Curriculum

I found this document providing curriculums for Conference interpreting master programs (European Masters in Conference Interpreting) at Babes Bolyai University - Roumania. It is the first time I see such a detailed curriculum with chronology. The program comes in two flavors, a one year and a two years version. I picked the chronology of the one year program, skipped the later part especially focused on simul, and added a few adjunct courses from the 2 years program that are of value to notice. My major concerns through this blog has been two-fold : consec in liaison (call it business consec or in broader terms something that relates in part to community consec), and practices of self-training. My stand-point is that of a standard interpreter with no formal training. My belief is that such profile fits to the greater number of interpreters world-wide. Books on community interpreting raise the fact - whether you hate it or not - that there are indeed many practicing interpreters and many situations performing their act with various levels of competence. A second assumption is that a majority of such self-made interpreters want to progress even out of school by practicing possibly in some systematic ways daily exercises. The Internet gives access to a wealth of resources in many language. The objective is to devise alternative usage strategies of those resources for the benefit of the freelance interpreter whose concern are two-fold : improving B language, improving interpreting techniques. Although not all entries of this curriculum are self-explaning, I find here hints at progressive tasks for self-training curriculum. What is missing here though is that with liaison consec interpreting, the interpreter must perform both A-> B and B-> A. I added after the original curriculum a tentative adapted curriculum that would ideally better fit liaison interpreting needs. This is of course a first shot open to harsh criticisms.

Original curriculum

October (4 weeks)

1. Rephrasing and paraphrasing exercises (A -> A)
2. Cognitive analysis and summarising (B -> A; C ->A)
3. Consecutive without note-taking (B->A; C->A)
4. Introduction to consecutive (B->A; C->A)

Additional

1. Active listening exercises (A->A)
2. Active listening and memory/focus exercises (A->A)

1. Consecutive with notes: easy short speeches
2. Consecutive with notes: medium diificulty speeches


November (4 weeks)

1. Analysis and synthesis (B->A; C->A)
2. Note-taking (B->A; C->A)
3. Speech preparation (B; A)
4. Consecutive with or without note-taking; comparative exercises (B->A; C->A)

December and January (6 weeks)

1. Consecutive with increasingly difficult speeches (B->A; C->A)
2. Public speaking
3. Consecutive, considerable difficulty (B->A; C->A)
4. Sight translation

Adapted curriculum centered on liaison interpreting

Original curriculum

October (4 weeks)

1. Rephrasing and paraphrasing exercises (A -> A; B-> B)
2. Cognitive analysis and summarising (B -> A; A ->B)
3. Consecutive without note-taking (B->A; A->B)
4. Introduction to consecutive (B->A; A->B)

Additional

1. Active listening exercises (A->A; B-> B)
2. Active listening and memory/focus exercises (A->A; B-> B)

1. Consecutive with notes: easy short speeches (B->A; A->B)
2. Consecutive with notes: medium diificulty speeches (B->A; A->B)


November (4 weeks)

1. Analysis and synthesis (B->A; A->B)
2. Note-taking (B->A; A->B)
3. Speech preparation (B; A)
4. Consecutive with or without note-taking; comparative exercises (B->A; A->B)

December and January (6 weeks)

1. Consecutive with increasingly difficult speeches (B->A; A->B)
2. Public speaking
3. Consecutive, considerable difficulty (B->A; A->B)
4. Sight translation (B->A; A->B)