New courses in interpreting and translating: SPbU

Find more information in the students’ guide to graduate study at SPbU to get a degree in translation studies and cross-cultural communication.

To educate and prepare students as teachers of foreign languages

The programme in Teacher of Foreign Language for Specific Purposes is specifically designed to educate and prepare high-calibre teachers for university.

Among the traditional imbalances experts encounter in pedagogy is a lack of systemic approach to educating teachers of foreign languages for universities. As a rule, the pedagogical universities and institutes are mostly concerned with preparing schoolteachers. On the one hand, the university lecturer must gain expertise in andragogy that is methods and practice of teaching adult learners. On the other hand, they should study philology to gain knowledge and practical skills in linguistics. The degree in Teacher of Foreign Language for Specific Purposes covers all these key elements of education.

Among the benefits the degree offers is that it develops the professional competences for successful graduate career in teaching. Presumably, such approach could solve the human resources challenges in higher education in Russia.

“Our most competitive advantage is our courses, — said the Director of the programme and SPbU’s Associate Professor Elena Beliaeva. — The programme features specially designed and unique courses in digital and electronic didactics that is at the cutting-edge of education today”. Students will have five original, author’s courses (three main courses and two additional courses), and 80 % of all courses are taught in English. You can also have online courses at the Open.edu or Coursera to get credits for the alternative full-time courses. Students can also choose the second European language (B2 level): Spain, German, or French.

The key courses are:

• Andragogy (adult education)
• Fundamentals of psycholinguistics
• Professional linguodidactics
• Advanced information and communication technologies in foreign language teaching
• Country studies of USA and UK
• Linguistic audit

The staff include Professor Tatiana Chernigovskaia, Professor Aleksei Minchenkov, Associate Professor Elena Beliaeva, Associate Professor Ludmila Kuznetsova and others.

Graduates with any degree subjects can apply for this programme. If you have a non-linguistic degree, you are more motivated to study a language to become a teacher in the area you have already gained competences.  Yet you should provide a certificate of FCE, IELTS, TOEFL or SPbU’s test B2 to prove your language proficiency.

Business in English

The graduate programmes in Foreign Languages and Cross-Cultural Communication in Business and Management educates and prepares high-calibre specialists in cross-cultural communication and equips its graduates with a range of skills in translation and interpreting in business and management.  

The programmes allows students to gain skills in professional communication in innovation spheres of business and management. Graduates have skills in corporate management that are highly valued in the context of global integration of business processes.

Transferable skills are a set of skills that are beyond qualification for successful career, high efficiency, and emotional stability in the workplace.

You will find a wide range of options available, allowing you to concentrate on developing your soft skills as well: public speaking, teamwork, time-management, project management, presentations, event-management, and conflict resolution. You will also learn how to apply for a grant and international projects.

Students will be introduced to translation and interpreting (simultaneous and consecutive). You can also study in depth the second foreign language: Chinese or Spanish. You will have access to the resources SPbU offers: from the Research Park to the Gorky Research Library.

Collaboration between businesses and university is producing a wide range of benefits and boosting students’ prospects. The Council of the programme comprises the representatives from Gazprom, Corporate Institute, PWC, SPN Communications, and translation agency Literra.

Two languages plus interdisciplinarity

The graduate programme in Mediadiscourse in International Communications: Linguistic, Cultural, and Professional Competences is interdisciplinary programme to educate and prepare linguist-translators and interpreters in professional spheres who have expertise in mass media and journalism.

Our mission is to prepare students in international journalism, translation, and interpreting who will be able to adapt to new linguistic technologies and generate media texts in Russian, English, Spanish, and Chinese.

Students study in depth two languages: English and Spanish or English and Chinese. It is not an easy choice: Chinese is the most in-demand language globally, while Spanish is the second-most widely spoken language in the world. Obviously, it makes graduates highly sought after by employers.

The programme brings together a range of overlapping professional spheres: mass media (journalism, PR, and advertising), cross-cultural communication (linguistic aspects in media industry), and professional translation and interpreting.

The programme has a module structure and offers a wide range of courses students can choose from. It is designed for those who have a degree in journalism or translation and interpreting. It can be of interest to those who have already entered the profession.

The courses reflect the global trends in media industry. Among them is Strategic communications in international relations, politics, and business, Russian in global politics: Current agenda, historical aspects, and global mass media coverage, Mass media and armed conflicts, and others.

The programme is interdisciplinary in nature as the staff include lecturers in political and business-PR in business, mass media management, English for journalism. The Council of the programme is headed by the Director of St Petersburg Information Regional Centre TASS Aleksandr Potekhin.

The degree gives graduates an excellent basis for a wide range of careers in publishing houses, universities, public sector, diplomacy, and commerce.

English and Chinese for Diplomacy

The graduate programme in Foreign Languages in International Relations aims to prepare high-calibre interpreters and translators in international relations and diplomacy.  

Students will study two languages in depth: English for fluent professional communication in international relations and basic Chinese. The programme is interdisciplinary in nature and brings together linguistics and international relations.

Graduates gain particular expertise in linguistics, translation studies, coupled with highly developed skills in communication strategies and technologies for diplomatic correspondence and international negotiations, and in information strategies.

How to apply

All candidates must take a written admissions test (total number of places on a fee-paid basis is 30). If you have a certificate of completion of SPbU’s online courses, you get 10 scores. For more information, please visit the web-site pf the SPbU’s Admissions Office.

The programme brings together translation studies, linguistics, international relations. The key courses include History and theory of international relations, English for politics and diplomacy, Diplomatic correspondence in English, Role of language in the world’s politics, and others. Graduates have particular expertise in translation and subject field.

The staff include Professor Olga Cherpitskaia (scope of research interest: role of the world’s religions in international relations), Professor Natalia Markushina (scope of research interest: regions in the context of international relations of Russia, geopolitics), Associate Professor Nadezhda Timchenko (scope of research interest: political discourse, translation of political texts), Associate Professor Natalia Kkovalevskaia (scope of research interest: soft power in the world’s politics, linguistic factor in the world’s politics, russophonia, hispanophonia), Associate Professor Tatiana Dobrova (scope of research interest: linguodidactics, English for specific purposes in international relations, cross-cultural commnication), and Associate Professor Ksenia Zhuravskaia (scope of research interest: political discourse, theory of argumentation, semiotics, linguistic and cultural studies).

Graduates secure positions in diverse areas such as international relations, diplomacy, public sector, and mass media.