Certified Translator (ATA Certification) Translation Competence and Technique Syllabus

Why is consistency of terminology important within a passage?

Using one term consistently for one concept prevents reader confusion and signals professional, defensible work; inconsistent terms are graded as errors.

What is the general default for translating proper personal names?

Leave personal names unchanged unless a well-established target-language form exists (e.g., historical figures or monarchs).

How are institutional and organization names typically handled?

Use the official or established target-language name if one exists; otherwise keep the original, optionally adding a translation or gloss per the instructions.

How should titles of works (books, films) generally be translated?

Use the official published target-language title if one exists; if not, translate the title and/or cite the original, following the Translation Instructions.

What is a key convention for converting numbers between languages?

Adapt the decimal and thousands separators to target conventions (e.g., 1,000.50 in English vs. 1.000,50 in many European languages).

How should dates be handled when translating between conventions?

Convert to the target language's standard date format and resolve ambiguity (e.g., 03/04 day-month vs. month-day) to avoid misreading.

What is the standard ATA guidance on converting currencies and measurements?

Do not convert values unless instructed; keep original currencies/units, and only convert or gloss if the Translation Instructions require it.

When units of measure are converted, what should accompany the conversion?

The converted figure should be accurate and, where helpful, the original may be retained—conversions must be correct and consistent.

What is an 'untranslatable' term?

A source word or concept with no direct target-language equivalent, often culture-bound (e.g., 'saudade', 'Schadenfreude').

What is 'compensation' as a translation strategy?

Recovering a meaning, nuance, or effect lost at one point in the text by introducing it elsewhere through different means.

Name three strategies for handling untranslatable terms.

Borrowing the term, paraphrasing/explaining it, or finding a functional/cultural equivalent (with a gloss if needed).

What does 'making a defensible choice under ambiguity' mean on the ATA exam?

When the source is ambiguous, choosing one reasonable, justifiable reading and rendering it clearly rather than hedging or leaving it vague.

Why is 'committing to one rendering' important on the exam?

Offering alternatives (e.g., 'A/B' or parenthetical options) is penalized; graders require a single, finished, committed choice.

What error results from giving two translations of a word separated by a slash on the ATA exam?

It is marked as 'indecision'—an error—because the candidate must commit to one rendering.

How long is the ATA certification exam and how many passages must be translated?

Three hours total, during which the candidate translates two passages.

What is a sound time-budgeting approach for the ATA three-hour, two-passage exam?

Allocate roughly equal time per passage (about 75-80 minutes each) and reserve time at the end to revise and self-edit both.

What are the three core stages of producing an exam translation?

Drafting, revising, and self-editing (proofreading) the text.

What is the purpose of the self-editing stage?

To catch omissions, mistranslations, awkward phrasing, inconsistencies, and mechanical errors before submitting a client-ready text.

What are 'Translation Instructions (TIs)' on the ATA exam?

Specifications provided with each passage—such as audience, purpose, publication context, and handling of names/numbers—that the translation must follow.

Why is following the Translation Instructions essential?

TIs define the brief; ignoring them (e.g., wrong register or mishandling specified terms) produces errors even if the language is otherwise correct.

What does a 'client-ready' translation mean?

A complete, polished, finished text with no gaps, notes-to-self, or alternatives—ready to deliver to a client without further work.

What is the consequence of omitting part of the source text in the target?

Omissions are graded as accuracy errors; a complete translation must render all source content unless the TIs say otherwise.

How should sentence and paragraph flow be handled in the target language?

Sentences and paragraphs must connect logically and read smoothly using target-language cohesion devices, not merely mirror the source's segmentation.

What is 'cohesion' in a translated text?

The grammatical and lexical links (pronouns, connectors, repetition) that tie sentences together so the text reads as a unified whole.

Why must style be kept consistent across a passage?

Shifts in style or voice make a translation read as disjointed and unprofessional; the target text should maintain one coherent authorial voice.

What distinguishes a 'meaning transfer' error from a 'mechanical' error in translation?

Meaning transfer errors distort the source's content/intent (mistranslation, omission); mechanical errors involve target-language form (grammar, spelling, punctuation).

What is the risk of translating too literally at the word level?

It produces translationese—unnatural collocations and structures—and can mistranslate idioms and fixed expressions whose meaning is non-literal.

What guides the choice between borrowing a term and explaining it?

The audience and Translation Instructions: a specialist audience may accept a borrowed term, while a general audience may need a gloss or paraphrase.

How should a translator treat acronyms and abbreviations across languages?

Use the established target-language equivalent if one exists; otherwise keep the original and spell it out or gloss it consistently throughout.

What overall standard should a candidate aim for on every ATA passage?

A complete, accurate, idiomatic, internally consistent, and finished target text that fulfills the Translation Instructions and reads as an original.