Additional information

The master's programme in translation will train highly qualified translators that will be experts in establishing communication between members of various cultures and languages. Successful completion of the programme will enable translators to professionally meet current market demands and enable them to adapt to the future needs of the translation market. Holders of master’s degrees will have a high level of competence in translating various types of texts from two foreign languages in various areas such as economics, law, the natural sciences, the social sciences, electronic media, computer science, or texts for the arts and social sciences and literary texts. They will acquire the skills to edit and format texts for the needs of public and private institutions at both the national and international levels, will be trained for work with terminology and computer-aided translation, and they will also acquire the competence to edit various types of technical texts in line with the specific conventions of the target language. The master’s programme will thus train translators in technical and literary translation, subtitling, localization, computer-aided translation, lexicography, and terminological work.

At the same time, the programme will ensure a high level of competence in translation theory so that those holding a master’s degree will be able to form their own understanding of theoretical principles and assess them, apply them to their work, and identify and solve the problems that they will encounter in their work as professional translators.

General competences:

• High-level spoken and written communication skills;
• Teamwork skills;
• Skills for the independent acquisition of knowledge;
• Capacity for lifelong learning in an information-based society;
• High-level ability to analyse, synthesise and anticipate solutions and their consequences;
• Ability to develop their own research techniques and problem-solving approach;
• Ability to  use information and communication technology;
• Mastery of research methods, procedures, and processes;
• Ability to make critical and self-critical judgments;
• Capacity for ethical reflection and commitment to professional ethics;
• Ability to operate independently in the profession;
• Ability to think critically.

• Awareness and mastery of translation strategies and techniques;
• Ability to describe and theoretically analyse translation processes;
• Ability to recognise the complexity of empirical studies with theoretical premises in translation studies;
• Ability to identify basic texts and theoretical points of departure in the history of translation theory;
• Ability to form an independent perspective on the status of a translation, the translator, and translating;
• Ability to use translation tools;
• Lexical competence in Slovene and two foreign languages with regard to specific lexical and communication conventions;
• Ability to recognise and analyse lexical comprehension processes;
• Ability to appreciate the interdependent ways texts operate in socio-cultural contexts.

Additional subject-specific competences are given in the syllabus for each subject separately.

The admission requirements conform to the Statute of the University of Ljubljana, Article 117 of which states that persons that have completed the following may apply for a master's programme:

• A first-level (undergraduate) programme in a suitable subject area, as defined by the master's programme;
• A first-level (undergraduate) programme in another subject area with the completion of 10 to 60 credits of academic requirements essential for further study and as defined by the academic programme.

Applicants can also meet the requirements under the second indent of the preceding paragraph during first-level (undergraduate) study in remedial programmes or by taking placement tests (see below on this page) before admission to the master's programme. The placement test assesses the level of working languages: Slovene (CEFR level C2) and two working languages (CEFR level C1) are a prerequisite for access to MA Translation at the University of Ljubljana. 

The following may apply for the master's programme in translation:

• Any holder of an undergraduate degree in a programme in interlingual communication in a suitable area with regard to selected options in the master's programme (the language selected for the master's programme must agree with the language of undergraduate study);
• The holder of an undergraduate degree in any field, including undergraduate programmes designed in line with the Bologna guidelines or those that were designed before higher educational reforms; applicants must take a test to verify their language ability in Slovene and two foreign languages; based on abilities acquired during undergraduate study and test results, applicants may be awarded or have recognised up to 60 CR.

Selection criteria:

• Average grade on the undergraduate programme (20%)
• Grade on undergraduate comprehensive exam or degree dissertation (20%)
• Average grade on the undergraduate programme in Slovene or score for Slovene on the test cited in the second indent (20%)
• Average grade on the undergraduate programme in English or score for English on the test cited in the second indent (20%)
• Average grade on the undergraduate programme in the second foreign language or score for second foreign language on the test cited in the second indent (20%)

The precise admission requirements are published in the application information prepared by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.

The second-level (master's) university programme in translation shall also take into account knowledge and skills acquired prior to admission through various forms of formal and informal education.

Students shall provide certificates or other documents attesting to knowledge acquired through various types of formal education that clearly show the content and amount of work the student has invested so that credits can be awarded for knowledge and skills. Students may receive up to 6 credits that may substitute for external electives in the programme. The head of the Department of Translation shall make a decision on the recognition and crediting of such knowledge and skills on the basis of students’ individual applications.

