Arabic-L:TRANS:Translation test query response

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Fri 22 Aug 2008
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject:Translation test query response

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1)
Date: 22 Aug 2008
From:jmurg [jmurg at cox.net]
Subject:Translation test query response

Dear Zeinab and Arabic-L Colleagues:
Translator certification is not a blanket requirement in the U.S. Some  
organizations may require that translators doing work for them have  
the ATA credential (which is not sponsored by the government), while  
others have their own exam. For example, federal and state courts  
often have a certification procedure for their own translators.

Other countries have certification programs dictated by the national  
or provincial government, with a test and other qualifications  
required for a translator to do certain kinds of work in the field or  
to claim a title like "certified translator."  It's a credential like  
the U.S. bar exam for lawyers.

Zeinab should check with a New Zealand translators organization (http://www.nzsti.org/ 
) or the national government to see if there is such a certification  
requirement there. I took a quick look and didn't see anything about  
testing. The ATA certification might look nice on a resume, and it's a  
nice credential for without extensive experience in the field, but it  
wouldn't constitute the official certification required in some  
situations.

That said, in general, a translator can work anywhere in the world  
without official credentials and do work for clients who don't require  
them.  Also, the various Arab countries have diplomas and  
certificates, as does the U.K., so there are other opportunities for  
some kind of credential, especially for into-Arabic.

It should be noted that at present ATA only has certification from  
Arabic into English, not the reverse. However, there are plans to add  
English into Arabic some time in the future. This will be addressed at  
the ATA's annual conference in Orlando, Florida, this fall:
http://atanet.org/conf/2008/

Jackie Murgida
ATA member

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End of Arabic-L:  22 Aug 2008