Communicate! is pleased to introduce this new version of "Advice to Students", one of the most consulted pages on AIIC.NET with over 100,000 views. A new format and hyperlinks to other articles should help you find the information you need about our field and the possibilities open for pursuing studies. We encourage you to explore our growing website. If you should not find an answer to your question or would simply like to share your views, please leave a comment here."

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Many thanks and congratulations to the Training Committee! I am e-mailing the page to my students right now. Such articles are always of great help to show students that whatever you tell them in class is painstakingly repeated to hundreds of students all around the world and that they are not alone in their concerns and worries.

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i am a Chinese student. i am very interested in the oral intepreter field. And i know there are two universities in China------Beijing foreign language University and Shanghai Foreign language University have master degree program in this field. I want to know which university has a better reputation in this area. Thanks a lot!

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i think both of them are nice, i am looking for a school as well, for French , English and Chinese.

i would like to talk about it with you.

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Dear Rebecca,
As a rule the Aiic Training Committee does not comment on an institution’s reputation or quality of teaching. However, we do endeavour to publish as much information as possible on training institutions, on the basis of their replies to a questionnaire, so that prospective students can form their own opinion. In your case, you may find further information on the courses at Shanghai International Studies University in the Aiic Directory of Schools (http://www.aiic.net/schools/?fuseaction=InRegion®ion_id=3&name=ASIA%2DPACIFIC). Unfortunately, we do not have any information concerning the master course in Beijing.

Moreover, from the very beginnings of modern conference interpretation, Aiic members have been closely involved in interpreter training programmes. Drawing on this collective experience, the AIIC Training Committee has established a series of criteria for best practice in interpreter training(http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm?article_id=27&plg=1), which you may want to take into account when you consider enrolling in a training programme.

Best wishes

Carlo Marzocchi
on behalf of the Aiic Training Commitee

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I am very grateful that such a message board has been established for people like me, wanting to become a conferance interpreter!

I am planning to study at the University of Western Sydney in Australia. There is a masters course in Interpreting and Translation. Although the course is accredited by NAATI(Australias National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters), it`s not on your directory of interpretation schools. Is there a reason for this? Could some one please advise me, if the course is worth attending, to prepare myself to become a conference interpreter? Thank you in advance!

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The fact that a particular institution is not mentioned in the aiic directory may be simply due to the fact that the aiic Training committee was not able to obtain a reply to our questionnaire from that institution, and certainly does not mean that it is does not offer good training in translation or interpreting, perhaps also in conference interpreting.

Moreover, from the very beginnings of modern conference interpretation, Aiic members have been closely involved in interpreter training programmes. Drawing on this collective experience, the AIIC Training Committee has established a series of criteria for best practice in interpreter training(http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm?article_id=27&plg=1); you may want to take into account these best practices when you consider enrolling in a training programme.

Good luck with your training!

The aiic Training Commitee

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I'm living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
I've been looking for a worldwide recognized course of interpretation which is conducted in my home country. But I'm still in a desperation.
Through Google searching, I'm directed to the AIIC website for info on CI training. I'm quited interested in this professional training. But when I access the directory of training schools, I'm disappointed that no course is /will be taught in Vietnam.
Grateful that you'll give an advice on who I should contact to be enrolled in the CI training.

Thanks and kind regards,
Duc Hai

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Dear Duc Hai,

Unfortunately at the moment we are not aware of any course in conference interpreting in Vietnam. Please note however that this does not mean that such a course could not take place in the future. The aiic directory of courses is updated every couple of years, so you may want to check again in the future. In the meanwhile, you could perhaps consider enrolling in a programme in the country where your main foreign language is spoken.

Best regards

Carlo Marzocchi
on behalf of the Aiic Training Committee

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Good afternoon,

In July I’m invited to take the entrance test for the Conference Interpreting course at Westminster University. I know I’ll be required to make translations into my active language and further there will be a general knowledge and language awareness test, as well as interview and interpreting tests. Does anyone have any experience with such a test? What kind of texts can you expect? Is it allowed to use dictionaries? In which language do they conduct the interview? Do you have any recommendations for me? I’m really looking forward to this program and all helpful suggestions are very welcome :-)

Thank you.

Mila.

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Hi Mila!

I'm exactly in your same situation. I've been invited to the entrance test in august-september.
I'm extremely interested in the contents of this test; did you do it already? If so, could you please let me know about it?

Thanks in advance!

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I notice the only program listed in the US is the Masters at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Does anyone know where I can find a list of universities that offer serious programs (a Master's degree or a something that would prepare one to be a conference interpreter) in other parts of the country? I am especially interested in any program that is on the East Coast.

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Dear Alexandra,

We have checked with colleagues in the US before answering your enquiry and unfortunately at the moment we do not know of any other programme specifically targeted at conference interpreting (whereas several programmes specializing in court- or community interpreting exist). Depending on the student's circumstances, we suggest that enrolling in a programme in the country of one's first foreign language is always a viable option.