For knowledge received on the basis of attested documents for informal education or portfolios (projects, competition entries, inventions, patents, publications, etc.) students may be granted up to 6 credits that may substitute for external electives in the programme. The head of the Department of Translation shall make a decision on the recognition and crediting of such knowledge on the basis of students’ individual applications.

Students that have published articles in scholarly journals recognised as relevant to the profession (see list) may request the recognition of an article in place of a master's dissertation (15 CR). The head of the Department of Translation at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Arts shall make a decision on recognising and crediting such material on the basis of students’ individual applications.

Students may also request the recognition of the content of translation practice (6 CR) on the basis of proof of having done applied translation work. The head of the Department of Translation at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Arts shall make a decision on recognising and crediting such material on the basis of students’ individual applications.

Students may thus receive credit for a total of 27 CR or 22.5% of the academic programme.

The academic requirements of students in the second-level (master's) university programme in translation may be recognised within all parts of the academic programme in part or in whole on the basis of work experience and professional references attested through a portfolio. The recognition of academic requirements is at the discretion of course coordinators. The head of the Department of Translation at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Arts shall make a decision on recognising and crediting such material on the basis of students’ individual applications and the written opinions of coordinators of individual courses.

The provisions for the recognition of knowledge and skills acquired prior to enrollment in the academic programme shall also be taken into account, mutatis mutandis, for the recognition of knowledge and skills acquired during study if this is agreed upon in advance in the form of a learning agreement.

To advance to the second year of master's study in translation, the student must satisfy all of the obligations given in the programme requirements and syllabuses for the first year, totalling 60 CR.

The placement test assesses the level of working languages.

Slovene: Students are required to create a Slovene summary of a Slovene text. 

Other working languages. Students are required:
- to translate a text from a foreign language into Slovene,
- to summarise a foreign-language text into that foreign language,
- to pass a test of oral communicative competence in working languages.

The following general requirements must be met by all applicants: candidates have to be able to demonstrate native-like proficiency in Slovene (CEFR level C2) and advanced level in two working languages (CEFR level C1).

The Department of Translation Studies annually amends its sustainability action plan for the program MA Translation on the basis of annual Sustainability Action Plans prepared by the Quality Assurance Committee (see https://www.ff.uni-lj.si/en/faculty/quality-assurance-system) of the Faculty of Arts, which functions along the lined defined by the quality assurance guidelines defined by the University of Ljubljana (see https://kakovost.uni-lj.si/?lang=en). The departmental planning team (called Quality Assurance Committee of the Department of Translation) consisting of university teachers responsible for programs offered by the Department of Translation of the University of Ljubljana, critically examines bi-annual self-evaluations of the programs, annual departmental reports and student questionnaires. On the basis of these evaluations, the commission then annually reviews the program’s mission and purpose, and the results of the program’s sustainability assessment, taking into account in particular the changes in the translation market and the employability status of the graduates of MA Translation. The team also determines which program elements (including teaching methodology, translation tools, assessment) need to be maintained, eliminated or adapted. With an aim to foster partnership between staff and support innovation in teaching and learning, the planning team determines the priority areas of sustainability capacity which should be addressed first, and writes an action plan that is submitted to the planning team of the Faculty of Arts. This body then writes a Sustainability Action Plan for the entire Faculty of Arts which includes specific action steps.

Employability Questionnaire results in 2023 

 (generations from 1 October 2019 to 1 November 2023)

Using online surveys, the department follows up on two main aspects of students’ employability, i.e., employability as a whole and identification of different fields in which our graduates find employment.

40 out of 64 students (i.e., 64%) who graduated from the MA programme in Translation at the University of Ljubljana in the period between 1 October 2019 and 1 November 2023 took part in the department online surveys. Overall data shows that immediately after graduation, 40% of students are already employed, 35% immediately get employed, 22% start looking for employment and 3% become postgraduate students (see chart 1). Within six months of graduation, only 6% of all our graduates are unable to find employment, with 52% being employed in companies, 21% in institutions, 15% being self-employed (6% chose other and did not specify; see chart 2). In 2023 the overall unemployment rate dropped to 2% (see chart 4).

With the surveying process we also examine in which fields our graduates most typically find employment. In 2023, most students are employed in the language industry (61%), either self-employed or working at translation companies and various national institutions, as well as press agencies and schools. Those who do not work in the language industry are employed in tourism, public relations, marketing and diplomacy (see chart 3).

As far as employability trends are concerned, we see a growing number of students employed in companies and institutions in the fields other than the language industry, while the number of self-employed students decreased compared to data for the period between 2013 and 2018 (see chart 4).

Chart 1

Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4