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Has anyone heard of this school/institute? Global Translation Institute / (CTP Program)
Thread poster: Richard Levy (X)
Richard Levy (X)
Richard Levy (X)
United States
Local time: 15:54
French to English
+ ...
Jun 9, 2009

Good afternoon to all,

A friend's girlfriend in Brazil has just returned there from the US and would like to take on-line classes to become a translator. I personally have never heard of this place but would appreciate any feedback from fellow translators. [I told her I only knew about mine University of Toronto and New York University's program]
It is called CTP (Certified Translation Professional) - 'The Certified Translation Professional (CTP) Program is a professional cert
... See more
Good afternoon to all,

A friend's girlfriend in Brazil has just returned there from the US and would like to take on-line classes to become a translator. I personally have never heard of this place but would appreciate any feedback from fellow translators. [I told her I only knew about mine University of Toronto and New York University's program]
It is called CTP (Certified Translation Professional) - 'The Certified Translation Professional (CTP) Program is a professional certification program catering to translation professionals around the world. The CTP is sponsored and was created by the Global Translation Institute in order to offer a certification program for translators which can be completed from anywhere in the world and is offered100% online. The CTP is the only designation program available online for the translation industry and is earned by both seasoned industry professionals as well as those looking to become a freelance or in-house corporate translator.' http://translationcertification.org/index.html.

Thanks for your input.

Kind regards,

Richard

[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2009-06-09 15:01 GMT]
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Mirriam Kitaka
 
Edward Vreeburg
Edward Vreeburg  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 23:54
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
never heard of them Jun 9, 2009

But I'm not up to date in this field of online training at all. It does look like they are more interested in "the test" and the way you can pay for it and what refunds are available, than the actual translation training....
I would not immediately part with my money for this one, unless I could find somebody that followed the course (3 books about becoming a translator avaialble on Amazon????)
And even then, what value would a paper from this institution have....
Are they know
... See more
But I'm not up to date in this field of online training at all. It does look like they are more interested in "the test" and the way you can pay for it and what refunds are available, than the actual translation training....
I would not immediately part with my money for this one, unless I could find somebody that followed the course (3 books about becoming a translator avaialble on Amazon????)
And even then, what value would a paper from this institution have....
Are they known by the ATA?

I would investigate futher...

Ed
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Richard Levy (X)
Richard Levy (X)
United States
Local time: 15:54
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
THanks for the input Jun 9, 2009

Hello Edward,

I am going to forward your response to my friend Vânia in Brazil so she can see your input.

Thanks a lot.

Take care,

Richard


 
Christine Schmit (X)
Christine Schmit (X)  Identity Verified
Luxembourg
German to French
+ ...
Never heard of it Jun 9, 2009

Hi Richard,

This "program" seems to be very new. I have researched a lot about online and distance learning programs for translators and have never come across this one before. There is a lot of marketing blabla on the website but no real useful information about what the content of the program is or who these people are. They are certainly not recognized as an educational institution anywhere so I doubt that their certification has any real value.
I would advise your friend t
... See more
Hi Richard,

This "program" seems to be very new. I have researched a lot about online and distance learning programs for translators and have never come across this one before. There is a lot of marketing blabla on the website but no real useful information about what the content of the program is or who these people are. They are certainly not recognized as an educational institution anywhere so I doubt that their certification has any real value.
I would advise your friend to gain a certificate from a well-established school or institute such as NYU.
You can find the list of online and distance learning programs I have collected on my blog: http://www.polyglot-blog.com/archives/2429

Best regards,

Christine
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Richard Levy (X)
Richard Levy (X)
United States
Local time: 15:54
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Has anyone heard of this school/institute? Global Translation Institute / (CTP Program) Jun 9, 2009

Good afternoon Christine,

Thanks so much for your response.
That is exactly what I told my friend. Unfortunately, money is tight for her, but she should wait until she enough money to do one of the two programs that I suggested to her.

