Joint MA Programme in Translation
at the Department of English and American Studies and the Department of Romance Studies
Directors:
Professor Vessela Guenova, D. Litt., Department of Romance Studies, vgenova@uni-sofia.bg
Associate Professor Maria Pipeva, Ph.D., Department of English and American Studies, pipeva@uni-sofia.bg
Programme site: http://unisofia.minb.de/MAtransl/EnglishFrench/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MP.Prevod.SU/
The Joint MA Programme in Translation has been an accredited member of the EMT (European Network of Master’s in Translation Programmes) since 2009. EMT is a registered mark of the European Commission for the quality of translation training. Membership in the network is renewed every 5 years after an extremely strict evaluation procedure and strong competition.
The Joint MA Programme in Translation is a full-time taught programme lasting 3 semesters and worth 90 ECTS credits.
It offers the following language combinations: English–Bulgarian, English+French–Bulgarian, and French+English–Bulgarian.
The aim of the Programme is to equip students with the scholarly knowledge and practical skills, including those related to the specifics of the local and the international market of translation services and IT resources. The great number of elective courses offers students a wide range of options for specialisation in different areas of the translation profession. All courses, as well as the translation internship, allow students to get practical training in a real-life working environment and by working with experienced professionals.
The Programme welcomes students with very diverse BA backgrounds. Over the years, we have trained students with a background not only in languages, but also in economics, business studies, law, international relations, engineering, psychology, philosophy, history, biology, cultural studies, the performing arts, and others.
About 15% of our students are mature professionals with a strong motivation to enhance their skills and competences. The programme welcomes special-needs students and provides them with special accommodation to fit their unique needs (e.g. adapting course attendance, exam and internship modalities).
The Programme is oriented towards written translation but it also offers students the opportunity to acquire initial skills in consecutive and simultaneous interpreting.
Admission requirements:
- A Bachelor’s degree.
- Applicants for self-financed study must present proof that the average grade from their studies is not lower than 4.00.
- Applicants with a different academic background must provide a certificate of high proficiency (CEFR level C1-C2) in written and spoken English or French (or both).
- The admission exam, held in September, is in two parts. The first one is a written in-house exam. Applicants are required to translate a short general-purpose text from English/French into Bulgarian (applicants with both languages have to translate a text in each language). The use of dictionaries is allowed. Those who have successfully passed the written part of the exam proceed to the oral part. It is conducted as an interview in the course of which the applicants are expected to show their language competence, general knowledge, communication skills, and motivation to pursue the programme.
The lowest average grade from the two parts required for enrolment in the programme is 4.50.