DipTrans Preparation Course - Babylon Translations
Thread poster: Amal Fareed
Amal Fareed
Amal Fareed
Bahrain
Local time: 16:02
Arabic to English
+ ...
Apr 15, 2014

I have been researching DipTrans preparation courses for my language pairs [ENGARB], and contacted a few course providers. I then was contacted by Babylon Translations Limited in Salisbury, UK to join their course which runs over six months annually. The next course starts in June.

I am seriously contemplating joining the course because I doubt that if I enrol in an online-based program I would manage to find the time to focus on the course because I'd have to juggle that and my ful
... See more
I have been researching DipTrans preparation courses for my language pairs [ENGARB], and contacted a few course providers. I then was contacted by Babylon Translations Limited in Salisbury, UK to join their course which runs over six months annually. The next course starts in June.

I am seriously contemplating joining the course because I doubt that if I enrol in an online-based program I would manage to find the time to focus on the course because I'd have to juggle that and my full time job as well. I still need to know if the course offered by Babylon is worth the time and money before I make a decision and I could not find anything researching online and I'm hoping to find someone here who could help.

Does anyone have any feedback?

Have a great day

Cheers,
Amal
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Barbara Bonatti Divers
Barbara Bonatti Divers  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:02
English to Italian
they will work with past papers Apr 16, 2014

Hi Amal,

A friend is following an online Diptrans course and I am doing it on my own, using past papers. Both of us have found that the only available texts that are guaranteed to train you for DIPTRANS are the past papers and relative Examiner Reports, all available for a fee from the IoL.
The difference in our two approaches is that my friend gets to work on 4 past papers and gets 4 x 15 mins chat on Skype with a tutor afterwards (plus she pays a lot more for the privilege)
... See more
Hi Amal,

A friend is following an online Diptrans course and I am doing it on my own, using past papers. Both of us have found that the only available texts that are guaranteed to train you for DIPTRANS are the past papers and relative Examiner Reports, all available for a fee from the IoL.
The difference in our two approaches is that my friend gets to work on 4 past papers and gets 4 x 15 mins chat on Skype with a tutor afterwards (plus she pays a lot more for the privilege) whereas I work on every published paper so far in my own time and check my work against the Examiner Reports, that give for each paper a good overview of the major pitfalls or merits of the original candidates.
Seen as the time allowed for the two texts is 3 hours for the general and 2 for the semi-specialized (and you have to be prepared to translate in handwriting and with no internet access), you can easily fit it into your spare time, at any hour. The feedback you would get from live tutors cannot be much different from the combined tips of Examiner Reports and Candidates' Handbook, the latter also available from Iol.
In brief, I really do not see much point in a course to prepare you for DipTrans.
Hope this helps!

Good luck with your studies, whichever route you choose!
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Amal Fareed
Amal Fareed
Bahrain
Local time: 16:02
Arabic to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you :) Apr 20, 2014

Barbara Bonatti Divers wrote:

Hi Amal,

A friend is following an online Diptrans course and I am doing it on my own, using past papers. Both of us have found that the only available texts that are guaranteed to train you for DIPTRANS are the past papers and relative Examiner Reports, all available for a fee from the IoL.
The difference in our two approaches is that my friend gets to work on 4 past papers and gets 4 x 15 mins chat on Skype with a tutor afterwards (plus she pays a lot more for the privilege) whereas I work on every published paper so far in my own time and check my work against the Examiner Reports, that give for each paper a good overview of the major pitfalls or merits of the original candidates.
Seen as the time allowed for the two texts is 3 hours for the general and 2 for the semi-specialized (and you have to be prepared to translate in handwriting and with no internet access), you can easily fit it into your spare time, at any hour. The feedback you would get from live tutors cannot be much different from the combined tips of Examiner Reports and Candidates' Handbook, the latter also available from Iol.
In brief, I really do not see much point in a course to prepare you for DipTrans.
Hope this helps!

Good luck with your studies, whichever route you choose!


