Studying Translation at the University of Essex

Review of the Master In Translation at the University of Essex

If you are thinking about starting a course in translation, you might want to compare different universities and different courses before taking the final decision.

Each university focuses on a specific subject, and it is important for you to make the right choice.

The opportunities for language students go beyond translation: interpreting is another big field, as well as international communication, subtitling, international marketing, cultural mediation etc.

The first element to consider when choosing a course is what you want to achieve. If you already know you want to work in a specific field (such as interpreting rather than translation, for example) make sure the course you are choosing trains you specifically for this type of work. Some courses, for example, might teach both translation and interpreting but their focus is 80% on interpreting. If you choose such a course hoping to become a translator, you might feel frustrated after few months.

However, many students don’t have a clear idea of what they want to specialize in. They know they want to work with languages. But how? Doing what exactly? If those questions remain unanswered to you, then you might want to choose a course that gives you a taste of the different language jobs. In this way you can try first hand what it means to work as a conference interpreter, or as a booth interpreter, or as a subtitler and so on. Many students start with an overall idea of what they want to focus on in the language field to discover, after few months, that they enjoy something different. It happened to many people I know: they started a course in linguistics to discover, after a while, that they wanted to work as translators. Other people started a course in translation thinking of becoming translators to find out that they enjoyed working on subtitling or interpreting more.

This process is part of human nature: we don’t know if we like something until we try it. That’s why today I want to introduce the Master’s degree in Translation, Interpreting and Subtitling at the University of Essex. Below you’ll find two videos made by the University, where students tell of their experience. The Master’s of the University of Essex has the advantage of focusing on three fields: translation, interpreting and subtitling. This allows students to have an overall picture of the three disciplines and try them first hand. Moreover, they train students with the real tools used in the industry, and this provides them with an accurate idea of what it will be like to work in these fields and see which one they want to focus on in their future career.

The students in the videos describe the different professional fields that the Master’s tackles, as well as the specific tools for each one. If you still don’t know what to specialize in, this course might be the solution for you.