Qatar launches translation and interpreting institute

Manama: Qatar's Hamad bin Khalifa University has launched the Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII) to promote the study of translation, interpreting and languages.

TII will offer a comprehensive array of related linguistic activities encompassing postgraduate education in translation and interpreting, high-level language training, research, and international-standard translation and interpreting services.

"TII has been established to answer the growing need in the Arab world for a certified body offering internationally-recognised education and services in translation and interpretation," said Abdullah Bin Ali Al Thani, President of Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

TII's inaugural programme, a Masters of Arts in Translation Studies starting in September, will equip students with practical translation competencies in the areas of business and commerce, science and technology, as well as literary and media translation, and institutional communications, the university said.

The first language combinations available will be Arabic-English, Arabic-French, Arabic-Spanish, English-Arabic, English-French, and English-Spanish.

The university said that it would offer scholarships to "exceptionally talented applicants."

Future courses will include an MA in Conference Interpreting, an MA in Audiovisual Translation and an MA in Sign Language Interpreting.

In addition to its higher education programmes, TII includes a research centre for both theoretical and vocational research, a language learning centre, offering courses in Arabic, English, French and Spanish and professional translation and interpreting services to meet the needs of commercial clients.

The Translation and Interpreting Institute will also organise a number of local and international events throughout the year, most of them open to the public. The first will be the "Translation in and of the World" conference, on April 29 to May 1.