Translation Studies MSc

Our MSc Translation Studies offers wide-ranging training in translation relating to literatures, film and cultural studies. You will gain an understanding of the cultural role of translation in multiple international contexts, while also enhancing your practical skills in translation as an activity. 

You will have the opportunity to translate between two language pairs, each with English, making the University of Edinburgh one of the few places where you can do so. 

Throughout our programme, you will: 

• translate texts and reflect on what makes a translation effective and appropriate for different audiences
• explore key concepts in translation theory and how to apply them in your translation practice
• think critically about literatures, language use, translation and culture
• gain insight into different factors which impact translation practices and the wider field of Translation Studies, including gender, institutional power relations, technological advancements (including AI) and colonialism

The professional world of translation has changed in recent years as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is now integrated into the workflows of many language service providers and clients. Our MSc in Translation Studies helps you prepare for this new landscape through courses that combine strong linguistic and cultural expertise with hands-on translation and technological skills.

We focus on important transferable skills that employers look for in roles where clear and precise communication is essential. This will help you build crucial professional abilities, such as:

• researching and evaluating information
• thinking and writing analytically
• understanding texts in different genres (literary and non-literary, such as novels, drama, poetry, memoir, films, marketing texts and newspaper articles) and how to translate them
• writing commentaries and essays to deadline
• developing oral and visual presentation techniques
• working with a variety of tools and resources

By the end of the programme, you will not only be a stronger translator, but also a more informed language professional, equipped for work or further academic study in a global landscape. 

Languages

We offer a wide variety of languages, from Arabic to Norwegian, with the opportunity to focus on two of them in addition to English.

You will be accepted to work in a principal language pair, of which one of the languages must be English (e.g French-English).

Depending on your background, language skill level and the availability of teaching in your secondary language, you may be eligible to work with two language pairs. Again, in each pair, one of the languages must be English (e.g. French-English and Spanish-English).

For Scandinavian languages, practical translation is available from English into Danish, Norwegian or Swedish and from ALL three Scandinavian languages into English.

Students working with one language pair will usually translate into English in one semester and into their other language in the next.

If you choose two language pairs, you will normally focus on one pair in Semester 1 and the other in Semester 2.

Browse our full range of languages offered

Community

The teaching on our programme draws on the expertise of researchers working in translation in relation to literature, film and cultures, translation and interpreting practitioners from across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, as well as visiting speakers.

You will be part of an international community of students and a friendly, close-knit department with an excellent PhD programme, its own seminar series, and many industry and cultural partners in the city of Edinburgh.

The University of Edinburgh has strong links with the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which annually welcomes around 1,000 authors to our literary city. It is also a great way to hear from and meet established translators. 

Translation and technology

We closely follow the developments in machine translation and generative AI, and how they might influence the teaching of translation. We also look to the language service industry and professional associations to understand how translators use AI and what opportunities and challenges these technologies might pose for linguists.

Our courses have been designed to invite critical reflection on the benefits and limitations of new technologies, with discussions on how generative AI tools can be used in translation work. Importantly, the programme offers several avenues to explore how crucial human creativity and expert knowledge are to ensure communication and translation are done professionally and ethically.

Our option course, Technology and Translation in the Workplace, focuses in part on the field of machine translation. The computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools we use, such as RWS Trados, now incorporate not only translation memory systems, but also machine translation and other forms of automation as standard components. In our classes, we examine the impact of these technologies on the workflow and on the role of the translator.

We continuously adapt our teaching to include discussions on technologies as they develop. For example, we also cover machine translation and generative AI in other courses, particularly in relation to creativity, translation practice and research methods, and ethical and legal issues (such as data usage or transparency).