Study programmes

The full-time MA study of INTERPRETING (specialisations in Czech and English, Czech and French, Czech and German, Czech and Russian, and Czech and Spanish) offers both the theoretical background to interpreting and practical interpreter training, developing the skills needed for professional or academic career and creative work. As part of a two-subject degree programme it can be combined with any field of humanities that itself enables such a combination. While building in particular on the knowledge and skills taught in the BA programme English/ French/ German/ Russian/ Spanish for Intercultural Communication, it is also open to graduates in similar disciplines (not necessarily with a philological focus) who successfully pass both the written and the oral part of the entrance examination. The MA programme in INTERPRETING at the Institute of Translation Studies maintains a high standard of quality required of
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all partners´universities, members of the EMCI Consortium (European Masters in Conference Interpreting). The curriculum is well balanced: vocational training is grounded in broader academic education and shaped according to the specific demands of the domestic and international interpreting market. It builds on the assumption that graduates will specialize in their career, focusing on specific interpreting disciplines. In addition to conference interpreting, the students are trained in community interpreting and/or bilateral, i.e. interpreting in the context of social security, welfare and other public services. They are also introduced to the latest technology and interactive teaching methods (interpreted video conferences, virtual teaching applications, and RSI platforms for on-line simultaneous interpreting, using CAI tools as well as electronic audio/video databases, i.e. the so-called speech repositories for training simultaneous and consecutive interpreting). The curriculum puts emphasis not only on standard interpreting skills demanded by the labour market but also on the supranational dimension of the field and the graduates´ ability to work in international interpreting teams or for non-governmental and non-profit organizations.
The general focus of the MA programme is on the practical application of professional and academic skills: apart from classroom activity this includes e.g. interpreting traineeships in Czech and international institutions, including the EU structures, and ERASMUS+ placements. The students present the results of their work at the annual St Jerome´s Days (Jeronýmovy dny), a professional event organized by the Union of Translators and Interpreters, and at conferences organized by partner universities. MA graduates with a degree in INTERPRETING can continue their studies in the Translation Studies doctoral programme or other, related Ph.D. programmes at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, or other Czech and international higher education institutions.