All candidates must complete the entrance exam, except for degree holders in Translation and Interpretation from the University of Salamanca or other Spanish universities.
NATURE OF THE EXAM
The exam will be written. It will consist of the following parts:
- In the first part, candidates will be given a text of between 1,000 and 1,100 words in their chosen foreign language. They must write a summary in Spanish of some 250/300 words, for which they will be given 90 minutes.
- In the second part, a text will be submitted in Spanish of between 1,000 and 1,100 words. Candidates must write, in the foreign language they chose (French, English, or German), an approximately 250/300-word summary of the text. For this, they will be given 90 minutes.
The two parts will be given in succession.
It is important to point out that, in both cases, candidates are asked to write a summary; that is, a reworking of the contents of the text that serves as a basis, using their own unique and original form of expression. It does not involve doing a literal translation of the original text or creating paragraphs that condense the original information.
MODALITIES AND DATES OF THE EXAM
The exam is taken online.
EXAM EVALUATION
To pass the exam, it is necessary to demonstrate a sufficient knowledge of each language in each of the two exercises of the exam. In the grading of both parts, the following four parameters will be taken into account. First, the amount of adapting needed to fit the required register of the text will be considered: a text written to educational standard, with a medium level of formality. Excessive use of colloquialisms, expressions, structures, and shifts extraneous to the proper register of the narrative text, will be assessed negatively. Second, the comprehension level of the original text will be evaluated, along with the ability to express it in summary. Third, the degree of accuracy in the textual structure of the summary will be taken into account, specifically with regards textual coherence and cohesion (order of information, textual organization, use of textual links and connectors, etc.) Lastly, the level of formal precision of the text will be evaluated from a lexical and grammatical standpoint.
Entrance exams from previous years:
- Text to be summarized in the Spanish language: DE1, DE2, EN1, EN2, FR1, FR2
- Text to be summarized in a foreign language: ES1, ES2
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*Please, note that even if the information in this website is available in English, courses are taught in Spanish.
**Translated by Collin Reyman, Lara Pastor Minuesa, Marta Urzainqui Dueñas and Vidushi Jhamb (Master’s in Translation and Intercultural Mediation, 2018-2019 students).
***Translation updated by Maria Ward (Erasmus Assistant, 2021), Lisa Martínez, Patricia Curto and María Castaños (2023).
