Course Summary
This programme trains students in the professional skills of conference interpreting, enabling them to avail of the employment opportunities for qualified interpreting professionals.
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Career Sectors
This course prepares you for working in the Career Sectors below. Follow the links to get a fuller understanding of the sectors you are preparing for.
Entry Requirements
An excellent command of their mother tongue;
Good communication skills;
Strong comprehension of their chosen languages;
A high degree of motivation.
Admission to the programme is subject to success in both a suitability test and an interview. Language ability will be ascertained by the programme director during an interview as per a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the EU institutions.
The entrance assessment involves:
A short interview to assess your motivation and attitude towards the course;
Translation of a short article from each of your working languages, without the use of translation tools or dictionaries (This is done electronically and does not require a presence in Galway)
A concentration exercise in your proposed language combination, i.e. you will listen to a 2-3 minutes speech in each of your C or B languages and will have to reformulate it in your A language/mother tongue. The oral reproduction of these short and structured speeches from the candidate’s C and B languages* into A* and, where appropriate, A into B, is to test applicants’ ability to listen to, understand, process and reproduce a short speech on a general topic. They must show that they have understood the message and are able to communicate it. (This is done electronically and does not require a presence in Galway)
Application Details
Closing Date
No deadline. Offers will be issued on a continuous basis, however candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible as places are limited to 12 and demand outweighs supply.
Course code
MEA-ATC (MA); TIAR-ATC (PDip)
Applications are made online via the University of Galway Postgraduate Applications System. Admission to the programme is subject to success in both a suitability test and an interview.
To access the course, you will need one of the following language profiles* Based on the official AIIC definition of same:
AA or AB (biactive/polyvalent) or ABC or ACC or ACCC
A Language(s) is “The interpreter's native language (or another language strictly equivalent to a native language), into which the interpreter works from all her or his other languages, and as a general rule, in both modes of interpretation, simultaneous and consecutive.”
B Language(s) is “A language other than the interpreter's native language, of which she or he has a perfect command and into which she or he works from one or more of her or his other languages. Some interpreters work into a 'B' language in only one of the two modes of interpretation.”
C Language(s) is a language of which the interpreter has a complete understanding and from which she or he works.”
*one of the working languages must be English or Irish.
Next start date September 2024
Fees
Fees: Tuition €7,500 p.a. 2024/25
Fees: Student levy €140 p.a. 2024/25
Fees: Non EU €€18,500 p.a. (18,640 including levy) 2024/25
Student levy €140—payable by all students and is not covered by SUSI.
The Student
Career Interests
This course is typically suited for people with the following Career Interests. If these interests do not describe you, this course may prepare you for work you may not find satisfying.
Linguistic
The Linguistic's interests are usually focused on ideas and information exchange. They tend to like reading a lot, and enjoy discussion about what has been said. Some will want to write about their own ideas and may follow a path towards journalism, story writing or editing. Others will develop skills in other languages, perhaps finding work as a translator or interpreter. Most Linguistic types will enjoy the opportunity to teach or instruct people in a topic they are interested in.
Career Progression
Students must obtain a postgraduate qualification in Conference Interpreting to allow them to sit the Inter-Institutional EU Accreditation Tests and work as a professional conference interpreter. Students completing this course can avail of considerable employment opportunities worldwide as interpreting services are frequently required at conferences, seminars and so on. Many graduates work with EU and UN institutions. Opportunities are also available outside the large international organisations.
Duration
The course is full-time. 80% of your classes shall be devoted to interpreting practice and students are expected to complement this by devoting time to group practice of simultaneous and consecutive interpreting and other self-directed learning (i.e. background reading; use of information sources, e.g. radio, TV, Internet; preparation of glossaries). For every hour of class time, a student can expect to complete 6 hours independent study. Enrolment on a full-time programme means a commitment to 40-50 hours of total student effort per week throughout all the weeks of each semester. Such levels of engagement and activity will make it more likely that students will acquire a high level of knowledge and understanding of their chosen subjects, feel confident in their abilities and experience less stress during assessments and be better prepared for subsequent years.
The class timetable changes weekly because the interpreting sessions are conducted by practicing/experienced conference interpreters with teaching skills, who work actively on the market.
Attendance is not optional, but an obligatory requirement. Clearly, there will be extenuating circumstances faced by students from time to time, such as illness and other personal difficulties. In such circumstances students must give notice of their absence.