Yan Lu

Why did you choose to come to Surrey? 

"I really love Guildford. It is a really beautiful place to live and provides the perfect balance between rural and city life."

I chose Surrey for two main reasons. 

The first one is I wanted to study with the best. This course is designed in collaboration with Dr Kevin Lin OBE, who is the Lead Interpreter (Chinese) for the UK government’s Foreign Office. When I began to learn interpreting, the first textbook I used was Dr Lin’s Field Interpreting. Therefore, I very much wanted to meet the author in person at Surrey and learn as many interpreting techniques as possible from him. 

The second reason is the location. I really love Guildford. It is a really beautiful place to live and provides the perfect balance between rural and city life. Within easy reach of London via great rail and road connections, whilst also being surrounded by the countryside of Surrey, I really do get the best of both worlds.

What do you like about your course?

"I like the easy way all the translation terms were explained, and the text lectures never became cluttered, despite their high information density."

I like the easy way all the translation terms were explained, and the text lectures never became cluttered, despite their high information density. For example, when Dr Wang introduced specialist translation and mentioned the term CAR T-cell Therapy during the Professional Translation class, she not only explained the text meaning of the terminology, but also played a video to illustrate how the therapy works, which left a great impression on my mind. What’s more, in the second semester, the consecutive interpreting simulations were well developed and perfect for experiencing different interpreting scenarios in various fields. 

Are you part of any clubs or societies? 

During the whole academic year, I was elected as the course representative of all Translation and Interpreting MA programmes, acting as a liaison between my fellow students and Centre for Translation Studies' staff at Surrey. My main role is to gather students’ feedback and communicate this to our staff.

During the first semester of my academic year, I joined Surrey’s Chinese Translation Alumni Association and I volunteered to be a translation project manager. My main responsibility was to supervise the whole process of a translation project posted on the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), including translation, proofreading, editing and formatting.

What’s the best thing about living in University accommodation?

"Living in University accommodation is the ideal way to immerse myself into student life. And, especially for international students like me, where moving away from home is a huge transition, living in university accommodation grants me easier access to support from campus and residence teams."

What has been your best moment at Surrey so far? 

The best moment for me is practising interpreting till midnight at the library and walking back to my accommodation whilst feeling the night breeze.

Do you have any advice for students thinking about postgraduate study?

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Discover our postgraduate programmes in the School of Literature and Languages.