Benefit No. 1鈥擠ollars and Cents

At present, the fee for taking ATA鈥檚 certification exam is $525, while the practice test costs only $105 for ATA members ($155 for non-members).

As you鈥檒l see here, the practice test gives you a lot of valuable feedback that will help you prepare more effectively before laying out a substantial sum on the exam (which, if you pass it, is well worth the investment, as Elias Shakkour demonstrated in his column in the May/June issue, 鈥�Why ATA Certification? Benefits of the Credential鈥�).

Benefit No. 2鈥擨nside Knowledge

As a student, I always wanted to make sure I got good grades not only by mastering the material, but also by figuring out what the teacher鈥檚 expectations were and answering test questions accordingly. Reading all the information available on ATA鈥檚 website (Explanation of Error Categories, Flowchart for Error Point Decisions, Framework for Standardized Error Marking and, if applicable, Into-English Grading Standards) gives you advance knowledge of graders鈥� standards and expectations. So does taking the practice test! Taking an exam without this information is a stab in the dark.

Benefit No. 3鈥擳he Most Bang for Your Buck

Graders take great care to mark practice tests with explanatory comments that tell you why a particular translation solution is not appropriate (unless the error is something obvious like a misspelling) and suggest better renditions. Although taking a practice test doesn鈥檛 substitute for a course in translation taught by an expert instructor, it gives you valuable insight into the grading methodology (and for that reason, even if you have studied translation, it鈥檚 wise to take this test). Below, I will show you a mock practice test that will give you an idea of what you may receive.

Mock Practice Test with Comments

Although a translation exam always involves two languages, for our purposes I鈥檒l use an English passage that can be considered an accurate back-translation from an imaginary source language, along with an altered version that represents a hypothetical candidate鈥檚 translation into English. Incidentally, when ATA graders participate in mandatory training sessions, we often use this method to align grading criteria across languages.

Here is an excerpt from the source text (the first three paragraphs of a 244-word passage):

Doping scandals have long tarnished the integrity of sports and raised crucial questions about fairness and ethics. From Lance Armstrong to Russia鈥檚 state-sponsored doping program, performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) continue to plague elite athletics. Despite advancements in drug testing by organizations like the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), athletes often find ways to circumvent the system. The immense pressure to win鈥攆ueled by money, fame, and national pride鈥攄rives many to cheat, rationalizing their actions as part of the game.

However, doping isn’t just about cheating; it鈥檚 also a serious health risk. These substances come with long-term consequences, such as cardiovascular issues and hormonal damage. Not only that, but allowing doping to persist sends the wrong message to young athletes: that success at any cost is acceptable, and that natural talent and hard work are secondary.

Some argue for legalizing doping, on the grounds that it would level the playing field. But this ignores the core values of sports: discipline, perseverance, and human excellence. Legalizing PEDs would turn athletics into a pharmaceutical arms race, eroding the joy of witnessing athletes achieve greatness through their own merits.

And here is an imaginary candidate鈥檚 translation, with grader markings.

The integrity of sport¹ has been called into question for a long time due to unfair and unethical doping scandals². Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have pestered³ the world鈥檚 top athletes,⁴ including Lance Armstrong and the Russian government鈥檚 doping program. While it鈥檚 true that progress in drug screening by such international agencies as the International anti-doping association (IADA)⁵ have⁶ been achieved, it鈥檚 frequent that⁷ athletes discover ways to get around the system. Rationalizing cheating as just part of competition, tremendous pressure is put on athletes⁸ compete for big bucks, notoriety and national pride.

Taking PEDs is not just a question of breaking the rules, it also seriously endangers athletes鈥� health. Among others⁹, far-reaching consequences accompany these drugs, including heart and lung problems and hormonal damage. Moreover, if we let young athletes take these drugs, we鈥檙e telling them victory at any price is okay, regardless of their innate abilities and work ethic¹⁰.

There are those who advocate for legalizing doping because it will put everyone on an equal footing, disregarding sport鈥檚 essential values;¹¹ discipline, persistence and human excellence. Making PEDs legal would generate an arms race in sports and would diminish the thrill of seeing athletes succeed based on their personal qualities.

