German Translation and Translation

I am Associate Professor Doctor Rahman Akalın. I am the head of the Department of German Translation and Interpretation at Trakya University. I continue both research and education activities in this department. Our department was established in 2006 within the Trakya University School of Foreign Languages. The Department of German Translation and Interpretation started its activities by admitting students in the academic year of 2006-2007. Our department, which continued its activities within the School of Foreign Languages until 2008, was connected to the Faculty of Science and Letters of Trakya University in February 2008. Today, it continues both research and education activities within the Faculty of Letters. The courses given in our department are planned in such a way that our students can produce qualified translations both in written and oral materials. In this sense, we have various courses such as Translation of General Texts for written translation or Translation of Technical Texts, Translation of Legal Texts for various fields of specialization, as well as courses to improve written translation skills of our students for literary translation. In this sense, we continue education and research activities in various fields of interpreting such as simultaneous translation, interpreting from written text, and consecutive interpreting. There is an interpretation laboratory in our department. In this laboratory, there are 2 interpreting cabinets and 2 interpreting systems. Here, 50 of our students can work as listeners and 4 of our students can work alternately in translation booths. We also have a computer lab. Here, we carry out translation activities on the computer and on the internet by means of computer-assisted translation programs in the classroom environment. Students who want to do voluntary internships in our department can do internships on demand. In this sense, the faculty members of our department provide consultancy services to students who want to do an internship on demand. Apart from this, we have a final project course during the last two semesters of our program. Within the scope of this course, our students complete their program by presenting either a research project or a translation project.
Our department offers international and national mobility opportunities to our students through various education and training exchange programs. We implement student exchange programs with European Countries under the scope of the Erasmus program. The Mevlana program covers the universities in the Balkans and Turkic Republics, and the Farabi program includes the universities in Turkey. In our department, we organize events at national and international level in various periods. In these events, we enable prominent people in the field of translation studies to meet with our students and exchange ideas. Graduates of our department can work as translators and interpreters in both the public and private sectors such as translation offices, large translation companies, publishing houses, and various institutions and organizations. I recommend students who want to choose this department to read books and improve their foreign language skills. In addition, since translation is a multilingual activity, we recommend prospective students to improve themselves in a second foreign language. Our university offers its students sufficient opportunities in terms of both transportation and accommodation. On the other hand, our university also serves students with its 24/7 open library. Our university also provides opportunities for the social, sportive and cultural development of our students with its large number of student groups. In addition, our students can continue their professional and field-oriented development within the Trakya University Translation Society, which was established by the students of our department. I recommend students who will choose this department to become true members of this translation community. We welcome all candidates who want to become translators and want to improve themselves in foreign languages. We wish you success in your exams.