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has anyone heard of CTP(certified translation professional) program by Global Translation Institute?
Thread poster: Yue Edwards
Yue Edwards
Yue Edwards
United States
Local time: 14:09
English to Chinese
Nov 19, 2009

I got my master degree from biotechnology, but i am not quite interested in the technical research work. I am trying to become a freelance translator of English to Chinese, but i found very disappointed. Having no translation related background is very hard for newcomers, although i try to start with bio-related industry. I found this program online, but i don't know if it's good and well recognized. If anyone knows, please share with me, thank you very much!!!

Yue


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:09
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Don't go for it Nov 19, 2009

Honestly it does not look like a very clear thing. Apart from the fact that they have typos in their website (Tranlsator Certification Video), can you explain why the domain translationcertification.org is owned by a hedge fund manager with no relation to translation? Allwhois.com reports that the domain is owned by the owner of richardcwilson.com.

Looks a bit fishy to me, quite frankly. The part that looks most fishy to me is:
QUOTE
Question: Can I take the exam onli
... See more
Honestly it does not look like a very clear thing. Apart from the fact that they have typos in their website (Tranlsator Certification Video), can you explain why the domain translationcertification.org is owned by a hedge fund manager with no relation to translation? Allwhois.com reports that the domain is owned by the owner of richardcwilson.com.

Looks a bit fishy to me, quite frankly. The part that looks most fishy to me is:
QUOTE
Question: Can I take the exam online?
Answer:Yes, the exam is only available online, you can earn the certification from anywhere in the world.
END QUOTE

No controlled conditions, no verification of your identity, no proctor invigilating your exam and the resources you use?! Fishy, fishy!!

Why don't you go for solid certification programmes the ATA Certification or the Chartered Institute of Linguists DipTrans examination?
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Yue Edwards
Yue Edwards
United States
Local time: 14:09
English to Chinese
TOPIC STARTER
thanks Tomas Cano Nov 19, 2009

Tomás Cano,
thank you very much for your investigation. I think you are right. With the typos and no controlled conditions, it's hard to be a reliable one. I wish i could get the ATA certification, but it requires people to have a combination of education and professional experience to be eligible for its certificate. So people like me, still young, not translation major, not too long work experience, i don't think i qualify that. I wanna find a translation/interpretation training program
... See more
Tomás Cano,
thank you very much for your investigation. I think you are right. With the typos and no controlled conditions, it's hard to be a reliable one. I wish i could get the ATA certification, but it requires people to have a combination of education and professional experience to be eligible for its certificate. So people like me, still young, not translation major, not too long work experience, i don't think i qualify that. I wanna find a translation/interpretation training program, at the end of which i can get a certificate. Do you know anything like this?
Best regards
Yue
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Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:09
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
DipTrans? Nov 19, 2009

Hello Yue.

Indeed to be eligible for the ATA exams you have to have at least 5 years of full-time translation experience (you need to show letters of happy customers reporting that) and/or translation studies.

On the other hand, the DipTrans (with the IOL I mentioned earlier) does not have that requirement. However, I must say that the pass rate is rather low as the exams are far from being easy. Some years pass rates (as far as I know) have been as low as 10-15% (pass
... See more
Hello Yue.

Indeed to be eligible for the ATA exams you have to have at least 5 years of full-time translation experience (you need to show letters of happy customers reporting that) and/or translation studies.

On the other hand, the DipTrans (with the IOL I mentioned earlier) does not have that requirement. However, I must say that the pass rate is rather low as the exams are far from being easy. Some years pass rates (as far as I know) have been as low as 10-15% (pass rate is about 20% in ATA). You might want to consider this as an option.

The City University London offers online courses you can do in preparation for the DipTrans. By participating in the courses you might better gauge your abilities as a translator and will learn a lot of useful things about the trade. I am doing one right now in preparation for the DipTrans exam next January and am so far happy about it. I think that that googling around a bit you might find training options near your location.

I'd encourage you to read about the DipTrans, prepare for it and do the exam. It is a widely recognised accrediation that could serve your purposes.
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Aida Carrazco
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:09
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
No, don't do it Nov 19, 2009

lucyluck wrote:
I found this program online, but i don't know if it's good and well recognized. If anyone knows, please share with me, thank you very much!!!


