The LINCS summer school is back!

This year we will be offering the following courses in translation and interpreting:

1. English Translation Summer School – On campus: 25-29 July 2022

2. Introduction to Interpreting Summer School – Online: 15-19 August 2022

3. English Retour Interpreting Summer School – Online: 22-26 August 2022

4. English Translation Summer School – Online: 22-26 August 2022

NB The Translation courses follow the same curriculum. The only difference is the delivery mode (on-campus/online).

Click here to sign up to these courses

Course 1 & 4: English Translation Summer School

This course is aimed at professional translators with 3 years’ experience working from or into English. It will focus on current practices and trends in the translation industry, with an in-depth look at market growth areas, technology and specialisations.

The course is designed as a series of workshops delivered by professional translation trainers based on a collaborative learning approach. Each day will include presentations by experienced practitioners, as well as opportunities for participants to share practice and engage in collaborative activities. 

Participants will gain an understanding of current market trends and explore new avenues that have seen rapid development in the last two years, namely the booming subtitle industry and the ever-growing integration of Machine Translation into everyday translation workflows.  

If you have any questions about entry requirements, course content or delivery, or you are unsure whether this course is for you, please contact the academic course coordinators Dr. Khadidja Merakchi and Ms. Juliette Rutherford at lincs.cpd@hw.ac.uk

Course 2: Introduction to Interpreting Summer School

This course has been designed for complete beginners to interpreting who are interested in learning about interpreting as a professional activity and as a discipline, and in applying their knowledge of English and another language from Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, or Spanish to develop interpreting skills (see below for additional languages).  

Students will develop consecutive, liaison and early simultaneous interpreting skills through online live sessions in the morning and in the afternoon (20 hours), as well as through daily off-line self-practice activities on a dedicated platform. Live sessions will be interactive and led by experienced interpreter trainers who will guide students, provide feedback, cover topics related to professional practice and the interpreting market, and facilitate discussions and collaboration among participants.  This course is aimed at participants with no or very basic knowledge of interpreting who are fluent in English and one other language.

*This course is not suitable for experienced interpreters or recent interpreting graduates. Experienced interpreters or recent Masters graduates looking to work on their English retour should consider applying for our English Retour Interpreting Summer School.

If you have any questions about entry requirements, course content or delivery, or you are unsure whether this course is for you, please contact the academic course coordinator Dr. Eloisa Monteoliva at lincs.cpd@hw.ac.uk

Course 3: English Retour Interpreting Summer School

This course has been designed for conference interpreters or recent interpreting graduates with English B who wish to concentrate on their output in English and to interpreters who wish to add English as an active language. Course participants are expected to have mastered consecutive and simultaneous interpreting techniques before joining the course.

The programme is intensive and consists of 20 hours of live sessions, including English language enhancement workshops for interpreters and interpreting practice workshops. In addition, students will have access to a learning and practice platform where they will complete self-study activities over the course of the week.

As part of the live sessions, participants will have the opportunity to practise interpreting into English with live speeches in their A languages in two mock multilingual conferences and will receive feedback from experienced interpreter trainers. Each mock conference will be held in a different Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI) platform so that participants can familiarise themselves with and gain first-hand experience of different RSI platforms.

Two students from Saint Margaret’s Academy in Edinburgh recently joined us for some work experience here at LINCS. Below is a short interview about their experience.

What are 3 facts you didn’t know about languages?

Rosie:
– The population of people in the world who learned English as their second language is larger than the population of native speakers.
– The Cambodian alphabet is the biggest in the world (74 characters).
– Studies have shown that learning a second language can improve your memory.

Aurora:
– Spanish has several words that can’t be translated into other languages, such as sobremesa, which means that you stay at a table after a meal to share conversation over coffee or wine.
– About 2⁄3 of all languages are from Asia and Africa.
– Over 20,000 new French words are created each year.

What are 3 things about working and studying in a university that you didn’t know?

Rosie:
– Most of it is up to you and life can be more flexible (studying).
– I didn’t know how many places there were to study. It motivates me to study more.
– I didn’t know that University professors’ salaries were public as most people like to keep them private.

Aurora:
– Studying in a university is much more independent than I thought it would be.
– Around 95% of students are in employment or further study within six months of graduating.
– Higher training, higher employment.

What is your motivation to study a language (or languages)

Rosie:
As my family only speaks English at home, we tend to speak English when we go abroad. Although we make an effort to speak in the country’s language when saying things like hello, thank you or please, I feel ignorant as the people in that country can always speak a lot of English. I want to make other people’s lives easier.

Aurora:
My motivation in studying languages comes from my future plans in travelling the world and being able to speak the language of the country that I plan on visiting or living in. It’s very motivating for me.

What are your career plans, and what role might languages play in that?

Rosie:
I have always been interested in law and politics. I like watching global conferences where many languages are spoken, and it has drawn me to look into translating. I was thinking of possibly studying law and the Spanish language, or even just Law and politics. This could lead me to interpreting in a political field which would touch on both of my interests.

Aurora:
In university I am interested to learn further about languages and possibly learn a new one like Chinese so I would be studying a language and then going to study interpreting and translating right after. I would like to interpret for business purposes and medical purposes.

My career plan is to become an interpreter or a translator in the future because I enjoy languages, and being able to translate and interpret text and conversations to another language.

What is your favourite thing about studying languages?

Rosie:
I enjoy seeing my progress in languages. This time last year I only knew very basic Spanish but as I started the more in-depth Nat 5 course, I have seen a lot of improvement. When I am out in my daily life or even watching a Spanish show, I am noticing how much more I can understand. I could probably give a brief summary at the very most, but it shows progression. It motivates me to continue learning the language as the outcome could be very useful.

Aurora:
My favourite thing about learning languages is learning new words and slowly being able to have a conversation in that language. It’s a very rewarding feeling that I treasure.

Where do you think languages can take you?

Rosie:
Knowing another language can open up so many opportunities for you. If you visit a different country, for example, knowing only one language limits what you can do as there is a low chance that everyone can speak your language. Knowing a second language doubles your chances of being able to communicate with other people.

Aurora:
Studying a language and knowing one opens up lots of opportunities and work placements in the future. Learning a language also opens up the ability to being able to communicate with people all around.

What advice would you give to someone considering studying a language but are unsure?

Rosie:
It’s easier than you think. It does require a lot of work but once you get the gist of the language and how sentences are structured, it is very enjoyable. It’s a very rewarding experience as well. Once you get the hang of something it is difficult to forget it, so it strengthens your knowledge of the language and makes learning new things easier.

Aurora:
Studying a language can be very intimidating for someone. I still remember coming into Scotland for the first time and not being able to communicate with anyone and it felt like I could never learn English; but with time, you will be able to learn it and understand it. Make sure to not force yourself and take it at your own pace is my most important advice.