Brussels, 14/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - An international conference - “European Master's in Translation” - devoted to the training of professional translators was held in Brussels on 14 March. Representatives from universities of all EU member states, and from candidate and third countries, discussed with potential employers and international institutions the core skills that the next generation of translators should have.
The European Master's in Translation scheme was launched to help translator training institutes from all over Europe, and in particular in the member states that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007, to prepare high-quality professionals tailored for the EU and international institutions. Today, mastery of several languages and familiarity with legal, economic or scientific terminology is not enough: a good translator must be able to safely transfer ideas between languages and cultures - a craft that requires a mix of communication skills, an enquiring attitude, intercultural awareness and knowledge of state-of-the-art computer applications, the Commission says. Drawing up a common curriculum and establishing a network are two important steps for promoting exchanges of lecturers and students between participating universities and, thereby, enhancing teaching standards, the professionalism of future translators and a truly European market of talented translators. The first conference with stakeholders and universities, organised in October 2006, laid the basis for this cooperation project. A lot of work has been going on since then and in the second half of 2008 the Commission will publish an open call for universities to join the network. (I.L.)