Here are the grader comments, with error categories and points:

Error-Specific Comments

1. U1鈥擨n U.S. English, sports is plural, though it takes a singular verb. Sport, singular, is used in the U.K. and some other English-speaking countries.
2. F4鈥擶hat is unfair and unethical is the doping itself, not the scandals. A more accurate rendition would be 鈥渟candals arising from unfair and unethical use of performance-enhancing drugs, known as doping.鈥�
3. T1鈥擳he source term plague suggests a persistent problem, whereas pester suggests nagging or annoying. Perhaps burden or trouble would be a better choice.
4. MU4鈥擳he source text says athletics, a synonym for sports, not athletes, individuals who practice sports.
5. T2, C1鈥擠o not coin new acronyms for international organizations. Although the name of the organization is translated into many other languages, the official acronym is still the English one, WADA. Organization names are capitalized like book titles in U.S. English (see the section on acronyms and the explanation of the first type of headings capitalization in the Into-English Grading Standards.)
6. G2鈥擳he subject of this sentence is progress, so the verb should be the singular has.
7. U1鈥擜 more idiomatic and less wordy rendition would be frequently or often.
8. AMB2鈥擳his introductory phrase, known as a 鈥渄angling modifier,鈥� causes confusion because it isn鈥檛 clear what it modifies. In the source text, the athletes rationalize cheating, but the subject of this sentence is pressure. When you begin a sentence with a participial phrase such as 鈥渞ationalizing cheating,鈥� the subject of the sentence should also be the subject of the verb corresponding to the participle. See the discussion of dangling modifiers in the Into-English Grading Standards.
9. AMB1鈥擨t鈥檚 not clear what 鈥渙thers鈥� are referred to here. You can clarify it by saying 鈥渁mong other threats, …鈥�
10. Q1鈥擥ood solution!
11. P1鈥擜 colon rather than a semicolon should be used here. See the rules for colons and semicolons in the Into-English Grading Standards.

General Comments

The translation displays some good strategies for meaning transfer and creative solutions. However, in some instances you misunderstood the source text, perhaps due to a failure to read carefully (as in reading 鈥渁thletes鈥� for 鈥渁thletics鈥�). You also had some problems expressing ideas clearly in English. Remember to read the source passage thoroughly and think about the overall message when translating. When you have completed your draft translation, review it carefully to make sure it flows logically. To check on fine points of grammar and usage, refer to ATA鈥檚 Into-English Grading Standards.

Conclusion

As you can see, practice tests provide candidates with constructive feedback on their performance. The chance to review this feedback offers clear guidance that can help the candidate succeed on the exam. For example, it might encourage them to practice translating in a more mindful manner by paying more attention to nuances in word meanings and usage, making sure the translation conveys the author鈥檚 message idiomatically and coherently, and carefully proofreading to catch mechanical errors. In addition, practice test feedback reassures candidates that there are multiple ways to convey a message accurately.

I hope this detailed analysis of a practice test serves to encourage candidates to avail themselves of this valuable tool for exam preparation. It鈥檚 far better to spend $105 to discover your strengths and weaknesses as a translator and become familiar with the grading process, than to risk a much larger sum on an experiment with an unpredictable outcome.

(Note: Many thanks to Elias Shakkour, Larry Bogoslaw, and Caron Bailey for their invaluable help in drafting this article.)

About the Author

Holly Mikkelson, CT, is professor emerita of translation and interpreting at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She is a federally certified court interpreter and an ATA-certified Spanish<>English translator with four decades of professional experience. She has taught classes and workshops all over the world. She has written many articles and books on various aspects of interpreting and is the author of the Acebo training manuals for court and medical interpreters. She serves as deputy chair of ATA鈥檚 Certification Committee. hmikkelson@gmail.com

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In fact, the rise of AI and MT is not a reason to dismiss ATA certification, but to pursue it. All else being equal, a translator who is ATA-certified enjoys many benefits compared to one who is not. The threats posed by technological advancement are all the more reason for translators to distinguish themselves as much as possible and gain an edge over at least the human competition. And while financial considerations are not insignificant, there continue to be consumers who value quality even if it comes at a higher price. Featuring the voices of a number of ATA-certified translators¹, this column will provide an overview of the benefits of ATA certification and hopefully quell some of the uncertainty around its value.

While AI and MT have triggered an overall decrease in the demand for them, human translators are still sought after for various types of translation jobs, especially when precision and confidentiality are paramount. For example, Larry Bogoslaw, CT (Russian into English and Spanish into English) shares that in his experience, 鈥渕any clients have sensitive and nuanced material for which they rely on human translators.鈥�

With that in mind, marketing is at least as important as ever, if not more so, in the translation world of 2025. ATA certification is a well-recognized and prestigious credential attesting to a translator鈥檚 skill, so it increases credibility and means the translator does not have to work as hard to market themselves. Liz Herron-Sweet, CT (Portuguese into English) says, 鈥淚n general, I鈥檝e found that ATA certification has made me a much more attractive candidate to agencies.鈥� Indeed, in initial conversations with clients or agencies, the mention of ATA certification often means that no further questions are needed: the ATA certification says it all.

