Masters in southern England Thread poster: Aizeti Carlos-de-Vergara
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Hi,
I am considering taking a masters course in southern England, and I've noticed the University of Surrey offers a course in Business Translation with Interpreting. I have been trying to find information about the reputation and quality of this course, but I have found hardly any.
I'm looking to do a course that is relatively practical rather than theoretical, and that provides me with the ability to start developing my career in a specialist subject.
I... See more Hi,
I am considering taking a masters course in southern England, and I've noticed the University of Surrey offers a course in Business Translation with Interpreting. I have been trying to find information about the reputation and quality of this course, but I have found hardly any.
I'm looking to do a course that is relatively practical rather than theoretical, and that provides me with the ability to start developing my career in a specialist subject.
I would be very grateful for any advice about the Surrey course or suggestions of alternative courses in southern England.
Many thanks for any advice you might be able give me.
[Edited at 2008-12-26 23:25 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Karen Stokes 
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:07
Member (2003)
French to English
| University of Westminster | Dec 27, 2008 |
The University of Westminster (central London) has a well-established MA in translation with a range of options that might interest you - see http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sshl/page-3748.
I'm aware of the Surrey course but I'm afraid I don't know anything about it.
Best,
Karen
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Lenah Susianty
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:07
Member (2004)
English to Indonesian
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Karen Stokes
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:07
Member (2003)
French to English
| City: part-time / distance learning | Dec 27, 2008 |
Bear in mind that the MA / PG Diploma in Legal Translation at City is part-time over 2 years with a significant proportion of the work completed by distance learning, which may or may not suit you, depending on your circumstances.
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Jalapeno
Local time: 14:07
English to German
The University of Surrey has been offering an MA in Translation for decades and has a very, very good reputation. The MA in Business Translation seems to be a new programme, but I'm sure it's as good as the established programmes.
In addition, Guildford is a rather nice town to live in, and it's very close to London ...
I'm not just saying this because I got my MA there ...
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I'm finding the suggestions very helpful, please keep them coming!:)
Karen - I was happy to read your suggestion because I have been considering some courses offered there. Just one concern: Westminster seems to have quite a good reputation for languages, but in the main lists of university rankings it doesn't score very high. Could this be a weakness in my future CV?
Lenah, your suggestion was also interesting, I'll get some information about that course.
... See more I'm finding the suggestions very helpful, please keep them coming!:)
Karen - I was happy to read your suggestion because I have been considering some courses offered there. Just one concern: Westminster seems to have quite a good reputation for languages, but in the main lists of university rankings it doesn't score very high. Could this be a weakness in my future CV?
Lenah, your suggestion was also interesting, I'll get some information about that course.
Thanks Johannes. It's always good to have a positive opinion of someone who has had direct contact with the university I am interested in.
Best. ▲ Collapse
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| City University - MA/PG Dip in Legal Translation | Dec 28, 2008 |
Hi there
I started the 2-year part-time MA in Legal Translation at City University back in September.
The course involves four modules a year of 4 days each at City Uni itself and then the rest is course work / assignments done at home.
Despite its seemingly practical course name, there is a lot of theoretical stuff involved e.g. translation theory and research methodology, but the lectures on the law of England and Wales and then the language-specific sessions have been... See more Hi there
I started the 2-year part-time MA in Legal Translation at City University back in September.
The course involves four modules a year of 4 days each at City Uni itself and then the rest is course work / assignments done at home.
Despite its seemingly practical course name, there is a lot of theoretical stuff involved e.g. translation theory and research methodology, but the lectures on the law of England and Wales and then the language-specific sessions have been useful and as this is the first year they're offering this course, we are still very much guinea pigs with improvements being made along the way.
There is also talk of them offering a similar course in financial translation in the years to come if this would be of more interest to you - otherwise I have heard the general one in Translation Studies at Westminster is a very good course.
Rachel ▲ Collapse
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| Facing the same Surrey problem... | Dec 29, 2008 |
Hi all,
Thanks to Itezia for starting this thread. I'm also a relative newbie and considering a Masters at Surrey but have faced a similar problem that there appears to be little information about Surrey courses out there (although I freely confess the fact that as a student who has read a few forums, I am no expert!).
