Studying Language Practice at the UFS

Society and culture cannot function without language. Practices based on language, such as translation, interpreting, editing and terminology design, occur every day in the economy, politics, medicine, law and other fields. In the multilingual countries of Africa, journalists, doctors, politicians, civil servants, software designers and people in many other jobs have to do their work with people who speak different languages. In Language Practice, we teach students about these practices, the policy context in which they occur and their influences on society and culture.

We focus on the following:

• Translation
• Interpreting
• Terminology development
• Language policy and language management

Our former students work at:

• National and provincial Hansard offices
• Department of Arts and Culture
• Department of Education
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• SABC and other broadcasters like eTV
• Universities – as lecturers, language specialists, teaching language skills
• Free lancing – some students have their own language-practice agencies
• Police
• Courts of law
• Teaching second languages

You can study language practice in one of two ways at the UFS:
If you want to take language practice as a major, you can enroll for the BA in Language Practice.

The major in language practice consists of the following modules:

Pathways to studying language practice as a minor:
You can take language practice as a minor or elective if you enroll for a BA General or some of the qualifications in communication science and applied communication science.