I think you'll get just as much value from reading the "required reading" materials listed on their required reading web page:

http://translationcertification.org/Required-Reading.html

They also have a guide of their own, which is not as comprehensive as some of the other "become a translator" type of books but it certainly does give a newbie a very good look at the industry and some key industry concepts:

http://translationinstitute.org/TheTranslatorGuide.pdf

My problem with the CTP (not to be confused with the legitimate CLP) is that it seems as if the Global Translation Institute exists only to give credibility to the CTP accreditation, and vice versa. The web site also contains very little information about the programme itself -- all the pages that tell you about the programme tell you only how to join it and what benefits you can get from it, but nowhere does it show you what is contained in the curriculum.

Also, USD 197 is a very low price for accreditation, unless it is with a regional industry body that does offline or correspondence examinations. The CLP, in comparison, which is also an online course with accreditation (and 1 week intensive face-to-face training), will set you back EUR 800.

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
...can you explain why the domain translationcertification.org is owned by a hedge fund manager with no relation to translation?


Interestingly, since I have slower internet and I often see the ALT or TITLE text of images before they download, I noticed that one of the images of a blond woman has "Hedge Fund Manager" as its ALT text.

Question: Can I take the exam online?
Answer:Yes, the exam is only available online, you can earn the certification from anywhere in the world.


I have no objection to something that involves an online test and no offline or correspondence training or participation whatsoever. If you fake your test results, then you only fool yourself.

And it may be possible to set time limits on an online exam (pages can be made to expire, or a time-limit bar can force a user to complete a certain task within a certain time), which would make it pretty much the same as the open-book examinations that many universities have for certain subjects.

When I first saw the programme I thought that it is likely a test to see if you have read and understood the required reading material. Even something as simple as that would be beneficial to the industry -- something to prove that a person has read certain books and was able to answer intelligent questions about it.

Perhaps we should start a new thread and discuss what skills we think a professional translator really should have (apart from language skills), which may be useful to include in such an online or correspondence course.



[Edited at 2009-11-19 18:15 GMT]


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:09
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Online accreditation Nov 19, 2009

Samuel Murray wrote:
I have no objection to something that involves an online test and no offline or correspondence training or participation whatsoever. If you fake your test results, then you only fool yourself.

I don't quite agree Samuel. A recognised certification must always verify your identity in person, control the time of the exam, and control the resources you use during the exam. If any of these things are missing, it would be easy to fool the examiners and obtain the accreditation to then fool customers.

And by fooling customers --who will receive poor translations from someone who is supposed to deliver the best-- you would endanger the lawfully and hard-worked accreditation earned by fellow translators. So personally I would not give any value to an accreditation done on line.


Daryo
Robert Sette
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:09
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Another take... Nov 19, 2009

lucyluck wrote:
I found this program online, but i don't know if it's good and well recognized. If anyone knows, please share with me, thank you very much!!!


Take a look at these two and tell me if you notice anything similar:

1. http://customerservicecertification.com/ (something totally different)
2. http://translationcertification.org/ (the one you're asking about)

#1 is run by the Customer Service Coalition:
http://customerservicecoalition.org/

#2 is run by the Global Translation Institute:
http://translationinstitute.org/


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:09
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
WOW! Nov 19, 2009

Samuel Murray wrote:
Take a look at these two and tell me if you notice anything similar:
1. http://customerservicecertification.com/ (something totally different)
2. http://translationcertification.org/ (the one you're asking about)

Damm'it!!

Good research Samuel! How cheeky can people get?


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:09
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
An online accreditor can go to great lengths Nov 19, 2009

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
I have no objection to something that involves an online test and no offline or correspondence training or participation whatsoever.

I don't quite agree, Samuel. A recognised certification must always verify your identity in person, control the time of the exam, and control the resources you use during the exam.


You raise an interesting point about identify verification, but I think in reality identify verification doesn't take place nearly as diligently as one might hope for. For example, if you bid or quote for a job and you claim to be John Smith, who is ATA accredited, the client might check the ATA web site to see if John Smith is accredited, but they're not likely to ask you to prove that you are John Smith, unless they really have doubts about it. And I'm not sure whether the ATA examiners check your ID when you go write the exam, but if they do, I wonder to what extensive scrutiny do they submit your ID card or ID document to determine if it is real or fake. And I have seen many university certificates on which the certificated people are identified by a name only (not even an ID number or something else that can be checked).

