Prospective Students
BA (Translation) - JD Double Degree

Applicable to students admitted in 2022-23
 
 
Jointly offered by the Department of Translation and the Faculty of Law, the BA(Translation) - JD double degree is a highly flexible option designed to prepare students to qualify as practising lawyers while leaving the door open to other career choices along the way.
 

1. Basic Structure
After completion of the first degree, BA(Translation) students may continue directly on to the Juris Doctor (JD) graduate degree programme, thus earning two degrees in six years (the "4+2" model). Students who wish to gain work experience after completion of the first degree may defer entry to the JD for up to three years, or they may opt out of the second degree altogether.
 

2. Admission Requirements to Double Degree Option
The Department of Translation and the Faculty of Law will select students normally from among its first-year students in the Translation Programme.
 
Double degree option students who complete the first degree do not need to go through a separate admission process for their second degree. However, admission to the second degree will be contingent upon the following conditions: (1) students must receive first or upper second honours in the first degree with a Major GPA of 3.3 or above, and (2) students should normally have passed all their undergraduate courses. Students who have any failure grades on their first degree transcript will not be permitted to proceed to the second degree without the consent of the JD Programme Director.
 

3. Study Scheme
 
1st Degree: Bachelor of Arts (Translation)
 
Major Programme Requirement
 
Students are required to complete a minimum of 69 units of courses as follows:
 
1. Faculty Package: 9 Units
  Any 3 courses from:  
  ANTH1020, ARTS1003, 1004, 1005, BMBL1001, CHES1100, CHLL1900 or CHLL1902, CUMT1000, CURE1000, 1110, ENGE1000, FAAS1900, HIST1000, JASP1090, LING1000, MUSC1000, PHIL1110, THEO1000  
     
2. Required Courses:  
(a) TRAN1010, 1030, 2070, 2610 12 Units
(b) Any 2 courses from:
TRAN4510, 4520, 4900 (capstone courses) [a]		 6 Units
     
3. Elective Courses: 42 Units
  Students are required to complete 42 units of elective courses from the following lists of courses, including at least one course from each of Electives Cluster A and Electives Cluster B:  
     
(a) Electives Cluster A (Translation Studies):  
  TRAN3080, 3720, 4070, 4120, 4210  
     
(b) Electives Cluster B (Interpreting):  
  TRAN2140, 2150, 2240, 2250, 3240, 4050  
     
(c) Other electives:  
  TRAN1120, 1130, 2020, 2050, 2110, 2120, 2130, 2840, 3170, 3180, 3270, 3280, 3620, 3800, 3810, 3820, 3830, 3844, 3845, 3850, 3860, 3870, 3880, 3890, 4800, 4840 and unselected courses from Clusters A and B.  
     
  Total: 69 units
 
Explanatory Notes:
1. TRAN courses at 2000 and above level will be included in the calculation of Major GPA for honours classification.
 
2. Translation Major students are expected to be proficient in both English and Chinese. Students may therefore wish to consider taking courses that emphasize writing and speaking skills as part of their free electives, on top of the major programme requirement. Listed below are courses for reference:
 
  Course for writing skills in Chinese
  • CHLL3403 Creative Writing
 
  Course for oral expression skills in Cantonese
  • CHLT1302 Oral Communication Skills
 
  Courses for oral expression skills in Putonghua
  • CLCP3703 Advanced Putonghua
  • CLCP4713 Current Affairs and Discussion
  • CCLCP4723 Academic Presentation and Discussion
 
  Courses for writing skills in English
  • ENGE3260 Creative Writing
  • ELTU3413 Research Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences
 
  Courses for oral expression skills in English
  • ENGE2100 Research and Oral Reporting
  • ELTU3502 Essentials of Public Speaking
 
[a] For those students who have chosen TRAN4900 Translation Thesis, the language used in writing the thesis should be different from the target language of their translation project for TRAN4510/4520 (e.g. if the student writes the TRAN4900 thesis in English, s/he must take TRAN4510 Translation Project: English-Chinese for Final Year Project).
 
Note on Double Major Linguistics-Translation:
1. Translation Major student who pursues a second Major in Linguistics can be exempted from taking LING3401 by taking TRAN2610. Units earned can be counted towards both Major Programmes.
 
Requirements for admission to the 2nd degree programme:
1. Students must receive first or upper second honors in the first degree with a Major GPA of 3.3 or above.
2. Students should normally have passed all their undergraduate courses. Students who have any failure grades on the first degree (i.e. Bachelor of Arts (Translation)) transcript will not be permitted to proceed to the second degree (i.e. Juris Doctor) without the consent of the JD Programme Director.
 
2nd Degree: Juris Doctor ( JD )
 
Programme Requirement
 
Students are required to complete a minimum of 72 units of courses as follows:
 
1. Required Courses: 15 or 18 Units
  LAWS6001, 6004, 6006, 6007, 6901 or 6902[a]  
     
2. Elective Courses: 54 or 57 Units
  Students are required to take at least 54 or 57 units of courses from the following:  
- Elective courses which are pre-requisites for subsequent admission to the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) Programme:  
  LAWS6011, 6012, 6013, 6014, 6015, 6016, 6017, 6018, 6019, 6020, 6021, 6022, 6023  
- Other elective courses offered under the Juris Doctor Programme  
- Elective courses offered under the Master of Laws Programmes  
     
  Total: 72 units
 
Other Requirements:
1. Students must also fulfill the following requirements for graduation:
(a) Students must fulfill the Term Assessment Requirement. A student who obtains a cumulative GPA below 2.0 in the preceding will be put on academic probation. For details, please refer to Clause 13.0 “Unsatisfactory Performance and Discontinuation of Studies” of the General Regulations Governing Postgraduate Studies from the Graduate School Homepage: https://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk/.
(b) Students must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in order to graduate.
 
Explanatory Notes:
[a] Students are required to take either LAWS6901 (3-unit course) or LAWS6902 (6-unit course). The extra 3 units completed in LAWS6902 will count towards the total units required for graduation.
 
Recommended Course Pattern
 
 
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4. Career Prospects
Law firms, government services, domestic and international non-government organizations (NGOs), as well as other translation, legal drafting and language-related professions.