University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

by Andrea
(Milwaukee)

The university I am enrolled in is the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. (Madison also has a Translation Masters, but I am closer to Milwaukee). I chose this particular university because of its proximity to my home when I was taking undergraduate classes. I really stumbled onto the Masters program through my coursework there. As way of background, I have a Bachelor's Degree (BA) from Alverno College, but not with a language minor, so when I decided to pursue a career in language services, I needed to complete a German Major (in my case, I tested into the mid-level courses, and ended up taking a total of 10 classes). It is through these courses and conversations with other students and faculty,that I decided to continue on with the Master's (known as the MALLT program-Master of Arts in Language, Literature and Translation).

I am only in my first course, but I am enrolled with students from Washington D.C. and Colorado. The entire program can be completed remotely online. The students who are more remote have done extensive research and chose this program for what it all offers in terms of advanced coursework in preparation for working in translation.

I would have to say that the information provided in this first course, (Business and Professional

Aspects of Translation) is spot on, as you echoed many of the same points highlighted in the course. That is encouraging and tells me the program is current and relevant. The program itself is 30 credits (10 courses), with most people taking two courses a semester, and finishing in 2 1/2 years, including a semester of internship experience. Some of my other course work will include Translation Theory, Literal and Cultural Translation, a course in Computer-Assisted Translation, as well as language-specific courses (for me, advanced level German literature courses).

So far, I like the program, although I readily admit it is quite a lot of work, and the reading load is probably double of what an undergraduate course would be, but there are weekly guidelines which help to keep you on track. Even with those, it takes a good deal of self discipline to get through, but I suppose it is the ideal training ground to hone those skills which I will need as a professional translator. Also, being in an online academic environment works well, as most of the translation work is done via the Internet these days, so in that way, it gets you acclimated and comfortable with online tools, computer programs and all the various resources needed in translation.