Mastery of Translation©
CIOL Diploma in Translation (DipTrans) online preparatory course
Course Overview
Mastery of Translation (MOT)© is the new name of the online course designed to prepare candidates for the CIOL DipTrans. It is aimed at:
- language professionals with previous translation and/or interpreting experience
- linguists who may have different roles within an organisation and who use languages on a regular basis in their professional work
The course is delivered at Master's level, and students are expected to have a high command of their foreign language, C2 level (CEFR), as well as an excellent command of their native language.
The course is delivered over 10 months. This will allow for ample time for consultations and exam revision to guarantee a successful exam result.
The course consists of 6 core modules, detailed in the table below.
Following the launch of the new CertTrans qualification, students should expect a significant update for the 2022-23 version of this course.
Course modules
Module 1: Introduction to the DipTrans
- Welcome to the course
- Exam overview
- The exam marking criteria
- Suggested Reading
Module 2: Journalistic Translation
This module will prepare you for the General Paper - Unit 1. The aim of this module is to outline, in general terms, the basic characteristics of journalistic translation. To this end, you will study the main features of the journalistic text in its different variants (informative text, interpretative text, opinion text) and the translation techniques applied to each type of text, while reference is made to the important role that this type of translation plays in the training of a translator.
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 600-word newspaper article.
Module 3: Literary Translation
This module will prepare you for the Literature paper - Unit 2. We will discuss we mean by literary translation, i.e. is it the translation of a literary work or is it a type of translation that is itself literary? We will analyse the main factors to be taken into account in the practice of professional literary translation: intentionality, acceptability, situationality, intertextuality, and cohesion.
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 450-word literary text.
Module 4: Translation of Arts and Culture
This module will prepare you for the paper of translation in the area of Arts and Culture - Unit 3. Building on the previously discussed fields, we will expand on sub-topic areas such as
- Art
- Design and graphics
- Museums and galleries
- Arts councils and groups
- Dance companies
- Guidebooks
- Performing Arts
- Culture
- Theatre
- Cinema
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 450-word text in any of these sub-topic areas.
Module 5: Technical Translation
This module will prepare you for the Technology paper - Unit 2. We will explore different areas of technology, including IT, Engineering, Mechanics, and much more.
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 450-word technological text.
Module 6: Scientific Translation
This module will prepare you for the Science paper - Unit 3. We will explore different areas of science such as Medicine, Pharmacology, Ecology, and much more.
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 450-word scientific text.
Module 7: Translation of Social Science
This module will prepare you for the translation paper of Social Science texts - Unit 3. We will consider the main guidelines for the translation of Social Science texts, as well as the factors affecting the translation of such texts. Some of the sub-topic areas explored are Sociology, Anthropology, and Psychology.
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 450-word text.
Module 8: Business Translation
This module will prepare you for the Business paper - Unit 2. The purpose of this module is to analyse specialised business translation, summarising the theoretical approaches applicable in the field (that is the functional approaches) and identifying translation problems posed by the translation in Marketing, Finance and Economics.
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 450-word business text.
Module 9: Legal Translation
This module will prepare you for the Law paper - Unit 3. Legal is a language in itself, and legal translation is a major interdisciplinary area that looks at key elements that shape its specificity. Preventing mistakes like these and making sure that every legal translation is 100% accurate is not an easy job for a translator, which is the reason that legal translations are so demanding. This module will provide an overview of the main difficulties of legal translation and how to tackle them.
Assignment: you will be assessed on the translation of a 450-word legal text.
Module 10: Mock exams
This module includes two mock exams, i.e. two packs containing all 8 papers of the 3 Units. You choose which semi-specialised paper to translate, and your tutor will assess your translation in the light of the DipTrans marking criteria.
2 Assignments: you will be assessed on the translation of a U1, U2 and U3 paper.
Available language combinations
Mastery of Translation© is taught in English. It prepares candidates for the DipTrans in many language combinations with English as the source or the target language.
As a professional course, NO foreign language is taught. The student is expected to have acquired the language at Mastery Level, i.e. C2 level, from the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Mastery of Translation© is available in various language combinations:
- into English: Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish
- from English: Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish
Contact us to discuss any requirements.
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Our FOT team
Carina Balbo
Course director and tutor
English-Spanish and Spanish-English
Katrin Frahm
Course tutor
English>German
Mihaela Patrascu
Course tutor
English>Romanian
Chris Humphries
Course tutor
French-German-Danish-Norwegian-Swedish>English