Directorate-General for Translation
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Translating for the English Translating for the English Department of DGTDepartment of DGT
Edinburgh, 10 February 2010
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Why are we there?
Council Regulation No 1/58:• Regulations and other documents of general
application shall be drafted in the official languages Treaty establishing the European Community:
• Citizens have a right toaddress the official EU bodies in any of the EU’s official languages and to receive a reply in that language
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Why do we translate?
To enable citizens of the EU Member States to:• understand the laws that they have to comply with;• play a full part in EU activities;• make their contributions to the work of the EU
institutions without having to learn a foreign language for the purpose
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We translate from all the official languages of the EU…
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…and on all subject areas
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Categories of documents translated
Legislation Consultation Information Administration Other
Pages translated by category
30 %30 %
4 %
33 %
8 %25 %
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DGT’s staff
Some 1 750 translators and 600 support staff
110 translators in the English Department
40% in Luxembourg
60% in Brussels
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Electronic translation tools
Terminology• Electronic dictionaries,
glossaries, etc.• IATE• EUR-Lex• Quest Metasearch • Web search engines• DGT Vista + SG Vista
Translation tools• Translator's
Workbench/Euramis• Machine translation• Voice recognition
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Translation…and more besides
Editing
Web translation
EMT
VTS Terminology
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Competitions - Terms and conditions
You must be an EU citizen
You must have a full university degree in languages or another field
No professional experience is required
No age limit
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The competition process
• Apply online
• Pre-selection test (numerical & verbal reasoning)
• Translation test, group exercise, oral presentation
• Interview
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Traineeships (stages)
• Duration: 5 months• Two rounds per year (starting in March and
October)• For university graduates only • Trainees must be able to translate from two
EU languages into their main language• Monthly grant• Any nationality
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What can DGT offer you?
€48 000 starting salary Generous leave entitlements Varied, challenging work Excellent language learning opportunities Job security Multicultural environment
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What’s next?
Check out the EPSO website at
www.eu-careers.eu
or visit the DGT website at
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/index_en.htm
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Thank you for your attention!