MA Translation Farsi German French Spanish

A dedicated student immerses herself in translation studies, surrounded by books and digital tools, as she works on Farsi, German, French, and Spanish languages.

I very much hope to be accepted to your distinguished Online Translation Program at the University of XXXX primarily as a result of my admiration for the rigorous, cutting-edge nature of your curriculum. Studying for my Masters Degree online will enable me to continue my professional employment as a translator and trainer on behalf of coalition military forces stationed in Germany. My language ability is my foremost distinction since I am a native speaker of both German and Farsi and at advanced levels in English, French, and Spanish, intermediate in Italian and making constant progress as a beginner in Georgian and Pashto.

Earning my Masters in Translation will enable me to do my job better, working on behalf of communication and preparedness for those soldiers from numerous Western countries that have to face difficult challenges in places like Afghanistan. I feel that this is the optimal time for me to proceed to graduate school now that I have three years of experience as a translator/interpreter, in order to attain the formal preparation that I need to make the fullest contribution possible in the future to our exploration of language, culture, and most of all cross or inter-cultural communication. A resilient, goal-oriented individual with a passionate interest in the practical aspects of translation, I will immediately seek to apply what I learn in your program and put it into practice in my current position as a translator/interpreter with coalition forces in Germany.

Since I excelled as a student and graduated with honors in October of 2014 from the XXXX University in Milton Keynes in a closely-related field, Modern Languages, I believe that I have an adequate academic foundation that will enable me to distinguish myself for excellence as a student in your program. Having completed my undergraduate studies online, your MA Translation Program at Bristol University is a natural choice for me as a graduate student since I am already most comfortable with the distance learning mode of interactive instruction.

Beginning during my undergraduate studies, I now have three years of experience as a translator/interpreter/cultural advisor for military exercises in Germany and I continue to serve as a translator/interpreter/cultural advisor--in German, English, Persian, and Dari--at XXXX. My work brings me into contact with a very broad range of people from many different parts of the world. My principal task has been to prepare soldiers to better understand and subsequently deal with the peculiarities of Afghan culture prior to their deployment to that country.

In addition to an excellent command of the languages involved, it is absolutely crucial in my work to be sensitive to the cultural differences that exist among speakers, in this case soldiers from a variety of nationalities, languages, and cultural backgrounds all coming together in the exercise of lethal force, a potentially quite hazardous combination. Numerous coalition forces have been killed in cold blood with no warning whatsoever, for example, by Afghan security forces following engagement in some kind of dispute. Thus, accurate translation can quite literally be a lifesaver in this kind of context.

As an ethnic Iranian who has spent the larger part of my life in Germany, I had the privilege of being raised bilingual, which means I speak both languages as mother tongues. I also feel very much at home in both cultures, German and Iranian. Perhaps my single greatest interest is to help writers in the Farsi-speaking community to make their voices heard. With the world-class theoretical foundation that I will attain by completing your program at Bristol, I will be able to better help not only Iranian but also Afghan writers to make their work more accessible to larger audiences, working in the promotion of cultural exchange.

Primarily as a result of working with US and British military personnel for the past three years, my English has improved greatly and I am now fully fluent and well practiced in the translation of English to other languages. I have always been passionate about Romance languages, especially French and Spanish, which I spent several years learning on my own and as part of my undergraduate studies in Modern Languages. After completing my degree at Bristol, I hope to further develop my passion for languages by gaining a formal qualification in conference interpreting with German as a native and English and French as working languages, ideally in combination with a degree in politics and international relations, especially with regards to recent political developments in the Middle East and most particularly in Persian/Dari speaking areas.

My long-term professional dream is to work as a translator/interpreter in a government-related institution, such as the Language and Translation Department of the Federal Foreign Office, the Linguistic Services Division of the Bundeswehr (German Army) or the Federal Office of Languages, where there is an ever-growing demand for translators/interpreters who are competent in more than one foreign language (rare languages such as Persian are generally preferred). Holding a Master’s Degree in Translation from XXXX and becoming certified as a translator in both English and French will position me well for a translation-related position in Germany and do what I can to promote better understandings of cultural differences among nations, especially between the Persian-speaking population on the one hand, and the West on the other. I have a special passion for studying the way in which socio-cultural factors influence translation, especially in those languages spoken by populations whose culture is very different from those of the West, as is the case with speakers of Persian.

Finally, completing your program will also assist me with my goal of always staying engaged in the study of languages of lesser diffusion and prominence, particularly Georgian and Pashto, conducting research on translation methods from and into these languages. I thank you for consideration of my application to your distinguished program at XXXX. 

MA Translation Farsi German French Spanish