Studying at a global business school in the heart of the Chinese economy provides CEIBS MBAs with many unique opportunities to develop an in-depth knowledge of the Chinese market.  Though the MBA programme is conducted in English, sometimes Chinese entrepreneurs and executives  are more comfortable sharing their experiences in their mother tongue rather than English. Given the frequency of student club events and the busy schedule of the CEIBS Translation and Interpreting department, there are not always adequate interpretation resources available to support every event outside the classroom.

With this in mind, the MBA2018 class has created an innovative, student-led initiative to provide simultaneous interpretation services for student events with Chinese guest speakers — a project consistent with CEIBS “China Depth, Global Breadth” approach to education. Following strong support from the MBA Office and the Career Development Centre, more facilities on campus have been upgraded to support real-time interpretation for student events. Given the cost of professional simultaneous interpreters, the students asked their peers with strong linguistics skills to volunteer as interpreters.

Since its inception in January 2017, the student- led interpretation service has already supported three company visits and six club activities. With a dedicated team of nine MBA students contributing to this interpretation initiative, the MBA Class of 2018 hopes that future MBA cohorts will take this initiative further and continue to set CEIBS apart as the top business school in Asia.

“This student-led initiative not only empowers all students to develop more China Depth, but also creates a more inclusive environment where all students are able to attend activities that interest them without language being a barrier,” said Student Council Vice President and MBA 2018 Richard Higgs.