1.4. An Account for Admission Requirements in
Some Foreign Translation Schools
This section looks at the conditions some foreign translation
schools require from candidates to be accepted as translation students. The
first point to be mentioned here is that, in our investigation of the issue, no
translation school has been found to accept candidates without testing their
knowledge. Second, the following examples will provide an idea of the type of
qualifications the candidates should possess to be accepted in the translation
course.
1.4.1. "Institut de Traduction" at Montréal
University
in 1967
This is an example of the admission policy a Canadian
translation school was adopting forty years ago. In December 1966, an article
about "L'enseignement de la traduction à Montréal" was
published in the translation journal Meta. It was an account for a
reformation program that was to be implemented the next year, i.e. 1967, in the
Institut de Traduction at Montreal University. The author, Paul A.
Aurguelin, explained that changes are to be brought to both "norms" and
"programmes". As is required by the purpose of this study, only norms
reformation is going to be reported here.
The purpose of the reformations, states the author, is to
raise the course standard. It concerns the admission exam, which so far
consisted in "un thème" and "une version". A
thème is an exercise in which the candidate is asked to
translate a text into the foreign language, and a version, into the
mother tongue. This traditional exam is replaced by a test whose objective is
to evaluate the candidates' French language, English language, translation and
general culture. According to the test results, the accepted candidates are to
be oriented to one of the three following options: either to a reinforcement
course in English and French languages, to a preparatory year, or to first
year.
The preparatory class is designed for students who possess a
sound knowledge in English and French, but lack awareness of lexical
translation problems, such as the faux amis, anglicisms, calques,
and the like. The course program has two objectives. The first is giving
up "bad linguistic habits", and the second, learning the use of dictionaries
and vocabulary enrichment. By the end of the year, most of the students would
be ready to translate and start the normal three-year translation course.
This policy, explains Mr. Aurguelin, has two main advantages.
It not only avoids filling up classes with students whose knowledge is
insufficient for them to benefit from the translation course, but also avoids
rejecting candidates who are able to improve.
1.4.2. "L'Université du Québec en Outaouais"
in 2004
Two grades are available concerning translation:
Certificat d'initiation à la traduction professionnelle and
Certificat en traduction professionnelle. Each lasts six
trimesters.
As its narre indicates, the Certificat d'initiation
à la traduction professionnelle provides an introductory teaching
in translation methodology and practice for persons wishing to become
professional
translators. As for admission requirements, the university
requests from the candidates the following conditions:
· possessing a diplôme d'études
collégiales (DEC) or an equivalent qualification, which is
equivalent to the Algerian Baccalaureate;
· either being no younger than twenty one (21),
possessing a "sound general knowledge", and having worked for six (6) months in
a field that permits the practice of translation, revision of translations, or
text writing;
· or possessing a university grade;
· "sufficiently mastering" the French language (native
language). This must be certified by one of a set of official exams, one of
which is that leading to possess the diplôme d'études
collégiales;
· in addition to two entrance exams which test the
candidates' knowledge in English and French. These exams: " visent à
s'assurer que tout candidat a atteint un degré de connaissance du
français et de l'anglais adéquat à la poursuite
d'études en traduction."
(the University's Web Site) (see translation 15, Appendix
B)
The Certificat en traduction professionnelle on the
other hand, provides an advanced professional training in the field of
translation. At the end of the course, students should have acquired not only
theoretical
knowledge concerning linguistic production but also expert
competence in the field of interlinguistic communication. Admission
requirements are the following:
· either possessing the certificat en traduction
pratique from l'Université du Québec en Outaouais
or an equivalent certificate ;
· or being no younger than twenty-one (21), possessing a
"sound knowledge" and having worked during twelve (12) months in a field that
permits acquiring translation and writing methods necessary for an efficient
communication. In this case the candidates will receive an entry exam that
tests their aptitude to enter a training programme of professional translation
from English to French; and
· possessing a "sufficient mastery" of the English
language. This linguistic knowledge must be certified by one of a set of
official exams, one of which is that leading to possess the diplôme
d'études collégiales.
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