If an online accreditation body wants to verify identities, though, I'm sure that there are ways that would satisfy most clients. For example, having a credit card, possibly accompanied by an account statement that has your name and address on it. Or if you are an ID verified ProZ.com member (although ProZ.com verified my ID by way of my credit card details, if I remember correctly). One can even consider testimonials to verify identities.

As for the other items you mention, well, the time of the exam can be controlled easily using a secure web site. It is possible to make a web page expire after a certain period of time, so if you don't submit your answers soon enough, you fail.

In fact, I think the online exam system can be better than a real-life scenario. What I mean is that an examiner in real life has to determine your skill level in just 3 hours, whereas an online course can be made to run over 8 or 12 weeks of one or two hours per week, in which a different aspect is tested each time.

As for controlling what resources are available to you when you write the exam, keep in mind that there are different types of examination styles. A closed-book exam tests knowledge in a different way than an open-book exam. In fact, open-book exams are often more suited for testing a candidate's skill if it does not require memorisation but the ability to analyse a situation and apply his knowledge (even if you look it up at the time). If the examiner knows that a candidate is likely to have Google access during the exam, he would simply need to take that into account when (a) designing the exam and (b) marking it.

About the only thing an online exam system can't ensure is that the candidate is alone when he does the exam, and that he does not consult anyone. And I think this can be solved for most of the way by making use of an invigilator (who can be any trustworthy person) who sits in the same room as the candidate while he takes the exam.


 
Yue Edwards
Yue Edwards
United States
Local time: 14:09
English to Chinese
TOPIC STARTER
Dip Tran..... Nov 19, 2009

hi Tomás Cano
i checked out the website of Dip Tran, as it says "The DipTrans can be taken in a range of language combinations including English, French, German, Italian and Spanish." no chinese there:(
Still thank you for providing me this information.


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:09
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Are you sure? Nov 19, 2009

lucyluck wrote:
i checked out the website of Dip Tran, as it says "The DipTrans can be taken in a range of language combinations including English, French, German, Italian and Spanish."

Don't be deceived by "including" here... I think the DO Chinese. Download the Registration pack (in a ZIP file), look for the registration card and check what languages are available. English institutes are more verbose than US institutes and the information is not always easy to find. Have a closer look and let us know!


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:09
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Yes, ATA proctors do check IDs thoroughly Nov 19, 2009

Samuel Murray wrote:
And I'm not sure whether the ATA examiners check your ID when you go write the exam, but if they do, I wonder to what extensive scrutiny do they submit your ID card or ID document to determine if it is real or fake.

I had my produce my passport before sitting the exam, and the proctor had a very close look at it and my face to make sure. I am sure you don't expect a proctor to be trained to detect fake IDs from candidates?


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:09
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
They seem to do Chinese Nov 19, 2009

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Don't be deceived by "including" here... I think the DO Chinese.


On page 19 of the DipTransHandbook it says:

"Chief Examiners’ Reports
Comments from examiners on candidate performance in the Diploma in Translation examination are published annually for the following language combinations: French, German, Italian and Spanish to English and from English into these languages; and also for English into Chinese, Greek or Portuguese. "

http://www.iol.org.uk/qualifications/DipTrans/DipTransHandbook.pdf


 
Yue Edwards
Yue Edwards
United States
Local time: 14:09
English to Chinese
TOPIC STARTER
very likely they do Nov 19, 2009

Thanks, Samuel and Tomás

I found they have exam centers in Shanghai and Hongkong too. And the fact of annual report from English to Chinese also gives me hope. Thank you two!! i will do more research later:)
Yue


 
Laurent KRAULAND (X)
Laurent KRAULAND (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:09
French to German
+ ...
Same difference... and another WOW! Nov 19, 2009

Samuel Murray wrote:

lucyluck wrote:
I found this program online, but i don't know if it's good and well recognized. If anyone knows, please share with me, thank you very much!!!


Take a look at these two and tell me if you notice anything similar:

1. http://customerservicecertification.com/ (something totally different)
2. http://translationcertification.org/ (the one you're asking about)

#1 is run by the Customer Service Coalition:
http://customerservicecoalition.org/

#2 is run by the Global Translation Institute:
http://translationinstitute.org/



It may useful to note that *all of these websites* have been registered by the *very same person*, so I would not worry that much... at least not about the similar layouts.

See it for yourself by checking them out, e.g. through http://www.networksolutions.com/whois


 
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has anyone heard of CTP(certified translation professional) program by Global Translation Institute?






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