State-of-the-art interpretation lab opened at the University of Essex

Roger Hawkins, executive dean for faculty of social sciences, joins teaching staff in the department of language and linguistics at the University of Essex to launch the interpreting lab.

The state-of-the-art facility, which has ten booths, can interpret events for up to 20 delegates at a time – and is part of a wider conference centre at the Wivenhoe campus which can host up to 350 people at a single event.

Open to businesses and organisations, the lab was established in response to the growing popularity of the Department of Language and Linguistics’ three Masters programmes in interpreting, translation and subtitling.

The centre, which was officially launched on Wednesday evening with representatives from international interpreting directorates, has equipment which matches the professional standard of the facility found in the European Commission and the UN.

Professor Roger Hawkins, executive dean for the social sciences, said: “Not only will the new lab further enhance our teaching excellence by giving our students the chance to train on equipment of an extremely high specification, it will also serve as a fantastic resource for businesses and organisations wishing to host international conferences.

Roger Hawkins, executive dean for faculty of social sciences, joins teaching staff in the department of language and linguistics at the University of Essex to launch the interpreting lab.

“Essex can now offer regionally unrivalled facilities in conjunction with the expertise of our language and linguistics staff and students who have the ability to interpret between Mandarin Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

“Indeed, a number of our students have already worked with organisations including Essex County Fire Service and Essex County Council via its links with Jiangsu province in China.” The Department of Language and Linguistics is currently ranked within the top ten in the UK for research quality.

Roger Hawkins, executive dean for faculty of social sciences, joins teaching staff in the department of language and linguistics at the University of Essex to launch the interpreting lab.