A Study on the Model of Translator Training of the St. Joseph’s José Seminary of Macao

Abstract

The St. Joseph's José Seminary of Macao, founded in 1728 by the Jesuits in Macao, consisted of the main training center of the missionaries in the Far East, especially in China. As an institution of higher education specializing in the preparation of priests, the Seminary aimed to train multilingual talents proficient in Sino-Portuguese culture. Its well-organized teaching model enabled the formation of a great number of bilingual Sino-Portuguese translators, as well as many Macanese sinologists.

This paper aims to analyze the successful translator training model of the St. Joseph's José Seminary of Macao in the 19^th Century, especially its organization of diverse subjects, its teaching and learning models, as well as its evaluation system. It is also important to summarize the institution’s accomplishments regarding the preparation and formation of translation talents, as a source of inspiration of our teaching practice in translation today.