Thank you so much Barbara,

However, with my language combinations I feel it could be a bit more challenging. Arabic is quite a complex and difficult language, it's been ranked as the second most difficult language in the world, after Chinese! - which is why I would prefer to take a course, because I wouldn't want to leave any room for the possibility of failing the exam. I will still keep your feedback in mind however. Thank you again


 
Mireille BOULANGER
Mireille BOULANGER  Identity Verified
France
Member (2013)
English to French
DIPTRANS COURSES Apr 21, 2014

Hi Amal,
My language combination is English to French so it is more general advice than anything else...I think it is important to go through preparatory courses to get ready for the DIPTRANS. That is what I did in 2011 and I passed two certificates in 2012 (general and sciences) and enrolled again in 2013 for the unit business in January 2014 (still waiting for the result). I enrolled with Suzanne James Translator Training which is very convenient as you could modulate whichever unit you
... See more
Hi Amal,
My language combination is English to French so it is more general advice than anything else...I think it is important to go through preparatory courses to get ready for the DIPTRANS. That is what I did in 2011 and I passed two certificates in 2012 (general and sciences) and enrolled again in 2013 for the unit business in January 2014 (still waiting for the result). I enrolled with Suzanne James Translator Training which is very convenient as you could modulate whichever unit you want to prepare or all of them, you can start whenever you want and work at your own pace. You are getting a written correction for each assignment and two tutorals per course. I found this system very helpful as you are the one to choose your own schedule. Another thing I want to point out is that they are a lot of places where you can use a computer when sitting for the DIPTRANS so you have to check with your Exam Center before registering for the exam. On the exam day I met some candidates who did not know about that and had to go through the exam like in the old days which is a pity as it is a real asset to use a computer!!! (corrections can be made to the last minute...).

All the best
MIREI
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Amal Fareed
Amal Fareed
Bahrain
Local time: 16:02
Arabic to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Boulanger Apr 22, 2014

BOULANGER MIREI wrote:

Hi Amal,
My language combination is English to French so it is more general advice than anything else...I think it is important to go through preparatory courses to get ready for the DIPTRANS. That is what I did in 2011 and I passed two certificates in 2012 (general and sciences) and enrolled again in 2013 for the unit business in January 2014 (still waiting for the result). I enrolled with Suzanne James Translator Training which is very convenient as you could modulate whichever unit you want to prepare or all of them, you can start whenever you want and work at your own pace. You are getting a written correction for each assignment and two tutorals per course. I found this system very helpful as you are the one to choose your own schedule. Another thing I want to point out is that they are a lot of places where you can use a computer when sitting for the DIPTRANS so you have to check with your Exam Center before registering for the exam. On the exam day I met some candidates who did not know about that and had to go through the exam like in the old days which is a pity as it is a real asset to use a computer!!! (corrections can be made to the last minute...).

All the best
MIREI


Thank you. I certainly intend on taking a preparatory course, to be honest though, I doubt I will be able to spare the time and the attention for an online course because the lifestyle I lead is too demanding and pretty hectic; which is why I was looking for classroom-based courses where I can sort of take a break from it all and focus on one thing. I found the Babylon course and was contacted by them, but the cost seems a bit too high; its same as what I would pay for a Masters program. Is it true that the DipTrans is equivalent to an MA?


 
Mireille BOULANGER
Mireille BOULANGER  Identity Verified
France
Member (2013)
English to French
Hi Amal Apr 23, 2014

The best thing to do to get information about the DIPTRANS is to have a look at the London Chartered Institute of Linguists' web site. It runs :

"The IoLET Level 7 Diploma in Translation (QCF) was introduced in 1989 as a benchmark of professional standards and has since continued to meet the needs for a high level professional translating qualification.

It is a postgraduate level equivalent qualification intended to test the ability of those who wish to progress into ca
... See more
The best thing to do to get information about the DIPTRANS is to have a look at the London Chartered Institute of Linguists' web site. It runs :

"The IoLET Level 7 Diploma in Translation (QCF) was introduced in 1989 as a benchmark of professional standards and has since continued to meet the needs for a high level professional translating qualification.

It is a postgraduate level equivalent qualification intended to test the ability of those who wish to progress into careers as freelance translators or work for corporations worldwide, to a professional standard."

But I am not sure about it being equivalent to an MA. If you can follow a regular course it is all for the best.

Good luck to you
MIREI
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Amal Fareed
Amal Fareed
Bahrain
Local time: 16:02
Arabic to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
:) May 4, 2014

BOULANGER MIREI wrote:

The best thing to do to get information about the DIPTRANS is to have a look at the London Chartered Institute of Linguists' web site. It runs :

"The IoLET Level 7 Diploma in Translation (QCF) was introduced in 1989 as a benchmark of professional standards and has since continued to meet the needs for a high level professional translating qualification.

It is a postgraduate level equivalent qualification intended to test the ability of those who wish to progress into careers as freelance translators or work for corporations worldwide, to a professional standard."

But I am not sure about it being equivalent to an MA. If you can follow a regular course it is all for the best.

Good luck to you
MIREI


Thank you again Mirei xx


 


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