| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Translatior's Credentials Thread poster: Vladislav.
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Vladislav.
Local time: 18:21
English to Russian
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Hello,
A translator often has to present some evidence of being certified in order to be hired. Since I have a high-school diploma only and need certification in translation, I have contacted about 30 universities in my home country, the US, and the UK. The universities in my area say that a person needs to have a higher education to be admitted to the translation courses they offer (which are not the same as MA degrees but designed for those who wish to obtain an additional qualifi... See more Hello,
A translator often has to present some evidence of being certified in order to be hired. Since I have a high-school diploma only and need certification in translation, I have contacted about 30 universities in my home country, the US, and the UK. The universities in my area say that a person needs to have a higher education to be admitted to the translation courses they offer (which are not the same as MA degrees but designed for those who wish to obtain an additional qualification). The universities from the US and UK say that they do not offer a distance learning course in the English-Russian language pair.
Since I have a high-school diploma only and do not have the time and money to study for 4 years at a university, does anyone know what ways there are of acquiring the needed credentials as a professional translator and thus increasing one’s chances of being given work? Perhaps there are courses which last for up to about 2 years and do not require a sizable financial investment.
I was unable to find the answer on proz.com forums.
Perhaps I am not yet ready for the DipTrans examination (which would be a very good option), since I have translation experience of only about 20,000 words. ▲ Collapse
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Hi Vladisslav, maybe you can try the WLS course but I do not know if they have your language pairs. It is very good and you can choose between a diploma or certificate course- Words Language Services Ireland, and the prices are not exorbitant, about €345 for a certificate when I did it about 1 & 1/2 years ago. Here is the link: http://www.wls.ie/Tranbroc.pdf.
| | | | Lincoln Hui 
Hong Kong
Local time: 23:21
Member
Chinese to English
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| Linguist organizations | Oct 22, 2014 |
Your mileage may differ, but almost all countries have some linguists or translators' organizations like the ATA that you can join, many of which offer certification programs. These in themselves might suffice for your purposes, and there are some postgraduate programs (certificate/diplomas) that will accept this in lieu of a Bachelor's degree.
| | | | finnword1
United States
Local time: 11:21
English to Finnish
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As Lincoln pointed out, you can join the ATA. The only qualification to join is to pay the membership dues. You can then take their certification test. Sometimes they are offered in Europe, so you don't need to travel to the US. At the moment there are 80 members certified in the English --> Russian language pair.
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Vladislav.
Local time: 18:21
English to Russian
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TOPIC STARTER | Translation Organizations | Oct 24, 2014 |
If local translation organizations offer certification which will be considered sufficient on the translation job market, it would be a good idea to obtain it. Apparently, a degree in translation or any other field is not always required to be assigned translation projects, although large agencies have higher requirements. I have read that some people started a career in translation without any formal education in this field. Perhaps that was in the past when it was easier to be given work with ... See more If local translation organizations offer certification which will be considered sufficient on the translation job market, it would be a good idea to obtain it. Apparently, a degree in translation or any other field is not always required to be assigned translation projects, although large agencies have higher requirements. I have read that some people started a career in translation without any formal education in this field. Perhaps that was in the past when it was easier to be given work with few certification requirements. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Distance learning certificate | Oct 28, 2014 |
You may want to consider doing an online Certificate in Translation. New York University offers a fully online certificate in General Translation, which means you can do it from the comfort of your own home and it's not as intensive as spending 4 years completing an undergraduate degree. They offer many language pairs but not Russian. You can lear... See more You may want to consider doing an online Certificate in Translation. New York University offers a fully online certificate in General Translation, which means you can do it from the comfort of your own home and it's not as intensive as spending 4 years completing an undergraduate degree. They offer many language pairs but not Russian. You can learn more by clicking here:
http://www.scps.nyu.edu/academics/departments/foreign-languages/academic-offerings/noncredit/certificate-in-translation.html ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Part-time degree | Oct 29, 2014 |
Have you considered studying for a degree part-time by distance learning? That way you can pay for it by working at the same time. It doesn't have to be a language degree, you could study something you wanted to specialise in, e.g. engineering or business.
| | | | alexkrylov (X)
Local time: 11:21
English to French
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| Translator's Credentials | Oct 29, 2014 |
Not "translatior's". I hope that was just a typo.
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Vladislav.
