Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting

Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting

Vertaalacademie Maastricht
Main entrance on Brusselseweg 150, Maastricht
Other name	VAC Maastricht
Former name	State School of Translation and Interpreting (Rijksinstituut voor HBO opleiding tot vertaler)
Established	1981 (1981)
Academic affiliation	Zuyd University of Applied Sciences
Head of Programme	Rico Camp
Students	238 (academic year 2007-2008)[1]
Location	Maastricht , The Netherlands
Campus	Brusselseweg 150, 6217 HB Maastricht
Website	www.vacmaastricht.nl

The Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting (in Dutch: Vertaalacademie Maastricht) is the only full-time institution of higher education for the training of translators and interpreters situated in the Netherlands.[2]

Programme

The school provides a four-year course leading to the degree Bachelor of Translation. All students study Dutch, English, and one other European language (French, German or Spanish). A foundation year is followed by a three-year main programme during which students specialise in such fields as technical translation, legal translation, professional communication, subtitling, and interpreting.[3]

History

Founded in 1981 as an independent institute named the State School of Translation and Interpreting,[4] the School of Translation has since 2001 been one of the constituent parts of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. The range of languages offered has varied over time, with provision of Arabic, Chinese and Japanese hived off to a separate institute in 1994, and the provision of Italian, Portuguese and Russian stopped for budgetary reasons.[5]

Initially based in a building on the Keizer Karelplein, the School of Translation subsequently moved to its current location, which incorporates a listed building originally opened in 1932 as a convent boarding school for the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus.[6]

References

1. Official accreditation report, 2008, p. 9 (in Dutch)
2. Helge Niska, "Training Interpreters: Programmes, Curricula, Practices", in Training for the New Millennium: Pedagogies for Translation and Interpreting, edited by Martha Tennent (John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia Pa., 2005), p. 44.
3. Official accreditation report, 2014, pp. 14-15. (in Dutch)
4. Chan Sin-wai, A Chronology of Translation in China and the West (Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009), p. 209.
5. Official accreditation report, 2008, p. 9 (in Dutch)
6. Rijksmonumenten.nl – listed buildings in the Netherlands. (in Dutch)

External links

• Official opening on 26 August 1981 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
• The International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on Translation and Meaning