Translation teaching in Macao’s polytechnic education

Abstract

This article "Translation teaching in Higher Education in Macau at the Polytechnic" aims to discuss the issues around teaching and learning of Chinese / Portuguese Translation in Macau, and the role played by the Macau Polytechnic Institute in translators training. For more than four centuries, Macau has been a place of intercultural contact where the Portuguese and the Chinese, now the current official languages, have coexisted and implied constant translation efforts; today, Macau is seen as an important platform between the People's Republic of China and Portuguese Speaking Countries, which has stressed the importance of translation professionals. Despite several attempts, Macau’s public higher education was only established in 1991, as well as a translation degree program; until then, and for more than a century, the translators training was held by a government department. We will discuss several curricular structures implemented over the years in the Macao Polytechnic Institute for training translators who can intermediate between Chinese and Portuguese languages and cultures growingly expanding in Macau, given the significant increase in the demand for properly trained translators/interpreters