All professionals in the translation field know that all too often, our work is undervalued, and it seems that a person who is somewhat fluent in a two languages is automatically ​​able to call himself a "translator.”
In order to give this profession the place it deserves and to offer its potential candidates better opportunities, given their  education and knowledge in the field, the European Union, whose linguistic activity is very important and provides employment to a large number of highly qualified translators, closely monitors the development of these types of programs in Europe, and it actively contributes through initiatives such as the one I will describe below.

European Master’s in Translation (EMT)

This is a project whose mission is to make European universities establish a common curriculum for the training of translators. The idea is to establish a quality educational standard for university translation programs, and for universities that follow such program to become members of the EMT Network.

Some objectives of this master’s program are:

* To encourage universities to conduct graduate courses in translation using a standard curriculum for this type of program.

* To develop a translation labor market in the new Member States so that translators can benefit from it.

* To promote multilingualism by strengthening the Commission’s relations with universities involved in teaching and research in the field of translation.

EMT’s translator’s profile, designed by a group of leading experts from the European Union, describes the skills that translators must have in order to be successful in today’s market. EMT aims to improve the status of the translation profession in the EU.

Currently, there are 54 universities in different European countries that have joined this project, which can be found by clicking here.

The EU will hold a conference on November 30, 2011 in Brussels, about the EMT program; this event will clarify various aspects of the future of translation as a profession, considering how the latest technological advances have influenced this field, the outlook of languages ​​in the world and the economic aspects of the language market.

I think it is a very positive initiative to encourage universities to teach based on established quality standards, especially since it comes from an important government agency with a lot of experience in this field.

For more information about this conference click here.

August 23, 2011 (Melissa PJ)