The Multilingual Communication and Translation Studies Curriculum requires students to complete a minimum two-month stay in a native-English-speaking country or environment. Students will earn four (4) ECTS credits for the Language Residency, awarded on the basis of a summary report. Following are the requirements and guidelines for this report, along with background information on the Language Residency itself.

Report Background and General Requirements

Reports should normally be submitted within two months after return from the Residency. They should be ca. 3-5 text pages in addition to possible maps, images or other included supplementary data, using an 11 or 12-point Arial font, single line-spacing, block paragraphing with double-spacing between paragraphs, numbered pages, and otherwise following the TRENAK2 Text Layout and Usage Guidelines. As a personal document, reports are normally written in the first person.

Reports should be e-mailed in DOC (or RTF, if the report is text-only and OpenOffice is NOT used) format to John Hopkins. Reports should be submitted during the regular academic year (late August-late May); allow at least one week for evaluation and up to an additional week for registry entry of the 4 ECTS with a grade of "HYV".

As in TRENAK1 and TRENAK2, students should label their reports with the variety of English used (US or GB), and be consistent thereto in lexicon, punctuation, spelling, and syntax. The writing style and detail are flexible, but should reflect the quality standards expected of intermediate-level Translation Students (cf. TRENAK2). If the writing, length, layout or other aspects of an initial submission is determined not to meet expected standards, students will be requested to revise the initial draft accordingly.

Normally, only John will read your report. However, as is the case with all university credits based upon reports or papers, a copy of your report could be read by other staff or administrators either for quality control or if questions emerge on an individual experience. Reports should thus be written with a potential 'larger readership' in mind.

Layout Guidelines, and Grading

The following detail is required, as your credit cannot be put into the university registry without it. This should be placed at top-center of the first report page, just underneath the title:

1. TRENAK8 Language Residency Report (Use this as your title);
2. The location(s) where your residency took place
3. The context of your residency (studying, working, travelling, etc.)
4. The exact dates (starting to ending) of your residency
5. Your full name (as listed in the university registry), student number, and the English variety you used.

A model report, including the presentation of this information, is available here [PDF].

Content Guidelines for the Report

It is recommended that your report be organized according to the four suggested headings and sub-headings (I-IV) below. The detail used for each point will vary from student to student. Expand the detail on points that are most relevant to your experience. The objective of these guidelines is to make the task of writing your report clearer and more meaningful.

If you have not yet begun your Language Residency, you may find it useful to keep a daily or weekly journal during your Residency, listing your observations under these headings. This should make the writing of your final report much easier.

1. Language-specific considerations (in the location where your residency took place)

   Describe how your experience confirmed and/or differed from your expectations regarding:

   • Pronunciation
   • Register
   • Local variation (pronunciation, slang, lexicon, etc.)
   • Grammar/syntax
   • Spelling
   • Possible other points
     (some past students have used photographs of signs, newspaper images, etc., as illustrative material)

2. Cultural considerations

   Describe any difficulties and/or pleasant surprises you experienced regarding:

   • Cross-cultural differences between Finnish and English-language societies; and/or
   • Differences between local-level cultural norms vs. cultural perceptions you had been taught about English-language society; and/or
   • Possible differences between material taught in specific FAST or other UTA courses regarding that culture and the 'reality' as you experienced it, and any suggestions you would have for modifying the content of those course(s).

3. Successful coping and problem resolution strategies

   Regarding the Language-specific and Cultural considerations points above, describe:

   • What possible difficulties you had anticipated;
   • What surprises (both nice and not-so-nice) you may have experienced; and
   • What strategies you employed to cope with these situations and resolve the (possible) issues successfully.

4. Professional Implications

   Perhaps most importantly, reflect and comment on insights you gained that will help you in your future profession as a translator and/or interpreter, and how you believe your abilities at communicating across cultures have improved as a result of your experience.

Before You Go: Useful Background!

1. Students are sometimes uncertain what may qualify as a Language Residency Experience, or how to arrange one. Examples of past residencies have included study abroad via ISEP, ERASMUS, or private study arrangements; independent research on paper topics or personal interests; various working experiences (au pair work, counselling in a summer camp, house-sitting, horse-sitting, other types of jobs, etc.); visiting relatives in English-speaking countries; and travelling experiences of at least 2 months' duration (see brief database of past TRENAK8 experiences). If you have questions about what may qualify, please contact John.

2. Students are often also uncertain about WHEN the Residency should be done. Ideally it would be done after the student's first year, by which time Basic Studies should be completed, and before the beginning of the student's fourth year. As an 'Intermediate-level' course, TRENAK8 should in principle be completed before Advanced Studies are begun.

3. Can Pre-student Experiences Qualify? The short answer is 'maybe'. The objective of the Language Residency is a native-English cultural experience of sufficient length, quality and contemporaneity that the perspectives gained would be directly useful in your translation studies, with these perspectives being clearly described in your Report.

   If students have spent exchange years in an English-speaking country prior to entering UTA, or have worked in an English-speaking country for several years in the recent past, this would usually qualify. (In contrast, living abroad with your family from the ages of 3-10 would not count.)

   If you have questions regarding what may qualify, please consult John.

4. If you have not yet left on your Language Residency, please notify John before you depart, providing the (anticipated) required details above regarding your destination, objectives, dates, etc. This will enable your details to be entered into the database and speed the evaluation of your report once you return (as well as provide tracking information about how many students are doing their residencies at any given time, and where they are).