different contexts and settings.

You can book a booth outside scheduled classes to gain additional practice and bolster your confidence in interpretation. You can also access AssessmentQ and InterpreterQ Media Player on-campus or remotely to support your independent study and progress.

Students will have access to state-of-the-art interpreting technologies to support their collaborative learning. They will use AssessmentQ along with InterpreterQ Media player and Blackboard Collaborate for the synchronous sessions.

AssessmentQ is an advanced online platform for learning and practising making your training efficient and knowledge measurable. AssessmentQ allows creation, publishing and grading of online exercises and tests, specifically for consecutive and simultaneous interpreting (with dual-track recording). The platform offers a range of other types of exercises including multiple choices, translations and open questions.

InterpreterQ media player(IQMP) is a self-study tool which can be installed on any computer and accessed on campus or remotely. Students will also be able to use audio and video to practise simultaneous and consecutive interpreting.

Students will write a Dissertation in Translation Studies, produce a Language-Specific Translation Portfolio and complete an Introduction to Conference Interpreting course. In case students decide to continue with conference interpreting, they should also pass the Conference Interpreting course, irrespective of their performance in other courses.