Programme Description

The Faculty of Arts uses a hybrid admissions model. Students may apply for admission to the Broad-based Programme or to a specific Major Programme. The aim of the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Translation Programme is to “educate bilingual and bicultural communicators for professional translation and language careers”. Teachers of the Department of Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies share with students their expertise in academic research, their experience of frontline fieldwork in interlingual and intercultural communication, and their pedagogic vision. Students are thus prepared to meet the cultural, socio-political and economic needs of the local community, as well as those of a rapidly developing China.

The Programme provides a strong mix of both academic intellectual training and professionally-oriented practice. It offers a range of specialist options such as Translation Technology, Localisation, Spanish-Chinese Translation, Literary Translation, Media Translation, Legal Translation, Scientific-Technological Translation, and different forms of Interpreting. In their final year, all students undertake a one-year Honours Project. This involves an extended translation of 10,000 words, plus critical commentary, or alternatively a research project of similar length. The Programme also incorporates a one-semester project-based internship – see further below.

Scholarships

Apart from a wide range of scholarships/awards open to all students in the University on the basis of academic merit and other criteria set by the donors,  four are awarded exclusively to students in the Translation Programme:

• BA Translation Second-Year Scholarship
  Three full-time Year 2 Translation students who have obtained a cumulative Grade Point Average (cGPA) of 3.4 or above in the first-year Bachelor degree study at HKBU, and have  completed at least one TRAN course with GPA 3.4 or above, preferably TRAN1005, will receive HK$5,000.
• Equity Financial Press Limited Scholarship
  Donated by the Equity Financial Press Limited, two local full-time Year 2 Translation students who have achieved the highest cGPA of at least 3.40 in the previous academic year will each receive HK$20,000.
• Prof Jane Lai Prize
  Donated by a group of staff members in honour of Professor Jane Lai, Emeritus Professor of Hong Kong Baptist University, the prize provides an annual sum of HK$2,000 to a final year Translation student who produces the best Honours Project.
• Hong Kong Translation Society F.C. Lo Scholarship
  The Hong Kong Translation Society awards one scholarship of HK$10,000 to a final year student in Translation who has achieved outstanding academic results in the previous year of study.

Double Major

Students may choose to take a Double Major Programme in Translation and English which provides training in both fields. The Double Major is offered in conjunction with the Department of English Language and Literature.

Unique Features

From its inception in 1990, the HKBU Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Translation programme distinguished itself from other university translation programmes by incorporating an internship (known as Placement) component in its curriculum. It is undertaken as a 3-credit ‘course’ during one semester, on an hourly or project-based arrangement that allows students to complete the Placement alongside other, regular courses during the semester. The Department has a longstanding and extensive network of employer contacts from the translation and interpreting industries, so is ideally placed to help students find the option that works best for them.

Student Learning Experiences

In addition to the internship mentioned above, students also have the possibility to go on exchange for a semester or even a year. The University has a wide range of possible exchange partner institutions to choose from.

Career Opportunities

With a translation degree in hand, students are well-equipped for a whole variety of jobs. In addition to translation and interpreting of all kinds, the Department’s students have gone into a range of professions that demand advanced proficiency in bilingual communication and expert intercultural competence. They have found jobs as court interpreters, government translators, PR managers and news reporters. Others have gone into fields such as arts management, magazine journalism, bilingual editing, foreign diplomacy and marketing.