Your profile

• You are curious by nature and have excellent general knowledge.
• You can express yourself easily and well in French and have a lively mind.
• You can speak at least two foreign languages.
• You are a good communicator and wish to act as a relay point between people and cultures.
• You like to be at the heart of things, in contact with a wide range of subjects and continue to learn.
   

Your future job

Conference interpreters provide a spoken reproduction of speech made in another language. They work in two ways.

• Simultaneous interpretation: seated in a cabin, the interpreter relays the message while the speaker is speaking. He or she works into his or her native language. The audience in the room receives the message through headphones. This kind of interpretation is generally used in multilingual conferences.
• Consecutive interpretation: the interpreter relays the message to participants, after the speaker has spoken, using notes made according to a personal technique. This kind of interpretation is preferred in contexts where two or three working languages are being used. .

Interpreters work as officials in large international organisations or on a self-employed (or freelance) basis with a variety of clients.
Interpreters also have career opportunities in translation, proof-reading, publishing, journalism, diplomacy, multilingual communication within businesses, etc.

Your programme

 

• A team of teachers made up almost exclusively of professional interpreters, creating a direct link between the teaching and the world of work.
• Individual supervision and work in small groups of students.
• Collaboration with the big international institutions (NATO, EU, Council of Europe etc..
• Final examination before a professional examining board made up of representatives from international organisations.
•  Consecutive interpretation ‘back’ : from French into the foreign language.
   Development of a profile of expertise allied with versatility, rigour and ability to work, all of which are much in demand in the job market.

Your path

The programme is made up of :

• 75 credits for the core subjects (including 15 credits for the dissertation and 12 credits for the work placement).
• 30 credits for the professional focus in Conference Interpreting. 
• 15 credits for option courses, selected from 4 groups : 
  − Option course on international and European issues: enables students to deepen their knowledge of international organisations and policy issues. Ideal for those who want to take a competitive exam for interpreters at the UN, NATO, the European Union etc.
  − Option course on interpretation and intercultural communication: opens an additional door to conference interpreters who work with Russian and Turkish, that of community interpreting or ‘public service interpreting’: hospitals, courts, police authorities, etc.
  − Audiovisual translation: this kind of translation is very much in demand today and, since it involves speech, the special field of interpreters, audiovisual translation can offer a conference interpreter a fascinating and diverse strand in his or her professional work.
  − Research in interpretology: for those who wish to combine more theoretical study and research with their work, this is very interesting way to develop knowledge of the profession and the effectiveness of the teaching of interpreting.

Possible language combinations :

• English + German
• English + Dutch 
• English + Spanish 
• English + Russian 
• English + Turkish 
• English + Arabic * 
• German + Dutch 
• German + Russian 
• Joint French <> Belgian Francophone sign language**

* Courses with Arabic are held in Brussels
** from September 2017

Aptitude test
An aptitude test is held after the first few weeks of the first year of the Master’s degree to help students evaluate their ability in interpreting. If the result is disappointing, it is possible to switch to the Master’s degree in translation.

Work placements
Organised throughout the course, the work placements enables students to practise ‘off microphone’ in international organisations such as NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe or the UN. Students on work placement also make an active contribution to events organised by NGOs or other associations who do not have the means to employ professional interpreters. These placements are supervised by teacher-interpreters; they are carefully selected and evaluated.

Final examination
Having been prepared for the competitive examinations of the big organisations, candidates take a final examination in front of a professional examining board made up of outside interpreters and representatives of international organisations.