ATA certification test sample Thread poster: Guadalupe Lore
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I just got a grant through my job to become ATA certified (Eng->Spa). I know I can send for a sample test and I will definitely do that, but I was wondering if anyone has done this before and has old exams I could look at. I would also love to look at Spa->Eng ones.
Thank you for your help.
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| ATA test exam | Sep 17, 2009 |
All ATA test exam materials received must be returned to ATA. The candidate gets to keep a copy of the translation he/she made but not of the test passage. As far as I know, there are no ATA test passages lying around waiting to be passed from hand to hand to give someone what, in my opinion, would amount to unfair advantage.
There is no mistery about the exam. The exam is not difficult, meaning it is not about "rocket science". One good bilingual dictionary suffices but the candid... See more All ATA test exam materials received must be returned to ATA. The candidate gets to keep a copy of the translation he/she made but not of the test passage. As far as I know, there are no ATA test passages lying around waiting to be passed from hand to hand to give someone what, in my opinion, would amount to unfair advantage.
There is no mistery about the exam. The exam is not difficult, meaning it is not about "rocket science". One good bilingual dictionary suffices but the candidate must be a good translator, actually, a meticulous, punctilious, fastidious translator.
Do not get discouraged if you do not pass the first time. The approval rate is around 20%, so you have to be quite good and be mentally prepared to pass. ▲ Collapse
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Luisa Ramos wrote:
All ATA test exam materials received must be returned to ATA. The candidate gets to keep a copy of the translation he/she made but not of the test passage. As far as I know, there are no ATA test passages lying around waiting to be passed from hand to hand to give someone what, in my opinion, would amount to unfair advantage.
There is no mistery about the exam. The exam is not difficult, meaning it is not about "rocket science". One good bilingual dictionary suffices but the candidate must be a good translator, actually, a meticulous, punctilious, fastidious translator.
I entirely agree with Luisa's reply.
The ATA certification exam has been discussed in several Proz.com fora over the last months. I can only encourage you to prepare well for it, do the sample test and see what results you get, and practice by doing equally challenging texts, translated in the conditions of the exam (on ATA paper, with the dictionaries you expect to have with you in the actual exam, within the marked time) reviewed by an experienced translator or another certified person who can report and explain areas of improvement. All this will greatly increase your chances of passing.
Good luck! Tell us how it went!
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| ATA certification | Sep 17, 2009 |
Luisa Ramos wrote:
All ATA test exam materials received must be returned to ATA. The candidate gets to keep a copy of the translation he/she made but not of the test passage. As far as I know, there are no ATA test passages lying around waiting to be passed from hand to hand to give someone what, in my opinion, would amount to unfair advantage.
There is no mistery about the exam. The exam is not difficult, meaning it is not about "rocket science". One good bilingual dictionary suffices but the candidate must be a good translator, actually, a meticulous, punctilious, fastidious translator.
Do not get discouraged if you do not pass the first time. The approval rate is around 20%, so you have to be quite good and be mentally prepared to pass.
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| ATA certification | Sep 17, 2009 |
Hello Luisa,
I'm from the Dominican Republic. I've ever been interested in ATA certification. As a citizen of the DR can I apply for this certification?
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Anne Bohy 
France
Local time: 10:24
English to French
| I suggest that you take the sample test first | Sep 17, 2009 |
Try to do your sample test in exam conditions, directly on the required paper, and watching your time to try to stay in limits. If you are not satisfied (or have not finished), allow yourself some extra time to produce a translation as good as you can.
Once you receive the corrected text, you can examine everything that went wrong (time, misspellings, errors, omissions, etc.) and select your own texts on which you will train on these specific aspects. In my opinion, the text itself is not ... See more Try to do your sample test in exam conditions, directly on the required paper, and watching your time to try to stay in limits. If you are not satisfied (or have not finished), allow yourself some extra time to produce a translation as good as you can.
Once you receive the corrected text, you can examine everything that went wrong (time, misspellings, errors, omissions, etc.) and select your own texts on which you will train on these specific aspects. In my opinion, the text itself is not relevant ; the most important is to understand what you still need to improve if you want to pass. ▲ Collapse
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| Look for ATA Certification Exam Workshops | Sep 17, 2009 |
The following workshop will be held during the next ATA Conference in October (New York City):
S-4 Prepare for ATA's English>Spanish Certification Exam
Rudy Heller and Julia Lambertini Andreotti
(Friday, 2:00pm-3:30pm; All Levels; Presented in: English and Spanish)
This workshop offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable insight into ATA's English>Spanish certification exam and the grading process. All participants are asked to complete and sub... See more The following workshop will be held during the next ATA Conference in October (New York City):
S-4 Prepare for ATA's English>Spanish Certification Exam
Rudy Heller and Julia Lambertini Andreotti
(Friday, 2:00pm-3:30pm; All Levels; Presented in: English and Spanish)
This workshop offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable insight into ATA's English>Spanish certification exam and the grading process. All participants are asked to complete and submit a practice test before the conference. The presenters—both experienced English>Spanish graders—will use participants' practice tests to lead a discussion on how graders reason through their grading decisions. What are graders looking for when grading an exam passage? Which renditions are considered acceptable, and which ones would be judged as errors? How do graders assess point values? These questions and many others will be answered during this workshop.
S-5 Prepare for ATA's English>Spanish Certification Exam, Part II
Rudy Heller and Julia Lambertini Andreotti
(Friday, 4:00pm-5:00pm; All Levels; Presented in: English and Spanish)
See abstract for S-4: Preparing for ATA's English>Spanish Certification Exam, Part I
Rudy organizes other similar workshops at different exam sittings all through the States. You may ask for similar educational opportunities through a form from the ATA website:
https://www.atanet.org/certification/contactus_question.php
ATA's contact persons for certification issues are Mr. Terry Hanlen and Mr. Jonathan Mendoza.
Regards,
Cecilia
[Editado a las 2009-09-17 20:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Richard Marzan wrote:
I'm from the Dominican Republic. I've ever been interested in ATA certification. As a citizen of the DR can I apply for this certification?
I'm Spanish and certified. I think the ATA does not care much about your nationality really...
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