questions on Esit (Paris) Thread poster: Avril Liu
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Hello everyone,
I’ve noticed on the homepage of the school that before taking the entrance exam for conference interpretation, one must have the experience of sejour in the country of language B for at least one year. I’m especially concerned as to which countries are included. Say, taking French as the language B, the country to live in does it necessarily need to be France? What about African countries where French is spoken as official language? I’m asking because I have ri... See more Hello everyone,
I’ve noticed on the homepage of the school that before taking the entrance exam for conference interpretation, one must have the experience of sejour in the country of language B for at least one year. I’m especially concerned as to which countries are included. Say, taking French as the language B, the country to live in does it necessarily need to be France? What about African countries where French is spoken as official language? I’m asking because I have right now in mind the idea of working in Africa for two years as interpretor, in order to finance the study that I am to pursuit.
Another thing is that, how much should one prepare before going to study in Paris? What’s the cost for one year, everything included?
I’m told that ESIT is a university from which it’s really difficult to graduate? Is that true?
I’m Chinese, 24 right now and have graduated from university two years ago. Am I a little bit too old to take the exam and follow the course two years later?
Any comments are welcomed.
[Edited at 2015-07-15 06:01 GMT]
[Edited at 2015-07-15 06:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adam Warren 
France
Local time: 22:39
Member (2005)
French to English
| You're not too old | Jul 15, 2015 |
I'm 65 and still translating, and at 24, you're somewhere near the beginning of your career - not that I wish to patronise, I hasten to emphasise.
My impression when I went to an ESIT conference a year ago was that the teaching staff were very strong on interpreting and "le de-briefing", but a colleague and I came away sharing the impression that they underemphasised revision, the de-briefing side of translation. I don't wish to swank... See more I'm 65 and still translating, and at 24, you're somewhere near the beginning of your career - not that I wish to patronise, I hasten to emphasise.
My impression when I went to an ESIT conference a year ago was that the teaching staff were very strong on interpreting and "le de-briefing", but a colleague and I came away sharing the impression that they underemphasised revision, the de-briefing side of translation. I don't wish to swank, but I owe my craft to some of the world's finest revisers, in an international organisation, and I get a great deal of satisfaction out of passing on to colleagues what my elders imparted to me.
Obviously, you will need to seek advice from an insider in your branch of the profession, but it strikes me as well worthwhile to enquire closely about the skills the ESIT course is designed to train you in, the approach, the pace and the goals.
Just to be on the safe side, it would be worth "snooping around" some other leading training institutions as alternatives, with the same array of enquiries.
As regards your background, perhaps a preliminary enquiry should be made to ESIT about your age and your French-as-B-language credentials. On the face of it, though, your professional aspirations look interesting, perhaps a little out of the ordinary, and there must be career potential in, say, the Development and NGO fields. You may wish to to present yourself from the perspective of goals beyond your training, and see where your background and experience can take you both now and after you graduate.
That, though, is perhaps a different question on a wider canvas, taking in ESIT and its sister-institutions such as ISIT and Rennes, but also this host venue, the French SFT and the ITI in the UK.
This discussion is obviously very general in scope, but I hope it may help you focus and crystallise your ideas and aims. Don't lose heart!
With kind regards,
Adam Warren
(IanDhu - ProZ translator 41189) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Avril Liu
China
Local time: 04:39
TOPIC STARTER
IanDhu wrote: I'm 65 and still translating, and at 24, you're somewhere near the beginning of your career - not that I wish to patronise, I hasten to emphasise. My impression when I went to an ESIT conference a year ago was that the teaching staff were very strong on interpreting and " le de-briefing", but a colleague and I came away sharing the impression that they underemphasised revision, the de-briefing side of translation. I don't wish to swank, but I owe my craft to some of the world's finest revisers, in an international organisation, and I get a great deal of satisfaction out of passing on to colleagues what my elders imparted to me. Obviously, you will need to seek advice from an insider in your branch of the profession, but it strikes me as well worthwhile to enquire closely about the skills the ESIT course is designed to train you in, the approach, the pace and the goals. Just to be on the safe side, it would be worth "snooping around" some other leading training institutions as alternatives, with the same array of enquiries. As regards your background, perhaps a preliminary enquiry should be made to ESIT about your age and your French-as-B-language credentials. On the face of it, though, your professional aspirations look interesting, perhaps a little out of the ordinary, and there must be career potential in, say, the Development and NGO fields. You may wish to to present yourself from the perspective of goals beyond your training, and see where your background and experience can take you both now and after you graduate. That, though, is perhaps a different question on a wider canvas, taking in ESIT and its sister-institutions such as ISIT and Rennes, but also this host venue, the French SFT and the ITI in the UK. This discussion is obviously very general in scope, but I hope it may help you focus and crystallise your ideas and aims. Don't lose heart! With kind regards, Adam Warren (IanDhu - ProZ translator 41189)
Many thanks for your patience and advise, I really appreciate it. I’m trying my best, on one hand to seek info from insiders and on the other hand, to improve personal competence in the language pairs. I won’t give it up as it’s the only thing that can animate my mind and keep me striving to be a better me.
| | | | Adam Warren
France
Local time: 22:39
Member (2005)
French to English
| Some business intelligence required | Oct 29, 2015 |
Avril Liu wrote:
....
I’m told that ESIT is a university from which it’s really difficult to graduate? Is that true?
A further thought for you, Avril: it would be interesting to compare the graduation statistics of a number of language-training institutions. Your remark raises a question: how high is an institution's failure rate? And what is the distribution of its graduation marks?
I think it's important for an institution not to simply "cream off" the most promising candidates, and leave the rest to struggle for themselves. A reputable institution must surely deal even-handedly with all its students, and provide satisfactory education for most if not all of its student intake.
A further criterion is the job-hunting success of an institution's graduates.
I wish you the best of luck in your search.
With kind regards,
Adam Warren (IanDhu - Translator/41189)
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 22:39
French to English
I graduated from ESIT.
As far as I can tell, the creaming stage at ESIT is the entrance exam rather than the course. I know far more people who never got in than people who got in and didn't pass their finals.
I would check with the school as to whether a French-speaking African country would be OK for your foreign stay, but logically I don't see why not, provided French is an official language. Lately, some former colonies have been doing away with French in favour of... See more I graduated from ESIT.
As far as I can tell, the creaming stage at ESIT is the entrance exam rather than the course. I know far more people who never got in than people who got in and didn't pass their finals.
I would check with the school as to whether a French-speaking African country would be OK for your foreign stay, but logically I don't see why not, provided French is an official language. Lately, some former colonies have been doing away with French in favour of English (Gabon I believe already has and others have threatened to follow suit) ▲ Collapse
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