Training Activities with the UN: the Salamanca Experience With Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Translation and interpreting are experiential learning activities and, as such, thrive on personal experiences, intellectual maturity and a technique that only improves with practice. As teachers in a bachelor’s degree programme, we have a 4-year span, with students aged 18 to 21 (or 20-21 in the case of interpretation training), to indulge our burgeoning language professionals with nurturing experiences and know-how. How can we provide undergraduates with all the tools necessary to become language professionals in such a limited timeframe? What would be the role of the UN? This paper intends to outline the particularities of our curricula and to analyse the training activities in cooperation with the UN so as to analyse how these joint endeavours have contributed to Salamanca's academic success.