From my research Westminster, City, Imperial, etc. all seemed to be mentioned quite a bit (both in this thread and others) whereas there seems to be very... See more Hi all,
Thanks to Itezia for starting this thread. I'm also a relative newbie and considering a Masters at Surrey but have faced a similar problem that there appears to be little information about Surrey courses out there (although I freely confess the fact that as a student who has read a few forums, I am no expert!).
From my research Westminster, City, Imperial, etc. all seemed to be mentioned quite a bit (both in this thread and others) whereas there seems to be very little on Surrey (aside from Johannes' useful comment). I find this quite suprising given that looking at the tables (Times, Guardian, etc.), Surrey seems to rank relatively high as a university as a whole. Although, of course, universities do develop specialities.
I would also welcome additional information that anyone may have on the reputation/quality of the Surrey courses.
Many thanks.
James ▲ Collapse
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RobinB
United States
Local time: 07:07
German to English
| Forget the standard ranking tables | Dec 30, 2008 |
James Campbell wrote: I find this quite suprising given that looking at the tables (Times, Guardian, etc.), Surrey seems to rank relatively high as a university as a whole. Although, of course, universities do develop specialities.
The standard university ranking tables are pretty uninformative where translation's concerned - I'm pretty sure that translation is such a minor subject that nobody bothers to factor it into any league tables.
What's more important here is what the translation profession thinks of the courses offered. The Westminster postgrad courses have a good reputation, for example, as do the Surrey courses - though my feeling is that times have probably changed since the very rigorous standards applied at Surrey as recently as the 1990s (this applies to many UK postgrad courses, of course). The Imperial course is basically a conversion course for science graduates, and seems to have very high standards, though entry is of course more or less impossible for traditional arts graduates. The City University Legal Translation MA is part-time "blended" learning, and I'm sure it will be very successful (I have to admit a personal interest here). The first course that started in September 2008 was so popular that they've decided to offer starting every year (rather than every two years as originally planned).
Some of the "new" universities in and around London also offer translation-related degrees, though I've yet to come across any students or graduates.
Robin
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RobinB
United States
Local time: 07:07
German to English
| The rankings mean nothing for translation | Dec 30, 2008 |
Itezia wrote: Just one concern: Westminster seems to have quite a good reputation for languages, but in the main lists of university rankings it doesn't score very high. Could this be a weakness in my future CV?
No, certainly not if you are going to pursue a career in translation, where different standards and rankings apply.
The other thing to remember is that a translation degree may be helpful, but it can't replace innate transation ability. It's not in itself a passport to a successful career.
Robin
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| Lists aren't that relevant | Jan 1, 2009 |
Robin,
Thanks very much for your advice and interesting to hear your take on the different courses on offer at different universities. I understand what you mean by the overall rankings not being specific enough to take into account translation courses.
I guess the only logic in paying attention to the general lists is that it may make it easier to branch out into other professions (where rankings are possibly more applicable) should a career in translation not work ou... See more Robin,
Thanks very much for your advice and interesting to hear your take on the different courses on offer at different universities. I understand what you mean by the overall rankings not being specific enough to take into account translation courses.
I guess the only logic in paying attention to the general lists is that it may make it easier to branch out into other professions (where rankings are possibly more applicable) should a career in translation not work out.
In any case many thanks for taking the time to reply and your comments on Surrey arevery helpful. Once again I'd be very grateful for any other views people may have on the Surrey courses!
Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!
James ▲ Collapse
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Phil Bird
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:07
Spanish to English
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| MSc at Imperial | Jan 4, 2009 |
[quote]RobinB wrote:
The Imperial course is basically a conversion course for science graduates, and seems to have very high standards, though entry is of course more or less impossible for traditional arts graduates.
Robin
I would disagree with the last sentence above - I am a "traditional arts graduate" studying on the Masters course at Imperial, and I would even suggest that the majority of students on the course fit into that category - there is a focus on Scientific, Technical and Medical translation in the practical modules, but the rest seems to be more general translation studies. Having said that, ou do need to be interested in the Scientific and Technical end of translation and as such it would not be the best course for a budding legal or literary translator. There is quite a strong emphasis on CAT tools and electronic publishing, and there is some coverage of software and web localisation as well....
Here's the link to the course page:
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/humanities/translationgroup/mscintranslation
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions
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