ATA CERTIFICATION
Thread poster: MIGUEL JIMENEZ
MIGUEL JIMENEZ
MIGUEL JIMENEZ  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:21
English to Spanish
+ ...
Mar 5, 2002

HI EVERYBODY! I AM TAKING THE ATA CERTIFICATION TEST IN A MONTH AND I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY TIPS TO PASS IT. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IT MIGHT BE PRETTY HARD BUT I HAVE NO IDEA ( I DID NOT TAKE THE PRACTICE TEST). I HAVE A MASTER\'S IN TRANSLATION BUT I HAVE NOT TRANSLATED MUCH FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS OR SO.

I AM SPECIALLY CONCERNED ABOUT MY REFERENCE MATERIALS.... I AM CURRENTLY WORKING IN THE STATES AND ALLLLLLL OF MY DICTIONARIES ARE IN SPAIN.... ...
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HI EVERYBODY! I AM TAKING THE ATA CERTIFICATION TEST IN A MONTH AND I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY TIPS TO PASS IT. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IT MIGHT BE PRETTY HARD BUT I HAVE NO IDEA ( I DID NOT TAKE THE PRACTICE TEST). I HAVE A MASTER\'S IN TRANSLATION BUT I HAVE NOT TRANSLATED MUCH FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS OR SO.

I AM SPECIALLY CONCERNED ABOUT MY REFERENCE MATERIALS.... I AM CURRENTLY WORKING IN THE STATES AND ALLLLLLL OF MY DICTIONARIES ARE IN SPAIN.... ANY SUGGESTIONS ABOUT WHICH DICTIONARIES MIGHT BE USEFUL?



I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY TIP FROM ANYBODY..



REGARDS,



MIGUEL A. JIMENEZ
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Egmont
Egmont
Spain
Local time: 12:21
Afrikaans to Spanish
+ ...
http://www.yourdictionary.com Mar 5, 2002

In this website you can find many useful dictionaries.

Hope it can help you. Best wishes,


[addsig]


 
otterstein
otterstein
Local time: 06:21
Italian to German
+ ...
Accreditation/www.atanet.org Mar 5, 2002

Hi, I am going to do the test, too, soon. Have you checked out their homepage with useful tips for the exams? And then, they offer kind of \'mock exams\'.

I don\'t know about the dictionaries (not my language pairs) but would like to know myself. I\'ve heard that the tests are not difficult for a native speaker (when tested in the mothertongue) and with a study of translation behind you. Sybille


 
Roxane Dow
Roxane Dow  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:21
Portuguese to English
+ ...
ATA Spanish to English Not Too Difficult Mar 6, 2002

Hi Miguel,



I took the Spanish to English test last year, at the end of my studies for the MA in translation, and it was easier than the translations I was doing during my last year of school. However, if you haven\'t translated for 3 years, I would do some practice just for speed, since the exam is handwritten. I think there were 5 texts total, and we had to do three in four hours. I remember there was one general text that was similar to a news article (the easiest), one
... See more
Hi Miguel,



I took the Spanish to English test last year, at the end of my studies for the MA in translation, and it was easier than the translations I was doing during my last year of school. However, if you haven\'t translated for 3 years, I would do some practice just for speed, since the exam is handwritten. I think there were 5 texts total, and we had to do three in four hours. I remember there was one general text that was similar to a news article (the easiest), one that had biology terms, but general enough so I could find them in my dictionaries, or guess the English, and then confirm it in an English-English dictionary. There was another text that I think was chemical. There was also a medical text, which I couldn\'t do because I didn\'t have any medical dictionaries. I took these dictionaries to the test: Webster\'s Collegiate Dictionary (English-English) Diccionario Salamanca (Spanish-Spanish), Glosario internacional para el traductor, by Marina Orellana (very useful for business and financial) and several Spanish-English-Spanish general dictionaries. I\'d recommend taking a medical dictionary to the test, because I think a medical text is sure to come up. Best of luck!
[addsig]
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O María Elena Guerrero
O María Elena Guerrero  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:21
Member (2004)
English to Spanish
+ ...
ATA exam Mar 6, 2002

I am also interested in taking the exam. Now that you mention the practice test. Can you tell me how to take it?

