MA Interpreting
University of Surrey
Key Information
Campus location
Guildford, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
1 year
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
GBP 21,500 / per year *
Application deadline
01 Jul 2024
Earliest start date
Sep 2024
* overseas students | UK students: £10,400
Introduction
Why Choose This Course
This is the only course in the UK that will give you advanced interpreting skills in all interpreting modes, including consecutive, simultaneous, dialogue, and distance interpreting. We’re the first university to teach video-mediated and telephone interpreting based on research in distance interpreting, giving you excellent and flexible career opportunities.
The course has a strong practical component designed to suit the needs of the interpreting market today. We’re one of the UK’s top translation and interpreting research centers, with more than three decades of experience in postgraduate education and research training. We focus on exciting and newly developing areas of the discipline, such as interpreting technologies, distance/remote interpreting, hybrid modalities of interpreting, corpus-based approaches, audiovisual translation, and multi-modality studies.
The Centre for Translation Studies (CTS) has developed an ambitious new research program on the responsible integration of human and automated approaches to interpreting and translation. This program informs our teaching and future-proofs your career in this evolving industry.
What You Will Study
Our MA Interpreting course has both a multilingual and a Chinese pathway.
On this multilingual pathway, we offer Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish paired with English (languages subject to availability and/or demand). Other languages may be available upon request, subject to a minimum number of students.
You'll develop skills in all interpreting modes (consecutive, dialogue and simultaneous interpreting, and sight translation), delivered on-site and remotely via audio/video link. Lectures enable you to understand, discuss, and justify interpreting-related decisions. For example, the compulsory Interpreting and Technologies module focuses on the integration of different technologies in interpreting, e.g. to support the interpreter’s preparation and performance (such as accessing electronic glossaries, and digital note-taking) and delivery of distance/remote interpreting. This provides you with the necessary digital skills to develop a successful interpreting career in a fast-changing world and work environment.
Practical modules are taught by experienced professional interpreters and you’ll benefit from cutting-edge facilities and participate in simulated industry-relevant scenarios. Our range of optional modules will allow you to customize your learning experience according to your strengths, personal tastes, and career ambitions.
To conclude your MA, you can choose between different types of dissertations, and you’ll be guided along the identification of the best fit for you.
During your studies, you will have an opportunity to demonstrate academic and professional excellence by winning prizes. These include the following:
- RWS Campus Top Student Award (two licenses)
- project management training (one free-of-charge place in the Pro PM Training and Certification Program)
- Professional Engagement Portfolio Prize
- Best Performance in Interpreting Prize.
Admissions
Curriculum
Academic Year Structure
The MA Interpreting (Multilingual pathway) course can only be taken on a full-time basis. The taught part of the program is divided into eight 15-credit modules. A 15-credit module is indicative of 150 hours of learning. The hours of learning comprise contact hours, guided learning, and private study.
The MA Interpreting (Multilingual Pathway) course has six compulsory modules, and you must select another two optional modules.
Our varied offer of optional modules will enable you to tailor the program to your strengths and preferences. Students normally take four modules in Semester 1 and four in Semester 2.
You will complete your degree with a Translation and Interpreting Studies Dissertation (60 credits), to be submitted at the beginning of September.
Modules
Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability, student demand, and/or class size caps.
The University operates a credit framework for all taught programs based on a 15-credit tariff. Modules can be either 15, 30, 45, 75, or 120 credits, and additionally for some masters dissertations, 90 credits.
The structure of our programs follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each program. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes:
Year 1
Full-time
- Academic Research Methods
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) I
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting I
- Principles and Challenges of Translation and Interpreting
- Simultaneous Interpreting I
- Audiovisual Translation
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) Ii
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting Ii
- Hybrid Practices for Live Speech-To-Text Communication
- Interpreting and Technologies
- Public Service Interpreting - Trends and Issues
- Simultaneous Interpreting Ii
- Translation and Interpreting Studies Dissertation
Timetable
Course timetables are normally available one month before the start of the semester.
