Translation and Interpreting MA – 2023 entry

Teaching staff

During the course, you will learn through a combination of regular language pair-specific practice modules, highlighting different aspects of the translation and interpreting profession, simulations of multilingual events (mock conferences, guided campus tours, distance interpreting), industry-relevant work in a translation agency, and a background lecture. Our experienced academic staff will help you develop a broad understanding of the current and future challenges in the field, while our professional translators and interpreters bring their workplace experience, standards and up-to-date knowledge of the market, into the classroom.

Professional development

You will enjoy regular contact with professional translators and interpreters in your practice-based modules and gain advanced knowledge of how technologies are shaping up the translation and interpreting industry. You’ll benefit from course components that emphasise the business aspects of the translation and interpreting profession.

You will practise with the latest computer-assisted translation software, corpus tools and resources, and gain advanced corpus-compilation and terminology extraction skills that make you stand out.

As a student, you’ll benefit from free access to the following software to help you learn about translation technology:

• SDL Trados Studio
• SDL MultiTerm
• Matecat
• Smartcat
• WinCaps
• Dragon Naturally Speaking
• Sketch Engine.

You’ll also have access to a cutting-edge two-way and multipoint videoconferencing system that simulates remote or distance interpreting, with delegates and interpreters interacting over video link.

You will have invaluable opportunities to further hone your interpreting skills and strategies in real-life working environments. For example, our students have recently provided interpreting services for various multilingual events held at the University of Surrey, such as workshops and graduation ceremonies. They have also refined their skills by participating in a remote interpreting Summer School and have developed projects with the local community, such as the Watts Gallery or the Guildford Walking Tours. 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 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
• Subtitlers 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.

Industry links

We have forged close links with the main professional bodies. For example, we have been invited to join the prestigious Chartered Institute of Linguists’ Higher Education Language Partnership and we are corporate members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. You can join these bodies as a student member during the course and become a full member after you graduate. We are also a member of the Translation Automation User Society and the European Language Industry Association, which gives you the possibility to apply for a work placement with various translation and interpreting partner companies. We collaborate with language service providers, and have an extensive network of visiting professionals, so you will benefit from excellent connections and be taught to industry standards.

We offer careers 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 events bookings, jobs, placements and interactive development tools.

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 will be well-equipped to begin work as a freelance or in-house translator or interpreter, or as a project manager for business, international organisations and public bodies.

The language services industry continues to grow despite a challenging international economic climate. Globalisation and technological innovation open up new markets and create novel demands for multilingual interpreting services to exchange knowledge and communicate with clients. As an MA Translation and 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, opening up new research opportunities. The Translation and Interpreting Studies dissertation enables you to consolidate the knowledge and skills acquired during the taught components of the programme and guides you along the identification and selection of an appropriate research topic or a translation/interpreting project or work placement. It is also one of the many ways of getting involved in ongoing research in the Centre for Translation Studies. We regularly have students who decide to stay on and 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.