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Postgraduate Diploma Chinese-English Translation and Interpreting

UK

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What will I learn?

PG Diploma Chinese-English Translation and Interpreting should interest you if you want to build your language proficiency in Chinese and English, and further develop the translation and interpreting techniques that are required by employers.

Postgraduate (PG) Diplomas last for six to nine months (full-time) and include the modules and assessed work of a Masters, without a dissertation. This allows you to proceed to a Masters in Languages if your undergraduate degree was in a different subject.

Building on our internationally recognised expertise in the teaching of practical foreign language skills, our course offers written translation, oral interpreting and film and video subtitling in a single programme. By the end of your studies, you will have developed the practical language and key skills necessary for employment in professional translation, interpreting and subtitling.

Our course will build on the knowledge and skills you acquired in your previous qualifications and is unique in the emphasis it places on hands-on training. With the help of native speakers, you learn how to use your language skills to translate, interpret and subtitle effectively, using the latest industry-standard software, in a culturally sensitive way.

You cover topics including:

  • Bilateral, consecutive, and simultaneous interpreting
  • Technologies of translation
  • Effective notetaking
  • Written translation

We are a leading UK university for language and linguistics research (REF 2014), a place where talented students become part of an academic community in which the majority of research is rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (REF 2014). We are also ranked 13th in the UK for Linguistics in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2020).

If you want a global outlook, are interested in human communication, and want to study for a degree with real-world practical value in a world-class department, welcome to Essex.

Your future

Our course directly leads to a career in translation, interpreting and subtitling, in the media, business and tourism between the English-speaking world and China.

After the Postgraduate Diploma Chinese-English Translation and Interpreting study, many of our students move on to an MA course, for example: MA Translation and Professional Practice, MA Advanced Interpreting with Specialised Translation and MA Conference Interpreting and Translation, where you can focus on modules and topics you are most interested in for another year to hone your translation and/or interpreting skills for employment, as well as doctoral studies if you prefer.

Within our Department of Language and Linguistics, we also offer supervision for PhD and MPhil. We offer supervision in areas including language acquisition, language learning and language teaching, culture and communication, psycholinguistics, language disorders, sociolinguistics, and theoretical and descriptive linguistics.

Which department am I in?

Department of Language and Linguistics

Study options

Full Time (9 months)

Tuition fees
£17,360.00 (US$ 22,419) per year
You have the opportunity to take part in seminars delivered by DG Interpretation (DG SCIC) and DG Translation at the European Commission during our optional annual trip to Brussels. The additional cost for this is £250, depending on your mode of travel.

This is a fixed fee

*Price shown is for indicative purposes, please check with institution

Start date

September 2025

Venue

Colchester Campus

University of Essex,

Wivenhoe Park,

Colchester,

Essex,

CO4 3SQ, England

Entry requirements

For international students

A 2:2 degree, or international equivalent, in any discipline. You may also be considered with a lower-class degree if you have translation, linguistics or interpreting experience. Applicants are required to successfully pass a Translation aptitude test. IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum component score of 6.0, TOEFL IBT 88 overall with minimum component scores: listening 17, reading 18, writing 24, and speaking 20.

*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.

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About University of Essex

At Essex, students learn to think differently, find new ways of doing things and adopt new techniques for solving problems.

  • World-leading academics in a research-intensive environment
  • Foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
  • Flexible course structure, students study what matters to them
  • Internationally diverse university

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