The Department of Modern Languages offers a 15-credit non-degree certificate in Spanish Translation for the Health, Legal and Business Professions. The certificate program will provide students with the necessary skills to become translators in positions requiring linguistic background in health, legal, and business concepts and terminology. Responding to the need for more translators in the Business, Health, and Legal fields, this program prepares students for an in-demand and fast-growing profession.
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This program is offered in-person, online and in a hybrid format.
Program Requirements
- In this introductory course students learn about the processes and strategies of translation and interpretation as well as available resources. This course includes translation and interpretation ethics, types of translation and interpretation and the history of the profession. Students are introduced to the use of interpretation and translation in law, the health professions, and financial businesses. It also introduces terminology and resources that can be used in computer aided interpretation and translation. Students explore how computer-assisted interpretation and translation has affected the industry as they learn to use interpretation and translation tools and create lists of commonly used terminology. There is emphasis on interpretation and translation into the native language with some practice in the opposite direction.
Prerequisite: ENG 101 (or equivalent) and Spanish at the intermediate-high level (SPN 210/SPN 221/SPN 207 or above) or departmental approval
- This course provides students with a comprehensive overview and understanding of the grammatical components of the Spanish Language and sentence structure. The focus will include the morphological and syntactical structures of the Spanish Language. Building upon the fundamental grammatical features of Spanish, students will analyze, identify, and describe the standard structures of Spanish in a variety of texts. Further synthesizing and developing analytical skills, students will evaluate the grammaticality of the written work they produce, recognizing the importance of conveying messages with clarity and coherence of word choice and syntactic structure.
Prerequisite: SPN 207 or SPN 210 or SPN 221 or departmental approval
OR
- This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the grammatical structures of standard American English, allowing them to read, write, and interpret written texts critically and efficiently Through analysis and discovery, students will learn to evaluate the grammaticality of the written work they produce in their academic coursework. In addition, students will explore a variety of writing genres and styles, and learn to manipulate language more effectively, enriching both their production and understanding of written texts.
- This capstone project in translation is designed, developed, and documented using an e-portfolio. The capstone project is done under instructor supervision and realized on a specialized area of translation according to the student's area of interest and language pair. The possible specializations include commercial, legal, or medical. Students need to combine the project with an internship or apprenticeship in an appropriate organization, such as a health center, courthouse, international corporation, governmental or non-governmental organization. Students must complete a project contract with the instructor prior to initiating the project and must keep a weekly journal on their e-portfolio.
Prerequisite: Two TRS 23x courses or departmental permission
1Choose 6 TRS credits at the 23x level.
Notes
Please note, these requirements are effective the 2025-2026 catalog year. Please check your DegreeWorks account for your specific degree requirements as when you began at BMCC will determine your program requirements.
