Wendy Leech United Kingdom Local time: 03:46 Member (2006) Spanish to English + ...
Aug 31, 2010
Try as I might, I have been unable to find any information about the ITI membership exam - which surprises me immensely. Or perhaps my searching capabilities aren't up to their usual standard today ;o)
Either way, I have decided the time is right to apply for full membership, but would really like to know what the exam involves. Can any one help?
How long is it? How general/specialised? What resources, if any, are allowed? What conditions, if any, are imposed? etc. etc.
Thanks.
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Angela Dickson United Kingdom Local time: 03:46 Member French to English + ...
My experience
Aug 31, 2010
Hi Wendy,
I just had a quick look at the website, and it's true that there don't seem to be many details about the exam, though in my experience the ITI office staff are very helpful and would answer any questions you may have about the membership application process. I also recall that I was sent detailed information when I applied, which might also be available to prospective applicants.
I took and passed the exam last year. In brief: you can specify in advance a fairly broad field (or indeed several fields) from which you would like the exam text to be drawn. I specified Medicine & Pharmaceuticals, as this was the only one that made professional sense for me, and also requested a couple of sub-fields in which I *didn't* want an exam text. They respected my wishes.
The exam text was sent via email on the Friday, and I had to return it on the Monday - in the afternoon, as I recall. There are no restrictions on resources; I was able to use the internet and all my own termbases (not that they were much use for that particular text). I had to sign a declaration stating that it was my own work. My text was about 1000 words and I had cleared the weekend for this purpose, so in practice this was plenty of time. Just as well, as I found I needed to head to the medical school library to do some terminology research.
The requirement is that you translate a *specialised* text (unlike the texts used in the IoL Diploma in Translation, which are "semi-specialised") to a professional standard, and that you provide a commentary on the difficulties/issues you experience. I didn't find the commentary very hard to write, as I noted the principal points as I went along.
It was a condition of taking the exam that I'm not allowed to tell you about the source text, so I can't help there I'm afraid, except to tell you that it was far more difficult than anything I'm normally sent for translation, and was certainly a challenge
I think the results took a couple of months to arrive, and I didn't buy the champagne in advance
I feel I have benefited a great deal from ITI membership, both as an associate and now as a qualified member. The Medical & Pharmaceutical network in particular is fantastic and I highly recommend it to you even before you become MITI.
Sorry this was a bit long, and good luck.
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Wendy Leech United Kingdom Local time: 03:46 Member (2006) Spanish to English + ...
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perfect!
Aug 31, 2010
Hi Angela,
Thanks for the detailed reply - you have covered pretty much everything I wanted to know!
Its much shorter than I was expecting, and the deadline seems very reasonable. I have done commentaries before so that shouldn't be a problem - do they require you to comment on a certain number of points/in a certain number of words?
Joining the med/pharma network is one of my main reasons for applying, as i'm not currently a member of ITI at all. I used to be an Associate member but let it lapse as i felt I wasn't really getting anything out of them. Now i'm much more established and having been recommended this network it is definitely something I want to partake in.
Do they give you a choice of fields, or can you specify anything you like? I like your polite description of the DipTrans as "semi-specialised" - when i did mine I had to question whether i had in fact been given 3 general papers by mistake
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT Spain Local time: 04:46 Member (2005) English to Spanish + ...
And another question
Aug 31, 2010
Indeed my experience with ITI staff is that they are very kind and helpful indeed, so it's probably best to ask them.
Just in case any of you know, however: do you have to be a member of the ITI for some time before you can apply to be a candidate for the membership exam?
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Angela Dickson United Kingdom Local time: 03:46 Member French to English + ...
No
Sep 1, 2010
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Just in case any of you know, however: do you have to be a member of the ITI for some time before you can apply to be a candidate for the membership exam?
No, you don't; the requirement is three years of demonstrable full-time (or equivalent) experience in translation or interpreting, plus a recognised bachelor's- or masters-level qualification. If you don't have both of these, then you can apply for Associate status, but you don't need to have been an Associate previously in order to apply for MITI status.
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT Spain Local time: 04:46 Member (2005) English to Spanish + ...
Thanks a lot Angela!
Sep 1, 2010
I am not in that situation yet, but I think that in the long run it would be nice to know whether the DipTrans is considered by ITI as a masters-level qualification in order to apply for candidateship for the exam.
[Edited at 2010-09-01 08:16 GMT]
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Angela Dickson United Kingdom Local time: 03:46 Member French to English + ...
DipTrans is accepted as a postgraduate-level qualification
Sep 1, 2010
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
I am not in that situation yet, but I think that in the long run it would be nice to know whether the DipTrans is considered by ITI as a masters-level qualification in order to apply for candidateship for the exam.
Pretty sure it is - I have the DipTrans, and no other postgraduate-level qualification in translation (though I do have an undergraduate degree in French), and they accepted my application.
To Wendy: I think the commentary is supposed to be 1000 words long, and I am now having doubts about how long the translation was - it might have been shorter or longer than 1000 words. In any case, I had a full three days and there was plenty of time for lots of read-throughs and panicking. And they don't give a list of set fields, you can choose according to what best fits your usual working fields (the texts are specially picked, I think). I know someone who requested "tax" and was sent a text about tax.
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Wendy Leech United Kingdom Local time: 03:46 Member (2006) Spanish to English + ...
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Great
Sep 1, 2010
In that case, I'm off to download the application form!
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT Spain Local time: 04:46 Member (2005) English to Spanish + ...
Great!
Sep 1, 2010
Angela Dickson wrote:
I know someone who requested "tax" and was sent a text about tax.
Hm... I think I am going to re-read all my books about the Norwegian leather industry just in case!
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