Best regards,

Richard


 
Ryan Saxon Montcalm
Ryan Saxon Montcalm  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 17:54
German to English
+ ...
Affordable alternative to ATA? Aug 3, 2009

After briefly looking at Global Translation Institute myself, I was surprised there has not been more talk regarding their program on the forum. It would be GREAT to have an "affordable" alternative to ATA. I want to know too, is it too good to be true?

 
Richard Levy (X)
Richard Levy (X)
United States
Local time: 15:54
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Has anyone heard of this school/institute? Global Translation Institute Aug 4, 2009

Hi Ryan,

I thank you for your input on this subject which I will pass on to that person who inquired about it.

Regards,

RIchard


 
PRen (X)
PRen (X)
Canada
Local time: 19:54
French to English
+ ...
If it sounds too good to be true. it probably is Aug 4, 2009

Ryan Montcalm wrote:

After briefly looking at Global Translation Institute myself, I was surprised there has not been more talk regarding their program on the forum. It would be GREAT to have an "affordable" alternative to ATA. I want to know too, is it too good to be true?


From what I gather from their site, the "certification they offer appears to involve reading three books about the translation business and paying 200 bucks to write an "exam". Voilà, you're a certified translator!

A few excerpts from their site:

"Education or Work Experience All candidates must have studied at least 1 year of a second language or hold at least 1 year of translation experience or exchange program experience to graduate from the CTP Program". Wow. An entire year "of a second language" as they say. Impressive.

And how much does one have to study for the exam?
"There is not a specific amount of how much you should be studying for the exam, as long as you feel comfortable in the subject that you are going to be tested on, you will be alright. Read the books required for this exam or practice speaking your foreign tongue with another person to make sure that you feel comfortable in doing so. Try different lengths and see what helps you the best. We estimate that participants will need to complete 60-90 hours of studying to complete the program." Wow again. Just a couple of weeks of "studying", 200 bucks and you're certified.

And what are they testing:
"This Translation Certification ensures that if you hire someone who has completed this program they have mastered a certain base level of acknowledge about conducting professional translation projects. Our program tests participants within four district areas including; language ethics, translation best practices, client management and grammar and style".

Sounds a lot like the rigorous proz.com red P certification program (http://www.proz.com/pro-tag/info/about):

Basically, you pay for a full membership, apply for certification and proz checks out your credentials and your past behaviour on proz for business reliability and good citizenship and other paying members who have earned a proz red P decide whether or not to let you in. Your translation ability is not really tested. How can it be? They don't examine candidates.

Now, compare this with a real certification process:
http://www.cttic.org/certification.asp
and here for more detail:
http://atia.ab.ca/become.htm

What do you think?


[Edited at 2009-08-04 16:31 GMT]


Ewa Olszowa
 
Jennifer H Kong
Jennifer H Kong
Local time: 07:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
yeah, what is that... Jul 14, 2010

I'm glad you posted this, and everyone's replies were helpful. I was also looking into translation certifications online, and came across this CTP thing "recommended by" GTI, but it seems like they're made from all the same people... It would be like me opening my own translating association and then creating another website to "recommend" it.

I don't know if this goes as far as being a scam, but I definitely smelled something fishy about it - I agree with you guys, it'd be better o
... See more
I'm glad you posted this, and everyone's replies were helpful. I was also looking into translation certifications online, and came across this CTP thing "recommended by" GTI, but it seems like they're made from all the same people... It would be like me opening my own translating association and then creating another website to "recommend" it.

I don't know if this goes as far as being a scam, but I definitely smelled something fishy about it - I agree with you guys, it'd be better off to look into other certification programs.

PS, I can't open the link for that list of online/distance certification programs. Does anyone know any good websites?
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Robert Sette
 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 23:54
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
There was a discussion about this already in... Jul 14, 2010

this forum. My advice is not to go for this certification. Your better options are recognised organisations like ATA and IOL, for instance. Read in the other topic, as there was a quite lengthy discussion. Good luck!

 
Werner Maurer
Werner Maurer  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 15:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Get a load of their website Aug 5, 2010

Just went to their website - actually a whole slew of websites that they operate - and it certainly looks like their main business is selling courses/exams. Very slick. The even have a youtube video, which is essentially a how-to on how to navigate their website!

