Interpreting Major - Bachelor of Arts
Want a career as an interpreter? In the Interpreting major you learn to recognise cross-cultural implications for interpreting, and the ethical and professional responsibilities of an interpreter.
Interpreting is so much more than just repeating someone’s words in a different language. A good interpreter can understand nuances and cultural appropriateness, and convey levels of formality across a range of professions and industries. The challenge is to do justice to every situation.
You practise interpreting consecutively and simultaneously between English and another language. You explore the effects of intonation and the use of idioms in spoken English. Throughout your studies you also become familiar with interpreting for legal, healthcare or business settings. These skills will serve you well in our increasingly multicultural local and global communities.
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This is part of the Bachelor of Arts.
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Throughout your three years of studies you develop a sound understanding of interpreting, as well as effective communication, critical thinking and other transferable skills you'll need for your future career.
Apart from the courses below you also need to complete courses from your second major, your chosen minor(s) or electives.
Core courses
All Bachelor of Arts students need to complete core courses that help you develop transferable skills and support your work in all other courses in the degree.
Complete one course from each of the following clusters. Each cluster aligns with one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Partnerships and Reduced Inequalities
Choose one of:
- CLSY502 Intercultural Competence
- ENGL502 Reading New Zealand
- ENGL503 A Pacific Reader
- JAPA511 Speak Japanese I
- JAPA512 Write Japanese I
- MAOR505 Kōrerorero: Speaking Māori
- MAOR506 Kōrero Ōpaki Beginners Māori Language
- NZSL502 Deaf Community and Culture I
- NZSL510 New Zealand Sign Language I
- NZSL520 New Zealand Sign Language II
- SPAN501 Spanish 1A
- SPAN502 Spanish 1B
Peace and Justice, Climate Action and Economic World
Choose one of:
- CRIM580 Criminology and Criminal Justice
- HIST500 Introduction to New Zealand History
- HIST501 The Holocaust: Its Causes, Character, and Legacy
- PSYC580 Introduction to Psychology A
- SOSC582 Social Thinking
- SOSC583 Social Institutions
- SOSC585 Climate Action
- TOUR511 Global Issues in Tourism
Sustainability, Health and Wellbeing
Choose one of:
- FOOD501 Food and the Senses
- HOSP503 Organisation and Human Behaviour Perspectives
- HOSP509 Hospitality Social Enterprise
- TOUR512 Tourism and Sustainability
Quality Education, Gender Equality and Reduced Poverty
Choose one of:
Interpreting courses
If you're majoring in interpreting, this is the main subject area you specialise in. It makes up one third of your degree and consists of eight interpreting-related courses you study throughout your degree.
Complete the following courses:
- CLSY502 Intercultural Competence
- CLSY601 Intercultural Competence in a Global World
- TRIN603 Interpreter Role, Ethics and Practice
- TRIN604 Societal Context for Interpreting and Translation
- TRIN702 Advanced Interpretation Legal Studies
- TRIN704 Advanced Interpretation Health Studies
And complete two of:
- TRIN701 Principles and Practice of Translation and Interpreting
- TRIN705 Advanced Health Interpreting
- TRIN708 Advanced Legal Interpreting
- TRIN709 Discourse in Remote Public Service Interpreting
Workplace experience
Workplace experience is an important part of your degree, and the Work Integrated Learning course is the final part of your degree. This is a supervised work placement related to your major(s), for an organisation of your choice. It's a great way to get industry experience while still being able to get feedback from AUT lecturers, and for many of our students this workplace experience also leads to a job offer.
You could also take the Foundations in Research course to prepare you for postgraduate study.
Build your degree
Use our online tool to build your own degree and see what your three years of study could look like.
https://www.aut.ac.nz/courses/bachelor-of-arts/interpreting-major
- Legal interpreting for government and local authorities
- Health interpreting for various health sector organisations
- Freelance interpreting work
- Foreign affairs and border control
- Movie voiceovers
- Language Line (telephone interpreting)
- Refugee and migrant services
- International business conventions or conferences
Find out more about industry trends, job descriptions and what employers may be looking for.
Other majors in the Bachelor of Arts
- Creative Writing
- Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Culinary Arts
- Economics
- Education
- Event Management
- Global Tourism
- History
- International Studies
- Māori Media
- New Zealand Sign Language & Deaf Studies
- New Zealand Sign Language - English Interpreting*
- Psychology
- Social Sciences
*This major focuses on New Zealand Sign Language and developing the skills to become a Sign Language interpreter. It doesn’t include the option to include courses from different subjects.
- Prepares you for interpreting careers in medical, legal and business settings
- Suitable if you already speak two languages
- Workplace experience in your final semester
- Bilingual
- A communicator
- A great listener
- Having an ear for detail
The information on this page was correct at time of publication. For a comprehensive overview of AUT qualifications, please refer to the Academic Calendar.