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The Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) is hailed as one of the finest higher education institutions in Hungary and also boasts a well-established international reputation (http://www.bme.hu/rangsorok). It offers a broad range of courses focusing on technology and economics covering eight disciplinary areas. There are 20 Bachelor’s programmes, one single-cycle degree programme, 42 Master’s courses and 13 doctoral schools, and a great number of specialist courses to cater for the needs of students, the current figure of which is over 20,000. Operating with eight faculties, the university offers an inspiring context for carrying out a wide range of activities related to foreign languages.

The Centre for Modern Languages (INYK) (www.inyk.bme.hu) is an independent unit working within the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences (GTK). It is made up of four components: Language Teaching, the Language Examination Centre, the University School of Languages and the Centre for Interpreter and Translator Training (TFK). INYK provides a comprehensive range of courses in 9 foreign languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Japanese and Hungarian as a foreign language) for a total of 5,500 students per year and tailor-made to fit students’ individual needs. It has over 50 instructors (both full-time and part-time) who run general and specialist language courses at six different levels (from A1 to C1+). The Centre also organizes accredited general language examinations at three levels (B1, B2, C1) and examinations in language for specific purposes (LSP for Economics or Engineering) at 40 different venues across Hungary and examines over 14,000 candidates each year.

The Centre for Interpreter and Translator Training (TFK) (www.tfk.bme.hu) is one of the leading translator and interpreter training centres in Hungary with a 25-year history. Relying heavily on the solid professional background provided by INYK, it works in synergy with the other three components and enjoys the benefits of multilingualism, networking and a highly charged intercultural atmosphere.

TFK offers five study programmes in translation and interpreting as well as conference interpreting for trainees with one B, and two or three C languages:

1) Postgraduate Programme in Specialised Translation and Interpreting for Technical, Economic and Social Sciences (in combination with one foreign language and Hungarian; available languages: English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish). It is a four-semester part-time course (with evening classes) which has run continuously since its establishment in 2016.

2) Postgraduate Programme in Specialised Translation for Technical, Economic and Social Sciences (in combination with one foreign language and Hungarian; available languages: English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish). It is a three-semester programme that can be completed as a part-time course (with evening classes) OR as a distance learning course. The part time course with evening classes runs from September; the distance learning scheme starts in February each year.

3) Postgraduate Programme in Specialised Translation for Economic and Technical Sciences and the European Union (in combination with one foreign language and Hungarian; available languages: English). It is a one-year full-time course comprising 15-17 hours per week. The course has been available since it was established in 2016.

4) Postgraduate Programme in Conference Interpreting with Two Foreign Languages (in combination with two foreign languages and Hungarian, available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish). It is a one-year full-time course of 18 hours per week.

5) Postgraduate Programme in Business and Conference Interpreting (in combination with Hungarian and one foreign language (English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish). It is a one-year full-time course with a mixture of on-site and remote interpreting classes. The first course will be launched in September 2023.

Trainee – Market Workshops

The Centre organises workshops and meetings on a monthly basis between the trainees and the market where they can meet freelance translators and interpreters, representatives of translation offices and companies providing translation software. If you are interested, e.g. you would be prepared to give a talk on a relevant topic or present your company, please contact us at vegh@tfk.bme.hu or r.daniella@inyk.bme.hu.

Teacher – Teacher Workshops

We have recently launched a new series of events referred to as “Teacher-Teacher Workshops”, where the objective is to exchange ideas on how other Hungarian tertiary education institutions carry out assessment and evaluation in their training programmes, in line with our new Erasmus+ project, eTransFair. If you are interested in participating in the workshops, please contact us at vegh@tfk.bme.hu or r.daniella@inyk.bme.hu.

eTransFair – Erasmus+ project

Our project entitled eTransFair has been selected as one of the three winning projects under the Erasmus + (Strategic Partnership) scheme. Together with our partner institutions (Univie, Austria and Hermes, Spain), we have set out to develop an innovative knowledge exchange system – basing on the synergy of the three major stakeholders: universities, students and the translation market – which is expected to help modernise training programmes offered for specialised translators. During the three-year project we have undertaken to develop a broad range of methodological and ITC tools to bridge the gap between current educational outcomes and the actual needs of the translation market. The project also aims to provide collaborative platforms and a set of manuals to make the results transferrable for other higher education institutions. If you are interested in collaborating with us in the framework of Erasmus + and sharing best practices, please contact us at vegh@tfk.bme.hu or r.daniella@inyk.bme.hu.

Mentor Programme

With three registered talent management centres, BME has an excellent reputation for making efforts in this area, and INYK operates in the same spirit. To support students and bring them closer to the labour market and improve their chances of employability, our organisation runs a mentor programme where each of the selected students is paired with a mentor working in a translation office or freelance who will supervise and monitor their mentorees’ activities.

If you are interested in working with our students as mentors, please contact us at vegh@tfk.bme.hu or r.daniella@inyk.bme.hu.

Contacts

The centre’s international contacts have since the outset been built on the Tempus and Erasmus programmes.

Partner institutions:

University of Strasbourg ITI-RI

Catholic University of Paris – I.S.I.T.

Lessius Hogeschool, Antwerp

Institut Libre Marie Haps, Brussels

University of Bologna

University of Alcalá, Madrid

Ghent University

Durham University