Best regards

Carlo Marzocchi
on behalf of the Aiic Training Committee

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Bonjour,

J'ai une question à propos du programme d'interprétation à La Laguna en Espagne. En effet, j'ai bien envoyé un formulaire pour que je puisse me présenter pour les examens d'admission de cette école. Quelques semaines plus tard, j'ai lu que l'école compte sur un soutien pédagogique de l'Union européenne, alors je me suis demandé si ce programme ne prépare ces gradués pour travailler que dans l'Union européenne. A cause de ma nationalité, je ne pourrai jamais travailler au sein de l'Union européenne. Je me suis renseigné auprès du secrétariat de La Laguna et je n'ai reçu aucune réponse et ceci après qu'ils m'avaient assuré que j'étais inscrit pour les examens à Madrid en juin. Est-ce une école qui ne prépare que des étudiants qui possèdent l'espagnol comme langue maternelle? Ce n'est pas très clair pour moi car j'ai lu dans un autre forum où Jaclyn Harmer recommandait à un étudiant de poursuivre des études d'interprétation en Espagne afin de bien renforcer sa langue C. J'affiche ces informatoins en espérant recevoir une réponse ici parce que je n'ai évidemment pas eu beaucoup de chance en m'adressant direcetement à l'école (j'ai envoyé environ 3 e-mails). Merci en avance pour votre assitance.

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Dear Joshua,

Regardless of the employment opportunities that your nationality may or may not open to you, interpreter training institutions normally do not train exclusively for a specific market (in this case the EU institutions) although the language combinations offered and the contents of training may more or less be targeted onto a specific professional situation.

The reason why you had problems in enrolling in La Laguna is that a training institution will have a policy as to the A or B languages of students.
The school in La Laguna, according to our latest survey, requires of students that Spanish is either the A or the B language ((http://www.aiic.net/schools/?fuseaction=Dsp&School_id=103)

So it is still a good idea to study in the country of one of your foreign languages, provided your language combination fits in with the particular institution's requirements.

Best

C. Marzocchi
on behalf of the Aiic Training committee

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I'm a Chinese student and hope to get admitted in a Postgraduate Programme of Interpreting and Translation or Conference Interpreting in the September of 2007.

I didnt have much official university learning background, received vocational training after middle school and majored in Chinese cooking. But, through self-study, i got Cambridge Business English Certificat 3 in 2001, Grade 8 (Test for English Majors) in 2002, and advanced English/Chinese Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretating certificate (National Accreditation Exam for Translators and Interpreters, organized by the Chinese Ministry of Education and BeiJing Foreign Studies University) in the last September.

I worked as an English teacher for 2 years in private schools in BeiJing, and have worked as a freelancing interpreter and translator for 2 years. I'd like to make further study in Translation and Interpretating, especially to conduct some research in Interpretating.I have a deep interest in Psychology and have spent some time studying it, I'd like to put the Psychology knowledge in the study of Interpretating.
With a MA, making a bigger contribution to the world by working as a staff interpreter for international organizations ( such as UN ) or teaching in a University can become a reality for me.


Do i have to present a Bachlor Degree? Because i dont have one.
I attended Self-Study-Exam in China (organized by the Chinese Ministry of Education) and got an associate diploma in Economics and Trade English ( it's equivalent to a BA now ). Is it helpful?
I spent one year studying Intellectual Property in the University of International Business and Economics. Is it helpful?

Is the possiblility of getting a full scholarship high? Because I can't afford to study in a foreign country without it.

All suggestions are welcome!

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Dear Eddy, congratulations on the variety of your skills. Formal university training is not required (but we highly recommend it) if you want to practice as a free-lance interpreter; however, most international organizations (like the UN which you mentioned) require of their language staff that they have a university degree.

Under the heading "Asia Pacific" our online Directory of Interpretation Schools (http://www.aiic.net/schools/) mentions the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation of the Shanghai International Studies University, which fulfils all or most of AIIC's training criteria.

There may be other interpreter training institutions in China and I am sure you will be able to find them on the Internet. We recommend, however, that you carefully check the information you obtain from them against the best practices in interpreter training that AIIC has established over the years (http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm?article_id=27&plg=1).

Good luck!

The AIIC Training Committee

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Je suis une étudiante bilingue (français/espagnol), née à Genève, mais habitant actuellement à Malaga, en Espagne. J'ai fait mes études universitaires à Malaga, licence en Trad. et Interprétation, cependant pour améliorer ma formation en interprétation j'aimerais faire un master ou DESS en interprétation.

Juste après avoir fini mes études universitaires j'ai commencé mon DEA en Traduction et Interprétation à Malaga et la même année (l'année passée) j'ai présenté ma candidature à l'ETI de GE et j'y suis allée pour passer les 7 examens d'admissions des différentes combinaisons mais malheureusement je ne les ai pas tous passés. J'avais choisi comme combinaison linguistique (Espagnol-A / Français-B / Anglais-C / Italien-C). J'ai étudié 10 mois en l'an 2000 aux USA et pendant mes études universitaires en 3eme année, 10 mois en Italie, à la SSLMIT à Forlì.
J'aimerais me présenter à nouveau aux examens mais je ne sais pas comment me préparer pour les réussir ou si je devrais plutôt réduire la combinaison linguistique à deux ou trois langues au lieu de 4 et les rajouter dans le futur.
J'apprécierais des conseils sur ce sujet.
De plus, j'aimerais savoir si vous pourriez m'informer sur les meilleurs masters /DESS qu'il y a en ce moment pour ne pas me tromper et choisir celui qui me donnera la meilleure formation comme interprète de conférence vu que mon rêve serait de travailler en tant que tel. Merci d'avance pour votre réponse.

Mes salutations les plus sincères.
Jessica Subire

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