They have 15 testimonials and not one of them says their bottom line has benefitted from GTI's program or certification.

Their exam consists of 80 questions (multiple choice, in English) about translation, two
... See more
Just went to their website - actually a whole slew of websites that they operate - and it certainly looks like their main business is selling courses/exams. Very slick. The even have a youtube video, which is essentially a how-to on how to navigate their website!

They have 15 testimonials and not one of them says their bottom line has benefitted from GTI's program or certification.

Their exam consists of 80 questions (multiple choice, in English) about translation, two essay questions, in English, presumably also about translation, and an actual translation test consisting of no more than 350 words. All this in a three-hour test. 3 hours to complete a 350-word translation test?

Their prerequisites for even enrolling in their program is that you have to have already spent a full year spending money on other sorts of translation training (not theirs, but still). They seem to place more emphasis on that than on experience.

And their name is Global Translation Institute but they offer no translation services. They're clearly a school first and foremost (and/or a diploma mill?).

And their main home page has the .org domain level, which is supposed to only be for not-for-profit sites. I'm pretty sure this is a for-profit venture, meaning they should be a dot-com or a dot-net. Even dot-edu I could live with, but certainly not dot-org. I realize there are no laws governing this, but what about ethics?

And every single other website mentioned on their website, is one of their websites!

There's also an interesting discussion about this outfit over on tc.
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Werner Maurer
Werner Maurer  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 15:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
P.S. Aug 5, 2010

Someone mentioned typo's. Yup, I looked again and there's a fair number of them. Worse yet, there's even MORE grammo's and synto's (instances of bad grammar and bad syntax), which hardly anyone on this continent seems able to spot anymore), not to mention just plain evidence of no proofreading. Kinda hurts their credibility, dunnit?

 
CTP
CTP
United States
Certified Translation Professional Program Development Aug 31, 2010

Werner - Thank you for reviewing our website and providing the feedback below. Positive or otherwise it is always appreciated and we are constantly improving the program's training components and website features. Would it be possible for us to give you 100% free access to our expert translator interview series in MP3 format to show you one of the resources that is now provided to our participants? We would like to share this resource with you to show that we offer something unique, pr... See more
Werner - Thank you for reviewing our website and providing the feedback below. Positive or otherwise it is always appreciated and we are constantly improving the program's training components and website features. Would it be possible for us to give you 100% free access to our expert translator interview series in MP3 format to show you one of the resources that is now provided to our participants? We would like to share this resource with you to show that we offer something unique, practical, and well put together. Please email me personally at [email protected] and we can give you access to this resource for free - typically it is only available to CTP participants.

Jennifer - Thank you for the note below. The Global Translation Institute (GTI) is simply the networking association behind the Certified Translation Professional (CTP) program. We transparently state that the CTP was created by the GTI on the "About Us" pages of both websites and link back and forth in clear transparent manners on both websites. There is no motivation or plan here to hide the affiliation or "recommend" it as is it was a third party review of the certification program. Perhaps our team should make this more clear - thank you for the comments.

Pren Thank you for the comments as well. We agree that experience within the source and target languages is critical and so is testing the ability to actually translate. That is why we have included both language experience requirements as well as passages which must be translated in both directions in order to be certified as a Certified Translation Professional (CTP).

Ryan Thank you for the support, that is what we are trying to do...create an affordable, practical, challenging, and credible global translator certification program. Basically we have developed a program that is 100% unique as ours is the only translator certification program that offers everything below with no ongoing membership dues:
  • Expert translator interviews in audio MP3 format

  • 100% online examination of industry best practices and translation abilities

  • A translator video training platform

  • Career coaching, resume template, resume feedback, and exam prep support for all participants


Thank you for everyone's input and support for the program. To date we have already had 100's of participants complete our program and we are adding new educational resources every few months.

So far every valuable component that we have added to the program has come from feedback from our alumni, current participants, and potential candidates. If you have any additional feedback please post it here and we can get back to you shortly.

