School & environment

Belgium, a federal state in the heart of Europe

For historical reasons, Belgium is a country where two major European cultures, the Germanic one (in Flanders) and the Latin one (in the Walloon area) live together. Each of them has its own language. Dutch is spoken in Flanders, which is in the North of Belgium, French is spoken by the Walloons in the South.

The capital, Brussels, is officially bilingual. It is home to the headquarters of the European Union, to NATO and more than 900 international and non-governmental organisations.

Recently, Belgium has become a federal state, in which the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking communities are self-governing in many important matters such as education, economic and cultural policy, social welfare and environmental planning.

The city of Ghent in East Flanders

Once the capital of the historical county of Flanders, Ghent has kept many relics of its splendid past. It was the native town of Emperor Charles V, who was born here in 1500, an event which was celebrated in the year 2000. At a given moment it was the second largest city in Europe (after Paris) to the north of the Alps. It has had a turbulent history, as the many historical buildings, spread over the whole town, and not just in a ‘historical centre’ testify. It is also a commercial and industrial centre, with a sea port and important business plants in the surroundings. It is especially a town of students, with the largest student population in Flanders. Ghent is now the capital of the province of East Flanders, one of the 10 Belgian provinces.

It has a population of about 220000, and the province shows great diversity, with many historical cities and some beautiful natural areas.

University College Ghent

With over 14000 students and some 1100 teaching staff, University College Ghent offers a wide range of subjects - in fact almost anything from the Fine Arts to Engineering Sciences.

Some forty basic courses lead to approximately ninety diplomas, thus covering 90% of all fields of study in Flemish higher education. We are, in fact, the largest 'Hogeschool' in the country. University College Ghent consists of 13 faculties, a Centre of Technological Research, a comprehensive Social Service Unit and unique sports accommodation. Housing accommodation, specialized libraries, individual study schemes for top sportsmen, student counsellors and study-related services at departmental level stress our student-centred policy. Naturally, our rooms and auditoria are fully-equipped to meet present-day teaching methodology standards.

Faculty of Translation Studies

The Faculty of Translation Studies offers courses leading to the academic degree of Bachelor in applied language studies (3 years) and Master in translation (1 year), Master in interpreting (1 year) and Master in multilingual communication (1 year).
Students are required to study Dutch and two foreign languages to be chosen from English, German, French, Russian, Czech, Spanish and Turkish. The Faculty of Translation Studies is a CIUTI member. It has been specialising in screen translating, providing technical assistance during the renowned Ghent International Film Festival, it has a well-equipped Centre for Terminology and a research unit.