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University Master's Degree in Professional English-Spanish Translation - 9th edition

Professors

Nune Ayvazyan

Coordinator of the URV Master's in Professional English-Spanish Translation

BA in English Studies (2012) from the URV

MA in Translation Studies (2013) from the UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

PhD in Translation Studies (2017) from the URV.

“By the end of the programme, our students have numerous highly employable skills, including how to set up a translation company, how to negotiate contracts, how to use translation technologies, and how to solve a wide range of linguistic problems.”

Nune Ayvazyan completed her PhD in Translation and Intercultural Studies in 2017 and currently teaches English and Translation at the URV.

Her research explores the ways in which translation can be used as a communicative tool in foreign-language teaching and learning.

She holds a BA in English Studies (2012) from the URV and an MA in Translation Studies (2013) from the UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) in Barcelona, where she has also taught English to BA students of Translation and Interpreting.

She is also a professional Russian, English, Spanish and Catalan translator and interpreter, specializing in the legal, financial and academic fields.

What are the students on the Master’s in Professional English-Spanish Translation like?

All our students have strong language skills but tend to come from quite different backgrounds: some are from the URV's own undergraduate courses, some are practising translators who would like to upgrade their skills, while others are international students who are keen to practise their Spanish while they learn to translate.

All students require a first university degree, but this does not need to be in Modern Languages. Experience in other fields is strongly welcomed and can have great value in the translation market.
What is special about this Master’s?

Since our students' backgrounds are diverse and our groups are relatively small, we are able to use tandem learning extensively. This means that students whose first language is English can work on projects with students whose first language is Spanish.

These innovative group projects integrate current translation technologies and simulate real-world scenarios under the guidance of teaching staff who have many years' experience as professional translators.
What do students learn from your Master’s?

By the end of the programme, our students have numerous highly employable skills, including how to set up a translation company, how to negotiate contracts, how to use translation technologies, and how to solve a wide range of linguistic problems.

Our students also acquire important skills by participating in extensive teamwork and cross-cultural communication on a daily basis.
Where do the Master’s students find employment?

Over the years, graduates of our programme have found jobs as translators for a range of language-service providers—from the European Commission to translation companies in Spain, the United States, Germany and India. Others have set up their own successful translation companies.

Kevin Costello

Adjunct lecturer in the Department of English and German Studies at the URV.

Professional translator and author's editor.

“Using expertise in two languages and familiarity with two cultures, translators hope to bridge linguistic and cultural gaps and thus minimise translation loss. In technical translation, however, a third gap exists. Drawing on my 20 years' experience as a professional translator, I aim to help students bridge this stylistic gap so that they may achieve the translator's secondary aim of maximizing translation gain and acquire added value in the competitive translation market.”

Kevin Costello

Kevin Costello was an instructor and in-house translator for the URV's Language Service between 1998 and 2006, where he also coordinated the URV's Postgraduate Programmes in Translation.

Between 2006 and 2013 he was a lecturer in Spanish-English Translation and Interpretation at James Madison University in Virginia, United States, where he created and directed the Professional Minor in Translation and Interpretation. In the United States, he also taught online courses on Revising and Editing for Translators for the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Since returning to Tarragona, he has taught as an adjunct lecturer in the Department of English and German Studies at the URV and worked as a professional translator and author's editor.
Judith Cortés

Professional translator, editor and proofreader.

Translator specialising in the dubbing and subtitling of films, series, cartoons and documentaries.

Lecturer at the URV, the UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), and the Universidad de Vigo.

“Como traductora autónoma, me interesa dar un enfoque muy práctico a mis clases, que esté intrínsecamente relacionado con el mercado laboral. Por este motivo, intento que mis alumnos adquieran mecanismos para estar al día en las últimas tecnologías, formase permanentemente y encontrar oportunidades de trabajo en el sector.”

Judith Cortés

Judith Cortés is a professional translator, editor and proofreader. As a translator, she specialises in the dubbing and subtitling of films, series, cartoons and documentaries for DVD, cinema and TV.

She also works as a general and sworn translator and a localizer for various companies and as a proofreader and assistant editor of internet publications for the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).

As a lecturer, she teaches Translation Technologies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Voice Over on the Master's in Audiovisual Translation also at the UAB. She also teaches on the online Master's in Multimedia Translation at the University of Vigo.
Anthony Pym

Former President of the European Society for Translation Studies.

PhD in Sociology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

Author or editor of over 25 books on translation.

“Professional translators do not need special courses on translation theories; they do not need separate classes in linguistics; they need not learn languages in a special way; they have no need to understand how technologies or corpora work. They really just need practice, discussion, then more practice and more discussion, along with some fun in the classroom.”

Anthony Pym

Anthony is a former President of the European Society for Translation Studies.

He holds a PhD in Sociology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris and conducts research on sociological approaches to translation.

He has authored or edited over 25 books on translation, including Translation Solutions for Many Languages (2016).

He has also taught on Master's courses in Translation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, the University of Vienna, and the University of Melbourne.

All professors

University Master's Degree in Professional English-Spanish Translation - 9th edition

Professors

Nune Ayvazyan

Kevin Costello

Judith Cortés

Anthony Pym