- Adriana
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Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 23:54
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Are you in a position to offer a "certification" scheme? Aug 31, 2010

Adriana, the main point here is whether you are minimally authoritative to create and sell a "certification programme"? Let me ask you the following:

1. Are you a government body regulating official translations in your country or in any country, and duly incorporated and regulated by law?
Or:
2. Are you an open organisation translation professionals can join?
3. Can translation professionals vote in your organisation's decisions and bylaws?
4. Can translatio
... See more
Adriana, the main point here is whether you are minimally authoritative to create and sell a "certification programme"? Let me ask you the following:

1. Are you a government body regulating official translations in your country or in any country, and duly incorporated and regulated by law?
Or:
2. Are you an open organisation translation professionals can join?
3. Can translation professionals vote in your organisation's decisions and bylaws?
4. Can translation professionals elect who is to chair or manage your organisation, based on publicly available statements of intentions?
5. Do you have an established process of paper review which is publicly published and is traceable by any translation professional asking for it?
6. Do you always use publicly qualified and very experienced translators as the reviewers of the papers?
7. Do you have a remark or appeal procedure whose rules are publicly published?
8. Is your certification recognised by any public or private institution other than yourself?

These are the very minimum requirements any certification scheme can have. As far as I am aware, your organisation does not fulfill any of them.

In my opinion, you are in no position to claim that you issue a "certification", since "certifications", by definition, are issued by A) official, government bodies, or B) legally incorporated (as an association), regulated, open, officially recognised professional associations. As far as I can reasonably check, you are neither of these two.

I look forward to hearing from you about these matters.
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Ewa Olszowa
 
CTP
CTP
United States
Yes, based on those criteria we are qualified Aug 31, 2010

Hello Tomas,

Yes, according to your minimum criteria we do qualify to run this certification program.

1. Yes we are duly incorporated and regulated by law.

2. Yes, we are an open translation organization that translators can join

3. Yes, translators actually lead and make up 100% of the executive and grading employees and contractors within the company.

4. We do not elect officials like a democratic country by casting industry-wid
... See more
Hello Tomas,

Yes, according to your minimum criteria we do qualify to run this certification program.

1. Yes we are duly incorporated and regulated by law.

2. Yes, we are an open translation organization that translators can join

3. Yes, translators actually lead and make up 100% of the executive and grading employees and contractors within the company.

4. We do not elect officials like a democratic country by casting industry-wide votes...we like many other private training companies decide who will lead the company best and put that person in charge of the program. This is not abnormal.

5. Yes.

6. Yes, we do select publicly qualified and very experienced translators as graders.

7. Yes, we do have appeal procedures and recently went through one for a candidate who did not agree with his grade. That has now been completely resolved and the candidate is satisfied with our appeal process.

8. Yes, our certification is recognized by many translation associations, networking groups, and many websites of professional translators including the TranslationDirectory International Association of Translators and Interpreters (IATI), TranslatorsTown.com, TranslationDirectory.com, an Arabic Translation Association, and dozens of other websites.

One thing we are doing along these lines is making sure our examination is completely psycho metrically sound after the recent shifts we have made to the examination we are ensuring that the test is sound from a statistical and psychometric point of view. This type of checking is critical to providing a industry wide certification program.

Your criteria listed here is different from ours, which is different from another organization's, which is completely different from what translators may benefit most from on a practical level. All of this leads to one truth - that the market is diverse and not one single certification program is going to serve everyone equally.

Some certifications are overly expensive, others require travel which is not practical for some translators, while still others are only offered in 5-10 languages out of the 100's of languages that should be covered for the entire industry.

The challenge on our part is that everyone's expectations and criteria differ so we try to do two things to grow our program over the long-term.

1. Meet as many of the diverse criteria requirements as we can and
2. Constantly add practical training tools and resources for translators that provide them with a ton of value regardless of the reputation of the actual certification program.

If you have a document, accreditation process, or white paper that you are referring to on your points within this last post I would be happy to review and there probably be 1-2 ideas we could put into practice that we haven't already....but everyone you talk to has a different list of what a certification program should or should not include.

- Adriana
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Has anyone heard of this school/institute? Global Translation Institute / (CTP Program)






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