Furthermore, in many cases, the entity seeking a translation or proofreading service requires an ATA-certified translator. This significantly limits competition, especially for language pairs boasting only a select few translators with the credential. Manako Ihaya, CT (Japanese into English) says, 鈥淐lients often have to come to me after having hired and paid a non-certified translator to translate documents that were required to be translated by an ATA-certified translator in that language direction.鈥�

Financially, ATA-certified translators can often charge more for their services than competitors without the credential. Nick Boline, CT (Spanish into English) goes so far as to say that in his language pair, 鈥渉aving an ATA certification is pretty much the only way to find work that pays a rate that makes sense if you live in the Global North.鈥� Herron-Sweet and Rony Gao, CT (Chinese into English and English into Chinese) also observe that their ATA certification has allowed them to charge higher rates for their services.

Better yet, ATA certification is a boon even when it鈥檚 not strictly required. Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya, CT (Russian into English) shares that a client seeking translation services for an asylum application told her directly that they chose to contact her because of her ATA certification, even though it was not specifically required. Similarly, Kornelia DeKorne, CT (English into Hungarian and Hungarian into English) reports that she has been contacted by clients who 鈥渁re just simply looking for assurance of good quality and see ATA certification as its guarantor.鈥�

This means that another benefit of ATA certification is that the translator doesn鈥檛 have to do as much work to get jobs. All else being equal, an ATA-certified translator is much more likely to be contacted by a client or agency than a translator who is not ATA-certified. Tietz-Sokolskaya describes this as the biggest change she noticed after earning her certification in 2016. Just two months later, she was contacted by that asylum seeker; this was the first time she had been noticed in ATA鈥檚 Language Services Directory even though she had been listed for several years. She reports that 鈥渢hese days people still cold-contact me regularly, and about a third to half of my income is from translating for individuals like that.鈥�

Other certified translators have had similar experiences: 鈥淗aving my ATA certification just generally increased the frequency with which I receive offers for work from various online directories. A number of agencies that didn鈥檛 even respond to my emails before I was certified now have me onboarded鈥� (Boline); 鈥淚 am often contacted by clients who have searched for translators using the ATA directory鈥檚 鈥楽how Only Members ATA-Certified in This Language Pair鈥� feature鈥� (Gao); 鈥淚 am the only ATA-certified translator in my combination on the roster of a small translation agency, so they send all their requests for this combination to me鈥� (Herron-Sweet); 鈥淥nce clients requiring an ATA-certified translator find me, I鈥檓 on their speed dial for any other similar assignments moving forward鈥� (Ihaya).

And there鈥檚 more. In describing the jobs she receives from that small translation agency, Herron-Sweet says, 鈥淚 can set my own deadlines and turnaround time for these jobs, and I always give myself plenty of time, so I find it to be less stressful than other types of translation work.鈥� DeKorne finds that beyond the tangible benefits, her status as an ATA-certified translator gives her a measure of confidence: 鈥淗aving been put through my paces by distinguished peers and judged to be one of those who use language with care, I feel the subtle support of that attitude. This comes in handy when editing, or having to defend choices by providing convincing reasoning based on the value of good communication and respect for both the source and the target language. Confidence buoyed by certification makes these things easier.鈥�

From confidence boosts to more successful marketing, less competition, and a greater flow of job offers to higher rates and more generous turnaround times, ATA certification offers an array of benefits that make it well worth the pursuit. ATA-certified or not, all translators have to contend with the threats of AI, MT, and lower rates. ATA certification will go a long way toward helping you weather the storm.

English into Arabic Certification Exam Needs Graders!

Currently, ATA鈥檚 English into Arabic certification exam is suspended as we seek new graders to support this language pair. Our certification program thrives thanks to the dedication of member volunteers, and we鈥檙e looking for qualified professionals to help ensure its continued success. While the English into Arabic exam is temporarily unavailable, practice tests remain available for those preparing to take the exam when it is offered again in the future.

If you鈥檙e ATA-certified in English into Arabic and interested in becoming a grader to help reinstate this language pair, we鈥檇 love to hear from you! Please email certification@atanet.org with a copy of your CV.

Note

1. Upon first mention, each name will be followed by CT (for 鈥渃ertified translator鈥�) and the language pair(s) of certification in parentheses.

About the Author

Elias Shakkour is a grader for ATA鈥檚 English>Arabic and Arabic>English certification exams, the language chair for the English>Arabic exam, and co-deputy chair of ATA鈥檚 Certification Committee. e.shakkour@depaul.edu

The post Why ATA Certification? Benefits of the Credential appeared first on 情侣自拍 (ATA).