Thank you and good luck in your test.


 
Kim Metzger
Kim Metzger  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 05:21
German to English
ATA Practice Test Mar 6, 2002

Yes, Mary I think taking the practice test is a very good idea. It will give you a better idea of how the test is set up and how it is graded. You\'ve still got time before May to take it, but I have to warn you that you might not get the graded test back before the real one. There\'s a big demand for Spanish - English and not enough qualified graders to take care of everyone quickly. You can read about the test at the site below.


... See more
Yes, Mary I think taking the practice test is a very good idea. It will give you a better idea of how the test is set up and how it is graded. You\'ve still got time before May to take it, but I have to warn you that you might not get the graded test back before the real one. There\'s a big demand for Spanish - English and not enough qualified graders to take care of everyone quickly. You can read about the test at the site below.



http://www.atanet.org/bin/view.pl/17191.html

Suerte!
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Csaba Ban
Csaba Ban  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 12:21
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
ATA test Mar 6, 2002

I had exactly the same questions last May when I was about to take the ATA accreditation test (English-Hungarian). Well, I took along many dictionaries, as all other candidates did in the same room. For me, all went quite smoothly. There are 5 pieces of texts to choose from (different styles and fields). You have to translate any 3. Your best 2 will be graded.

While it may be true that there is a large demand for pairs like En-Es, and not enough graders to cope with this demand, my la
... See more
I had exactly the same questions last May when I was about to take the ATA accreditation test (English-Hungarian). Well, I took along many dictionaries, as all other candidates did in the same room. For me, all went quite smoothly. There are 5 pieces of texts to choose from (different styles and fields). You have to translate any 3. Your best 2 will be graded.

While it may be true that there is a large demand for pairs like En-Es, and not enough graders to cope with this demand, my language pair (En-Hu) is rather rare (on the ATA page I only found about 10-12 people with this accreditation), and it still took the grader 3 months to produce the results.

I took this exam after 8 years of experience as a translator and I did not find it particularly difficult.
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Daina Jauntirans
Daina Jauntirans  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:21
German to English
+ ...
With experience, why take the test? Mar 6, 2002

Quote:


On 2002-03-06 06:27, Ban Csaba wrote:.

I took this exam after 8 years of experience as a translator and I did not find it particularly difficult.





Hi Csaba,

I was wondering why you took the accreditation test after eight years of experience? (This is not meant to provoke, I am honestly curious.) At a translation event last year, a fellow translator was trying to come up with ev... See more
Quote:


On 2002-03-06 06:27, Ban Csaba wrote:.

I took this exam after 8 years of experience as a translator and I did not find it particularly difficult.





Hi Csaba,

I was wondering why you took the accreditation test after eight years of experience? (This is not meant to provoke, I am honestly curious.) At a translation event last year, a fellow translator was trying to come up with every reason in the book to convince me that I needed to take this test, but I was not convinced - what convinced you?

Daina

PS For background, I have an MA in Translation and almost 5 years of experience - no one has ever asked me for ATA accreditation. ▲ Collapse


 
MIGUEL JIMENEZ
MIGUEL JIMENEZ  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:21
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
gracias a todos Mar 8, 2002

Gracias a todos por vuestra ayuda... espero que todo vaya bien y que al menos disfrute haciendo el examen///





Thanks to everybody



MIGUEL


 
Rebecca Freed
Rebecca Freed  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:21
French to English
+ ...
You can use dictionaries? Mar 15, 2002

Having skimmed the information on ATA\'s site, which doesn\'t say much about the procedures and experience of taking the test, I\'m surprised to see from previous posts that you can use dictionaries during the test.





 
Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Local time: 07:21
German to English
+ ...
Reply Mar 15, 2002

Quote:


On 2002-03-06 17:03, Daina wrote:

Quote:


On 2002-03-06 06:27, Ban Csaba wrote:.

