Joining a professional association is always beneficial for a translator. Most associations are already well-known. Membership makes a translator’s profile more attractive to recruiters and clients. It is important to continue to expand your knowledge and training throughout your career.
Many associations offer training courses at a reduced rate or even free of charge for their members.
What better way for a translator or interpreter to benefit from discounted training?
Cultures Connection lists for you associations offering training and their conditions:
- SFT (French Society of Translators) provides several trainings and members can benefit from a discount. Some of the topics on the program are:
- Post-editing machine translation;
- The basics of working as a judiciary translator or interpreter;
- Setting up as a freelancer and building a client base.
- In Spain, ASETRAD (Spanish Association for Translators, Editors and Interpreters) stands out because of a focus on specific topics such as:
- “Hybrid texts: legal & medical translation”;
- “Interpretation in gender-based violence contexts”;
- “On the wings of the imagination: translating fantasy literature”.
- The Italian association AIPTI (Italian Association for Translators and Interpreters):
- They provide their members with several free training classes, including classes on personal marketing, clinical terminology, and website localization;
- Other classes are open to all and cover more general topics, such as checking the quality of a translation using free tools or the Trados Studio beginners’ course.
- In Portugal, APT (Portuguese Association for Translators) offers some training courses and translators —members or not— can follow courses at different rates. Here are some of the association’s strengths:
- They provide translators with specialization courses on literary translation, MemoQ, SDL Trados, and more;
- They also allow undergraduate students to attend courses at the same price as for members.
You can belong to several associations at the same time, for example a national association and a regional association within the same country, or according to specific fields such as audiovisual or conference interpreting.
Here are some other examples of associations that offer training:
- Professional translators from the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) in the UK, film their courses which are available to members:
- Training courses are available to start as a freelance translator, to advance one’s career, and other more specific courses are available, such as scientific writing and syntax training;
- All the translators who are members of this association can then be assisted throughout their career and improve their skills.
- In Mexico, OMT (Mexican Association for Translators) also provides training courses —on site or remotely— of a minimum duration of 160 hours:
- At the end of each course, a diploma in general translation or legal translation is awarded to successful students;
- Other small workshops are also available to perfect translation techniques or acquire new skills.
- APTS (Arab Professional Translators Society) located in Lebanon, offers several short term courses:
- On financial translation, terminology, Arabic or media translation among others;
- Accredited members of the association can access them free of charge.
Although the American Translators Association (ATA) in the United States does not offer training courses, it stands out because a member can become ATA certified, following a tough exam. The ATA certification is renowned and only 20% of the members are certified according to the association’s website.
If you are a translator or interpreter and you are unsure to join one of these associations, do not wait any longer. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! A membership can prove rewarding. You can put it on your resume, your website and your LinkedIn profile, and even add badges to your emails to illustrate your signatures.
