The Program

Last updated Spring 2021

Description

The Certificate in Professional Translation and Interpreting is 100% online and it was designed for students with high proficiency in English and at least one spoken Language Other Than English (LOTE) who are interested in developing language mediation skills to meet the needs of an increasingly globalized world. The demand for translation and interpreting has never been higher in a range of settings, including business, diplomacy, government, legal, healthcare, public service, schools, and many more.

Our online certificate is 15 credits (5 courses or more) and may be completed in one year. However, students can take longer to complete the program or simply take individual courses without committing to the entire certificate in order to meet their needs for continuing education.

All courses are multilingual, which means students will always have classmates from different languages and cultures in the same online classroom. Online discussions, writing assignments, quizzes are all in English; and students' translation and interpreting assignments are reviewed by language reviewers in the students' language pairs (i.e., English-Spanish; English-Mandarin; English-Arabic; etc). In addition to providing important perspectives regarding different linguistic and cultural strategies and techniques for translation and interpreting, the multilingual classroom is seen as an asset to the educational environment and to developing intercultural awareness.

  • Minimum educational requirement: high-school diploma
  • Minimum language proficiency requirement: High or Superior (please review our Certificate Guidelines for accepted evidence of language proficiency). 

Enrollment/Application

All students must fill out an application form before being accepted into the program.

Employment

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, "employment of interpreters and translators is expected to grow 18% from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations." With a certificate in translation and interpreting, graduates can work as independent contractors, staff translators or interpreters in different companies and institutions, government agencies, non-profit organizations, subcontractors for different translation and interpreting agencies, among other options. Some job titles include:

  • Translator
  • Interpreter
  • Manager of Interpreter Services
  • Language Services Manager
  • Medical or Healthcare Interpreter
  • Linguist
  • Cultural Mediator
  • Cultural and Bilingual Liaison
  • Project Manager

Courses

Students can select any course to total 15 credits.

Course # Name Credits
LLC401 Introduction to Translation 3
LLC402 Fundamentals of Interpreting 3
LLC501 Translation & Interp Ethics & Standards    3
LLC502 Interpreting Skills Development 3
LLC510 Legal Interpreting 3
LLC511 Interpreting in Mental Health 2
LLC512 Simultaneous Interpreting 3
Complit 551    Translation & Technology 3
LLC552 Medical Interpreting 3
LLC553 Audiovisual Translation 2
LLC597C Career Develop for Translators & Interp 1
LLC597R Technology for Interpreters 1
LLC597T CAT Tools for Translators 2