I took this exam after 8 years of experience as a translator and I did not find it particularly difficult.





Hi Csaba,

I was wondering why you took the accreditation test after eight years of experience? (This is not meant to provoke, I... See more
Quote:


On 2002-03-06 17:03, Daina wrote:

Quote:


On 2002-03-06 06:27, Ban Csaba wrote:.

I took this exam after 8 years of experience as a translator and I did not find it particularly difficult.





Hi Csaba,

I was wondering why you took the accreditation test after eight years of experience? (This is not meant to provoke, I am honestly curious.) At a translation event last year, a fellow translator was trying to come up with every reason in the book to convince me that I needed to take this test, but I was not convinced - what convinced you?

Daina

PS For background, I have an MA in Translation and almost 5 years of experience - no one has ever asked me for ATA accreditation.





You are absolutely right: if you have a T&I degree, you won\'t need to put yourself through an ATA exam (at least, no one in their right mind should expect you to). But if you don\'t have such a degree, and you want to obtain some kind of credential that says that you\'re a translator, it may be helpful.



Overall, since the designation \"translator\" is not legally protected in the US and accreditation is not mandatory, you can do without it. In other countries, such as Canada , where certification/accreditation is a prerequisite for working as a translator in the formal economy (rather than being merely a black/grey-market translator), it\'s a different story. ▲ Collapse


 
ivw (X)
ivw (X)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
ATA practice test Apr 8, 2002

Quote:


I am also interested in taking the exam. Now that you mention the practice test. Can you tell me how to take it?





Hi Mary & All:



You can find out more about the practice test by going to ATA\'s web site (www.atanet.org), however, my personal experience with it (2 years ago) was very disappointing... See more
Quote:


I am also interested in taking the exam. Now that you mention the practice test. Can you tell me how to take it?





Hi Mary & All:



You can find out more about the practice test by going to ATA\'s web site (www.atanet.org), however, my personal experience with it (2 years ago) was very disappointing.


It was rather pricy, compared to what they had to offer in return; I had to wait 3 months for the results, and in the end I learned nothing. The grader\'s comments were in some sort of a secret coding, such as \"P3,\" which tells me nothing. NOT ONE word of comments was put down by him/her, only these funny codes.


I was under the impression that the whole purpose of the practice test is to give you a broad idea what you need to look out for, what\'s considered a minor / major error, how well you would do at the real test, etc. I did not learn one bit about these, but lost a relatively large amount. The bright side was that when I complained to ATA about this, sending them a copy of the graded test, of course, they gave me a refund right away.





The best way to get familiar with the ATA expectations is to attend a workshop, held about twice a year, as far as I know. There, you can learn exactly what\'s expected from you, and that doesn\'t necessarily mean \"how to be a good translator,\" but rather, how to pass ATA exams.



I wish you and everyone on this board the best of luck!



Ildiko V-W, California

En > < Hu Translation, Editing, Proof-reading

[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-04-08 20:03 ]Collapse


 
Jay
Jay
United States
Local time: 06:21
English to Spanish
+ ...
ATA certification....wow...it sounds good! Apr 19, 2002

Hello all,

I am from Spain and I am currenctly trying to get a work permit in the US. I never thought about taking the ATA test once I am here reguraly becuase I thought that would be extremely difficult. I finished my degree in Translation and Interpretation last December and I don\'t really have professional experience but i consider I have a very good level...could you help me and tell me if you would take it??? for what I just read, it does not sound to difficult, I mean I have tr
... See more
Hello all,

I am from Spain and I am currenctly trying to get a work permit in the US. I never thought about taking the ATA test once I am here reguraly becuase I thought that would be extremely difficult. I finished my degree in Translation and Interpretation last December and I don\'t really have professional experience but i consider I have a very good level...could you help me and tell me if you would take it??? for what I just read, it does not sound to difficult, I mean I have translated some crazy stuff at Uni, and I mean CRAZY STUFF!!



Thank you all
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