Please note that while we make every effort to ensure that timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week (Monday – Friday). Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities. The part-time timetable is based on the full-time one, so classes will run on any teaching day.
Translation Studies seminars take place on Wednesday afternoons – attendance is optional but strongly encouraged.
Please note that our practice-based classes are normally provided by professional interpreters and we may sometimes have to reschedule classes to accommodate professional commitments.
Gallery
Career Opportunities
We offer career information, advice, and guidance to all students whilst studying with us, which is extended to our alumni for three years after leaving the University. Our graduates have lifetime access to Surrey Pathfinder, our online portal for appointment and event bookings, jobs, placements, and interactive development tools.
91 percent of our School of Literature and Languages postgraduate students go on to employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes survey 2023, HESA).
Local and international companies from the language industry who have an active interest in Surrey graduates come to our Centre for Translation Studies. They explain what current and future opportunities they have, providing a chance for you to engage with them directly and kick-start your career in an informal, friendly atmosphere.
Our emphasis on professional development means that you'll be well-equipped to begin work as a freelancer, in-house interpreter, interpreting services manager, or interpreting technology coordinator at international organizations, government bodies, universities, and private companies.
The language services industry continues to grow despite a challenging international economic climate. Globalization and technological innovation open new markets and create novel demands for multilingual interpreting services to exchange knowledge and communicate with clients. As an MA Interpreting graduate and qualified language professional, you'll be able to take advantage of global employment opportunities.
Technological innovation is also rapidly reshaping the interpreting industry, creating new research opportunities.
Your dissertation will enable you to consolidate the knowledge and skills acquired during the taught components of the course and guide you along the identification and selection of an appropriate research topic or a translation/interpreting project or work placement. It’s also one of the many ways of getting involved in ongoing research at the Centre for Translation Studies. We regularly have students who decide to stay on to study for a PhD and pursue an academic career in translation and interpreting studies. For further information, see our PhD course.
To further help our students with work opportunities in the language services industry, we host an annual careers fair where local and international companies with an active interest in Surrey graduates meet our students in an informal, friendly atmosphere.
Professional development
You'll have regular contact with professional interpreters in your practice-based modules and you’ll gain advanced knowledge of how technologies are shaping the interpreting profession, making you fit for the current market. You'll benefit from course components that emphasise the business and industry aspects of interpreting. You'll have access to:
- Two conference interpreting suites equipped with ISO-approved double interpreting booths, as used by international institutions, to practise simultaneous interpreting
- A portable interpreting system for training in mobile interpreting (used for museum or factory tours)
- A two-way and multipoint videoconferencing system to simulate remote or distance interpreting, with delegates and interpreters interacting over a video link
- A cloud-based Remote Simultaneous Interpreting platform.
You'll have invaluable opportunities to apply and further hone your interpreting skills and strategies in real-life working environments. For instance, our students have provided interpreting services for a variety of multilingual events held at the University, ranging from graduation ceremonies to a three-day medical conference and other workshops. You’ll also have the opportunity to further refine your skills by participating in a remote interpreting summer school, as well as shadowing professional interpreters working at several international conferences held in London, thanks to our well-established contacts with some major interpreting service providers.
You'll benefit from free access to a wide range of specialised software, including:
- WinCaps
- Dragon Naturally Speaking
- Sketch Engine.
You'll also gain further insights into the industry from the external guest speakers we invite to our Centre for Translation Studies seminars and workshops, such as:
- Professional translators and interpreters
- Subtitles and audio describers
- Professionals working in public services, companies and international organisations
- Representatives of professional translator and interpreter associations
- Translation and interpreting researchers.
These opportunities will prepare you to begin work as a freelancer or as a language service provider at an international organisation, government body, university or private company. You will receive guidance on the development of a professional engagement portfolio to help you build a professional CV as you study. This involves documenting collaborations with language services providers, and extra-curricular activities, such as joining a professional body, attending professional development workshops and webinars, and participating in projects with the local community.
Program Tuition Fee
English Language Requirements
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