This study programme prepares students for a career in the translation and interpreting profession.

German is always studied in combination with another subject. See possible study combinations.

 

Profile and application of graduates of the first degree (Bc.)

The courses to be taken at this level of study at the Institute of German Studies can be found in the information sheets.

Graduates of the Bachelor's degree programme German Language and Culture (combined), 1st degree (in the field of study philology) have knowledge of the cultures of the source and target language countries and know the basics of the theory of translation and interpreting.

The extent of the graduate's knowledge is determined by the disciplines of the curriculum for which credits are awarded. Efforts are directed towards a very good command of the source and target language, mastering orthography, orthoepy, morphology and syntax. A mastery of lexis at the level of ordinary and topical communication is required. Furthermore, an orientation in the socio-cultural area of the countries of the source and target languages is required.

Beyond the basic knowledge, skills and habits, the graduate can acquire deeper stylistic aspects of professional and artistic translation and the basics of consecutive and simultaneous interpreting. They also acquire basic knowledge of economics, law and technology.

The graduate of this study programme is competent to work as a professional translator and interpreter, and can also work in the field of editorial work in publishing houses, as an editor in print media, in radio and television, and as a worker in the field of tourism, informatics, etc.

The graduate of the study programme will acquire primarily the following knowledge and acquire the following skills and competences:

Knowledge gained: 

The student is proficient in the German language in the mediation of everyday communication in both written and spoken form, the conceptual apparatus and basic knowledge in the field of translatology (as a science of translation and interpretation), contrastive and general linguistics, literary science

Skills acquired: 

The student is able to creatively apply knowledge in the implementation of a specific translation and interpreting process, is able to translate and interpret at a professional level when mediating ordinary communication, is able to effectively use the instrumentarium necessary for the work of a translator-interpreter - dictionaries, explanatory dictionaries, professional manuals and magazines, computer (internet), is able to work on glossaries, is able to organize his/her own learning.

Acquired competencies: 

The student is able to evaluate different possibilities and procedures at the level of individual text-forming competence, can keep in touch with the latest theoretical knowledge in his/her discipline, can understand and explain the problems that arise in mediated communication 

 

Graduates of this study programme are competent to work as:

• tourist information centre worker (regional guide)
• professional translator of popular and popular-instructional texts
• interpreter in all positions except conference interpreting
• tourism worker
• editor in publishing houses, print media, radio and television
• work in manufacturing companies and trading companies in positions requiring knowledge of the German language

Graduates of this programme are sufficiently prepared to continue their studies at the second level of higher education.

 

Profile and employment of graduates of the II. degree (Mgr.)

The courses to be taken at this level of study at the Institute of German Studies can be found in the information sheets.

The German Language and Culture (Combined) II degree programme (in Philology) prepares students for a career in the translation and interpreting profession.  Graduates of the master's degree programme are experts in the field of transcultural communication between members of different cultures and languages. On the basis of scientific knowledge, graduates have the appropriate professional, mental and social dispositions to cope with the demands placed on translators and interpreters by the professional market. In addition to linguistic and cultural competences, they acquire the necessary scientific (translatological) knowledge as well as general and special translator competences in the field of translation and interpreting. An important part of these competences is flexibility, the ability to cooperate interdisciplinarily, as well as other key competences (working in a team, ability to cope with stressful situations).

Graduates are able to present situation-specific texts and information in the target language in written and oral form using relevant translation and interpreting techniques, strategies and working aids (interpreting technique, CAT). Graduates acquire competence in bilateral interpreting (business negotiations, interviews, court interpreting) as well as in consecutive and simultaneous interpreting at professional conferences on various subject areas (politics, economics, law, natural and social sciences, medicine, technology, etc.), as well as the necessary rhetorical competence. On the basis of linguistic knowledge, the graduate is able to analyse the differences between the German and Slovak languages in the process of translation or interpreting and to resolve the discrepancies found. He is able to produce and edit texts on purpose according to the type and requirements of the addressee.

The graduate of the study programme will acquire primarily the following knowledge and acquire the following skills and competences:

Knowledge: 

Graduates of the programme have a broad theoretical knowledge of the individual disciplines of translation and interpreting, and are proficient in the comparison of linguistic, cultural and social systems. 

Skills: 

In the field of interpreting, the graduate of the programme is able to use psycholinguistic knowledge from the latest research (retrospective and prospective methods, the latest theories on the functioning of memory types in interpreting, on the mastery of simultaneous speaking and listening), in the field of artistic translation, to use the knowledge gained from history, culture, literature to interpret and analyse literary works in order to better understand them in translation work, based on knowledge of comparative linguistic disciplines as well as general linguistics, analyze the differences between native and foreign languages, which he/she understands as discrepant systems, in specific translation and interpreting practices and strategies to address the identified discrepancies in the intentions, dictated by the target language norm in the field of interpreting, to use psycholinguistic knowledge from the latest research (retrospective and prospective methods, the latest theories on the functioning of memory types in interpreting, on the mastery of simultaneous speaking and listening),

Competencies: 

Graduates of the programme are able to communicate adequately in all language styles, i.e. artistic, professional, journalistic, advertising, whether in written or oral form, to master and use both descriptive and prescriptive methods, to produce texts purposefully and according to the type of addressee, to use notational technique in consecutive interpreting promptly and purposefully, to listen and speak at the same time, to anticipate the text in simultaneous interpreting, and to navigate in computer-aided translation.

 

The qualification obtained enables graduates to work in the following positions:

• translator of professional texts
• translator of literary works
• project manager of a translation agency
• manager in the field of translation and interpreting
• proofreader of translations
• lecturer of foreign language texts
• editor of foreign language texts
• Terminologist
• interpreter (conference, simultaneous, community)
• court interpreter (after obtaining relevant experience and qualifications)
• Worker in manufacturing companies and trading companies in positions requiring knowledge of the German language