Local time: 18:21
English to Russian
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TOPIC STARTER | Part-time degree | Oct 29, 2014 |
Having a non-language degree in the area of one's translation specialization is definitely an advantage, since it increases the translator's chances of getting work in that subject area. But very often, translation agencies specifically require a certificate in translation (or even a higher education in linguistics). So it is not clear whether a person will be able to find enough translation work if they invest their time and money in a non-language degree with the hope of later becoming transla... See more Having a non-language degree in the area of one's translation specialization is definitely an advantage, since it increases the translator's chances of getting work in that subject area. But very often, translation agencies specifically require a certificate in translation (or even a higher education in linguistics). So it is not clear whether a person will be able to find enough translation work if they invest their time and money in a non-language degree with the hope of later becoming translators. Since En-Ru is a common translation pair, there must be some short certification courses available in that pair, although all the universities I contacted say that they don’t offer certification in En-Ru language pair for those who have a high school diploma only. ▲ Collapse
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Lotta good ideas here. Remember that universities are in the business of selling course load. The more prerequisites they can saddle you with for any given course or major that interests you, the better it is for their bottom line. There's very little that one can't teach oneself these days; the four years of sitting around in universities, and the cost of doing so, is for the piece of paper, nothing else. There are often other ways to get the knowledge base.
Prob is, of course, you... See more Lotta good ideas here. Remember that universities are in the business of selling course load. The more prerequisites they can saddle you with for any given course or major that interests you, the better it is for their bottom line. There's very little that one can't teach oneself these days; the four years of sitting around in universities, and the cost of doing so, is for the piece of paper, nothing else. There are often other ways to get the knowledge base.
Prob is, of course, you might absolutely have to have that piece of paper. But you certainly shouldn't have to spend years and years at university, especially if you're already a working translator. If there's a degree that you want anyway, in a discipline not related to linguistics, then, as someone pointed out, it's probably worth getting. ▲ Collapse
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Strings of degrees are for the Lewis' and the Tolkiens of this world, for academics, for people aiming to be professors or researchers, for people who intend to make the university their home away from home for the rest of their lives, not for working translators. The number one skill builder in our profession is work.
[Edited at 2014-11-02 00:49 GMT]
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:21
Portuguese to English
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Vladisslav wrote:
Perhaps I am not yet ready for the DipTrans examination (which would be a very good option), since I have translation experience of only about 20,000 words.
I can certainly recommend the Dip. Trans. as a useful credential to have. It does, however, have a high failure rate so I suggest you do a distance course before simply going ahead and sitting the exams. I attended a course at City University in London and did the exam 20 years ago, but if you search on here you will find others recounting more recent experience or giving advice on what to do. Also note the following (taken from the CIOL website):
"The IoLET Level 7 Diploma in Translation (QCF) tests professional translating skills at a
postgraduate level of competence. The examination is open to all. However, candidates are
advised to ensure prior to registering, that their level of linguistic attainment in the source
language is at least equivalent to a good Honours degree, and that they are familiar with
the relevant cultural background."
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| I agree with Lisa | Nov 2, 2014 |
I also recommend the CIol DipTrans - it is open to all, but passing it is not easy and requires good preparation.
| | | | Vladislav.
Local time: 18:21
English to Russian
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TOPIC STARTER | Certification | Nov 2, 2014 |
Diploma in Translation greatly increases translators' chances of getting work, since it demonstrates their competence and a serious approach toward translation business.
There are many posts on this web site which discuss the DipTrans examination. Even persons who have master’s degrees can easily fail it. So a person will have to spend about £1,000 ($1,600) for the preparatory course, then pay for the examination (perhaps about £600), and if they fail, again pay a sizable fee fo... See more Diploma in Translation greatly increases translators' chances of getting work, since it demonstrates their competence and a serious approach toward translation business.
There are many posts on this web site which discuss the DipTrans examination. Even persons who have master’s degrees can easily fail it. So a person will have to spend about £1,000 ($1,600) for the preparatory course, then pay for the examination (perhaps about £600), and if they fail, again pay a sizable fee for the retaking of the examination, with the possibility that they will fail again, as for example, one educated teacher who failed the examination three times and had to pay a lot of money.
For those who do not have much experience and formal education in translation, there must be some “safe” ways of getting established in the translation industry, without a great financial loss.
I have not received a response from the translation organizations in Russia and Ukraine on how to get certified without spending much time and money during a 4-year university course, and continue searching for possible certification options. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vladislav.
Local time: 18:21
English to Russian
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TOPIC STARTER | Translation Courses | Nov 7, 2014 |
I have contacted more educational institutions and was told that the only way to become a translator is to get a diploma from a university (which involves spending a lot of time and money). Has anyone on proz.com become a translator by simply taking a shorter course in translation or passing an examination which is much easier than DipTrans?
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