Studying languages/translation at university.

Henry Hinds wrote:

Don't even think about translation until you have attained complete fluency in another language, including at least several years in a country where it is the official language.

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:


If translation is something you are seriously considering as your future career, then definitely a translation degree is better than a languages degree. The reason is that it is generally not enough to have a good knowledge of two or more languages in order to become a translator. Translation has its specific skills and you have to learn them.

Solid knowledge of two or more languages plus trained skills in translation is the best start for a new translator. Once you finish your studies, you should prepare to keep studying during your whole career as a translator which, added to the experience you will gain along time, will make you a valued professional with an interesting, varied, and profitable business in constant evolution.

If my situation is of any interest, I am returning to university in September... to do a degree in translation after almost 20 years translating full time with a reasonable success. I feel there are things missing in my knowledge and education that could make a big difference in the long run. By the time I expect to achieve my degree, I will probably be 53-54 years old.

Tina Hart wrote:

I always planned to go to university to study languages, although I wasn't sure which one (I've lived in a lot of countries and studied a lot of languages) and wasn't sure which course to take (at the time I didn't realise that translating via internet existed).

When I was 15 I met Lord Sainsbury (founder of Sainsbury's supermarkets) who told me that experience is much more important than a degree. That was when I decided that I wasn't going to go to University and instead worked in many different jobs, including financial and legal positions, which gave me the experience I really needed to do this job.

In my opinion I think that your money would be better spent living in a foreign country to perfect your language skills (I have been living in Spain for 8 years, married a Spaniard and all my friends are Spanish, which I have found much more helpful to learn Spanish than my A level, which did very little!)

I haven't found that many agencies require degrees, but rather ask about your experience.

In no way am I saying that a degree is a bad thing, in fact I have thought about doing a translation degree several times, but because I have so much translation work, I don't have the time!

Hope this helps and good luck with whatever you decide on.

Tina

Gitte Hovedskov, MCIL wrote:

Easy for me to say, because that's what I opted for.

Without any specific evidence to support this, I imagine that a 'straight language degree' has a lot of focus on the theory of language (linguistics, grammar etc.), history of the countries where the language is spoken, literature etc. and that it may be quite intellectual. A (good) translation degree will have compact modules about grammar and linguistics, history and literature, too, but it will have a much more direct focus on translation (and maybe interpretation), i.e. it is a much more 'practical' type of degree, aimed directly at a career as a translator/interpreter. Furthermore, it will probably offer you the opportunity to look at some of the largest specialisation fields, i.e. technical translation, legal translation, business translation and medical translation.

If you know already that you want to be a translator, then the logical thing is definitely to go for a translation degree, which will equip you to do research, work with the 'tools of the trade' (software) and turn over vast amounts of texts within short time frames. Somehow, I doubt that you learn any of that from a more 'classical' language degree.

It is a misconception that studying languages in a translation degree programme means that you gain a lesser insight into the languages studied. It is more a case of focusing on working with the languages rather than being able to explain the theory of how the languages work (hope this makes sense ). Furthermore, obviously, a translation degree focuses directly on transferring text from one language to another, quite an essential skill when you work as a translator.

And I would have to disagree with Tina's comment that 'experience is better'. Experience is essential, if you want to become an excellent translator, no doubt about that whatsoever. And I am sure there are cases where excellent translators have no official language training, but base their work on expertise gained in other professions. However, I would imagine that most of them are people who set out on different career paths and then at some stage in life opted to switch to translation based on their expert qualifications in specific fields AND a clear insight into their native and foreign languages. But this does not add up to being a 'better' option, and again, if you already know that you want to be a translator, why not learn the 'trade' as early as possible and then add experience from abroad to this?

Madeleine MacRae Klintebo wrote:

I've been told it's only one bad part and students never go there Or could the people trying to fill clearing places be biased? Nah...

Seriously, I've been reading up on both the uni and the city since my son was offered a place for PPE last week and am suitably impressed. And a place where Philip Larkin worked for 30 years can't be all bad.

If you decide to accept you better sort out accommodation asap, the best halls appear to be full already.

Josephine Cassar wrote:

Is it absolutely necessary for you to relocate?....

I wouldn't worry about the city too much (unless it's of paramount importance to you??). All English cities are pretty indistinguishable these days, they all have a Primark, a KFC, 4 of 5 McDonald branches, chain clubs, chain pubs, chain coffee shops and other chain stores which make it difficult to tell whether you're sat in Portsmouth or Peterborough.

Charlotte Farrell wrote:
I would say that where you plan to spend at least three years of your life is pretty important. There are reasons not related to reputation or course content why I applied to universities in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol but not Birmingham or Southampton (apologies to anyone who lives/studies there - they're just not my kind of place).