The MA in Audiovisual Translation is an internationally leading course in its field, recognised by the European Commission as a European Masters in Translation.
It covers a range of areas, including subtitling, accessibility (subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing, audio description and live subtitling), multimedia localisation, dubbing and voice-over for films. The programme is open to multilingual students wishing to work between different languages but also welcomes students working monolingually in English.
This course covers the theoretical and practical aspects of audiovisual translation. You will explore a broad range of approaches to translation, including linguistic, socio-linguistic, cultural, cognitive, descriptive, gender and postcolonial perspectives. You will also gain the practical translation skills fit for a career in the profession as it is shaped in the 21st Century. You will learn how to subtitle, to translate for dubbing and voiceover, and/or to provide captioning for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing.
You will complete your MA with a dissertation, which allows you to carry out a practical translation task with a commentary or to apply your understanding, knowledge, analytical, conceptual and personal skills to an in-depth investigation of a translation-related topic.
This programme places significant emphasis on accessibility in the media and offers a grounding in translation theory and research methods. Through your work with dedicated software and high-tech industry-standard equipment, you will equip yourself with the skills necessary to enter the professional market and the knowledge to pursue further research in this field.
You will be taught by staff who are experts in their field of translation and whose work has influenced national and international organisations. They will bring their professional experience into the classroom, meaning that you will always be benefiting from the most up-to-date research and practice.
Roehampton’s location in the British capital means that you are ideally situated to take advantage of opportunities such as visits to language service providers and cultural institutions where translation takes place (e.g. subtitling for opera).
Placements with translation/localisation companies are at the heart of this MA. Placements are not compulsory, but you will benefit from the extensive industry contacts of members of staff and the visits of key professionals in order to help you find a placement that suits your interests.