Facilities and software
We have a range of first-class facilities available for practise and study, with access to industry-standard equipment and software.
Interpreting labs
Our interpreting labs are installed with the latest Brähler technology. We use the same equipment used for the G-8, G-20 and APEC summits, and by organisations like the UN and FIFA. Brähler is the world's largest supplier of conferencing equipment.
Video conferencing facilities link our labs to each other and the outside world, creating authentic interpreting scenarios. You can take audio from an interpreting lab to one of our digital language labs to analyse and work with in greater detail.
Digital language labs
Our digital language labs are installed with Sanako Lab 100, a global leader in modern language labs and language teaching software. These give you access to flexible and dynamic language teaching and learning through a range of different activities and audio material, in groups or individually.
Publishing room
Our publishing room is available to all students in the School of Arts, Humanities and Creative Industries. It’s a cosy space containing our publishing iMac, complete with the Adobe publishing software suite and more, for students to work on publishing projects from student societies and their own publishing ideas.
We have two small publishing presses associated with Literature and Languages - Veer Books and Potential Books - where students can gain valuable experience working with staff volunteering on book design, layout, editing and production. The room also serves as a library for previously published works from Veer Books and Potential Books.
Podcast room
The Podcast room is a unique space for our students to immerse themselves in the world of audio media. Equipped with a Yamaha AG06 mixer, Audio-Technica AT2020 condenser microphone, dynamic Shure SM58 microphone, and a Mac loaded with Audacity and GarageBand software, students can capture podcasts or interviews and produce digital outputs at a high standard.
The studio has been designed as a noise isolation room and is equipped with high-density soundproofing panels. It can be booked independently and used for practice-oriented assessments, or students can work with our lecturers to effectively create their own audio media.
Translation software
As a translation student, you will use market-leading Trados Studio, software used by over 190,000 translation professionals. Translation memory is at the heart of Trados Studio and works by recycling previously translated content, enabling translation projects to be completed more quickly. This software is also fully integrated with newest AI features, namely neural machine translation and interaction with large language models (LLMs).
Subtitling software
As a language student, you will get access to subtitling software so that you can practice with subtitling files and templates, which is common practice when working for broadcasters and streaming platforms. Copyright-free templates and (audiovisual) files are available to those taking dedicated subtitling classes in the Centre for Translation Studies.