Translation of Modern European Languages

Deadline for submitting applications: January 1 - April 30FRENCH-LANGUAGE TRANSLATION (one-subject specialization)

Who the specialization is intended for: The specialization is offered to graduates of all Bachelor’s degree programmes.

Subject matter of the entrance examination: written examination. The written examination will verify the knowledge of the French language at the C1 level according to the European Reference Framework, excellent knowledge of the Czech language, and the ability to translate between the two languages. The test lasts 60 minutes. It is possible to use dictionaries and other sources, so the candidate will demonstrate the required ability by, in particular, critically comparing the translation with the original and explaining problematic areas.

Waiver of the entrance examination: The entrance examination can be waived for students who have completed a Bachelor’s degree field/programme French Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University with the mark A-B. The entrance examination may also be waived for applicants whose overall result of the Bachelor's State Examination in programme of French Language and Literature at the MU Faculty of Arts was assessed as “passed with excellent results”.

Website Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. SPANISH-LANGUAGE TRANSLATION (one-subject specialization)

Who the specialization is intended for: The specialization is intended primarily for graduates of the same or related Bachelor’s field/programme and also for applicants from other fields/programmes for which the knowledge of Spanish at the C1 level according to ERF (European Reference Framework) can be expected.

Subject matter of the entrance examination:The written exam will test advanced knowledge of Spanish, excellent knowledge of Czech and the ability to translate between the two languages. The exam takes 60 minutes. Computerised dictionaries and other sources may be used, so the candidate will demonstrate the required ability, in particular by critically comparing the translation with the original and explaining any problematic areas.

Waiver of the entrance examination: The entrance examination can be waived for students who have completed a Bachelor’s degree field/programme Spanish Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University with the mark A-B. The entrance examination may also be waived for applicants whose overall result of the Bachelor's State Examination in programme of Spanish Language and Literature at the MU Faculty of Arts was assessed as “passed with excellent results”.

Website Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. GERMAN-LANGUAGE TRANSLATION (one-subject specialization)

Who the specialization is intended for: The specialization is intended for graduates of the same or related Bachelor’s degree programme (the similarity of the fields will be assessed based on the application).

Subject matter of the entrance examination: Written test with translation from Czech into German. Question types: 1. Translate into German without using dictionaries. 2. Test of Czech word formation and German grammar. 3. Explain the underlined German terms in the following text. The length of the written test is 70 minutes.

Website Department of German, Scandinavian and Netherland Studies.DUTCH-LANGUAGE TRANSLATION (one-subject specialization)

Who the specialization is intended for: The specialization is intended for graduates of the same or related Bachelor’s degree programme (the similarity of the fields will be assessed based on the application).

Subject matter of the entrance examination: Written examination. The written examination will verify the knowledge of the Dutch language at the B2 level according to the European Reference Framework. Furthermore it verifies the ability to translate from Czech to Dutch using a printed dictionary. The applicant will also prepare a resume of a Dutch text in Dutch.

Waiver of the entrance examination: not possible.

Website Department of German, Scandinavian and Netherland Studies.NEW GREEK TRANSLATION (one-subject specialization)

Who the specialization is intended for: the specialisation is intended for graduates of all bachelor programmes.

Subject matter of the entrance examination:

A. The written exam will test the knowledge of the New Greek language at B2 level according to ERF (European Reference Framework), excellent knowledge of the Czech language and the ability to translate between the two languages. The exam will include:

• translation of a non-literary text from English into Greek (without dictionary);
• translation of a non-literary text from Greek into English with a printed explanatory dictionary;
• summarization of non-literary Greek text in English.

  The length of the written test is 75 min.

  B. An oral interview focusing on the candidate's motivation, study interest/focus (court translation, artistic translation, interpreting, etc.) and his/her orientation in the field of translation.

  Waiver of the entrance examination: not possible.

  Website New Greek Translation.

General information on the course of the admission procedure to the follow-up Master’s degree programmes at FA MU can be found here. Documents for the current admission procedure are kept in Materials for Applicants.

Pass/fail line of the entrance examination: 51 points (out of 100). (Valid for French, German, Dutch, Spanish).).

Pass/fail line of the entrance examination (valid for New Greek): written test: 51 points (out of 100). If the candidate passes the written test, he/she will proceed to the oral part of the examination. Oral examination: 25 points (maximum 40 points).

Besides making graduates capable of finding jobs in the translation industry, the study of the programme „Modern European languages Translation“ enables students to develop their general textual competence regardless of the language being used. Emphasis is placed both on exact interpretation of meaning and on a comprehensive insight into pragmatical aspects of communication, empowering graduates in their professional and private lives, making them sensitive to the perspectivism in language behaviour, i.e. also to overt or hidden interests underpinning the human communication.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• make use of his/her knowledge both in the Czech and foreign language (C2 level according to CEFR);
• proof his/her capacity to excerpt specialized data and terminology and he/she has a thorough overview of the main issues within translation studies disciplines;
• make use of necessary knowledge within the field of IT related to translations memories, corpora, etc.
• demonstrate his/her knowledge of culture and realia in particular in Romance and Germanic speaking countries;
• proof his/her intercultural communication skills;
• apply knowledge from the area of so-called translatological minima, ie basic theoretical and practical knowledge associated with the translator's profession and its everyday work;
• theoretically identify and classify the text in the professional language system and perform its analysis
• translate texts of all sorts and choose adequate language resources
• actively perform all common types of interpreting activities

The graduate of the program is equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to apply as translator and interpreter, especially from foreign language to Czech, but also as staff of national and European institutions in translation project management or editorial practice. Other opportunities are offered in areas such as government and public administration, diplomatic services, the business sphere, the cultural and artistic scene.

Practical training is not an obligatory part of the study plan. Selected project-oriented facultative courses offer opportunities for the students to train in the practical usage of theoretical knowledge and develop further praxis-related skills.

The master's thesis is a systematic elaboration of a given topic based on an individual evaluation and assessment of relevant secondary literature and other sources. It is not required to have the character of original primary research, it may be based on published titles and utilise available methods in accordance with the assignment (specific requirements are to be formulated by the supervisor). Students demonstrate the ability to independently treat the given scholarly topic using appropriate resources and competently utilising established methods; furthermore, they demonstrates the language fluency and reliable handling of form and style standards of scholarly publications; more generally, they show the ability of critical evaluation of information, an independent argumentation and presentation of the gathered knowledge.

The minimum extent of the master's thesis is 120 000 characters (including footnotes and bibliography; the treatment of the annexes is decided individually by the supervisor).

After completion of the Master’s study programme, it is possible to continue further studies in the doctoral degree study programme in Philology offered by both workplaces. These programs include Germanic languages, Germanic literature, Romance languages, Romance literature.