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
- 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: TRS 231, TRS 232 and two of the following courses: TRS 233, TRS 234, or TRS 235
Program Electives – Choose 2 courses from the following:
- This is a theory based fully online course dealing with English-Spanish translation and interpretation for health care. As such, it addresses the communication needs in settings such as hospitals, clinics, physician’s offices, dental offices, outpatient facilities, pharmacies, etc. Among the topics or scenarios to be covered are: Spanish-speaking clients and their health; specialized terminology (e.g., anatomic, physiological, neurological, cardiovascular, oncological, obstetrical, orthopedic, medical instruments and devices); communication with administrative personnel (e.g., admission, payment, insurance); patient’s medical history (present illness and past history); personal, social and family history; the physical examination; emergency room; labor and delivery; surgery; medication and prescriptions; diet; treatments; drug overdose; patient instructions; dental visit and treatment; authorizations, consents and signature forms; and visits with different types of specialists (e.g., neurologist, orthopedist, cardiologist, psychiatrist).
Prerequisite: TRS 201 and TRS 202 or departmental permission - This is a theory-based course dealing with English-Spanish translation and interpretation for legal domain. The course will help students to translate and interpret legal texts and arguments, to write documents and to express themselves using legal vocabulary. The class will be taught in Spanish and will cover a broad mix of practical legal terminology, vocabulary and conversational skills. Special attention will be placed on the practice of writing to be used in law offices, courtrooms and similar settings. Translation and interpretation skills will be developed through forum discussions, reports and asynchronously activities using Voice Thread. In addition, the emphasis will be also placed on cultural issues that may affect successful interaction with Spanish-Speaking individuals and families faced with matters concerning the law.
Prerequisite: TRS 201 and TRS 202 - This is a theory-based course dealing with English-Spanish translation and interpretation for financial/business domain. It will prepare students for successful communication in the Hispanic commercial world by building up on their existing knowledge and emphasizing practical, real-life use of oral and written Spanish. This course is designed to introduce students to essential business interpretation and translation using terminology and language situations in common business contexts, reinforcing strategies for understanding, interpreting, translating and responding to new information. This course will also help the student to be alert to the importance of cultural awareness in doing business in Spanish-speaking countries or with Hispanics in the United States.
Prerequisite: TRS 201 and TRS 202
