NAATI accreditation on basis of overseas qualification Thread poster: Nicole Y. Adams, M.A.
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Hello,
I am planning to get my NAATI accreditation for migration purposes and have a question regarding one of their conditions.
I am a Qualified Translator (English/German/English), having taken my State Exam (Staatl. Uebersetzerpruefung) in Germany. Additionally I am a Certified (Sworn) Translator and a member of BDUE (German Translators' Association). I also have an MA in English Language and Linguistics.
I would like to get my NAATI accreditation on the... See more Hello,
I am planning to get my NAATI accreditation for migration purposes and have a question regarding one of their conditions.
I am a Qualified Translator (English/German/English), having taken my State Exam (Staatl. Uebersetzerpruefung) in Germany. Additionally I am a Certified (Sworn) Translator and a member of BDUE (German Translators' Association). I also have an MA in English Language and Linguistics.
I would like to get my NAATI accreditation on the basis of my overseas qualifications but have come across a stipulation on their application form which makes me worry:
It specifically says that you have to have completed a COURSE/programme of study the content of which SPECIALISES in Translation. This is the part I'm having a problem with. None of my university studies 'specialised' in translation. I did several translation courses at university (for which I received pass certificates) but they were not a major component of my programme of study. I obtained my translation state certification as external candidate without attending any course or training.
The NAATI application form specifically asks for the length of the course of study which lead to my translation qualification, how long I was there personally and how long it usually takes.
If I put down zero months, will that automatically disqualify me even though I have a professional qualification and am a member of a professional translators' association?
I know I can always sit the NAATI test, but I really thought I could get accredited based on my overseas qualifications.
Any feedback or peronal experiences would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Nicole ▲ Collapse
| | | | | naati??? [Moderator: if possible, please post in English in this forum] | Aug 30, 2006 |
tja-ich nehme an,ich kann auf deutsch antworten??-ich nehme gerade in sydney an einem preparationkurs teil. wenn du den test wirklich machen musst,duerfte der fuer dich sicher kein problem sein!!!
genaues weiss ich auch nicht; wenn man ihr einen von naati anerkannten unikurs macht(bachelor,diploma), muss man den abschluss innerhalb eines jahres von naati anerkennen lassen, sonst spaeter den test 'sitzen'!!!
meinen kurs... See more tja-ich nehme an,ich kann auf deutsch antworten??-ich nehme gerade in sydney an einem preparationkurs teil. wenn du den test wirklich machen musst,duerfte der fuer dich sicher kein problem sein!!!
genaues weiss ich auch nicht; wenn man ihr einen von naati anerkannten unikurs macht(bachelor,diploma), muss man den abschluss innerhalb eines jahres von naati anerkennen lassen, sonst spaeter den test 'sitzen'!!!
meinen kurs am kommenden montag unterrichtet jemand von naati,den kann ich gerne mal genauer fragen!!!
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2006-08-31 22:22] ▲ Collapse
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Hi Nicole,
I was in a similar situation 3 years ago. My degree is also not specifically focused on T&I. There is no other way for you to obtain NAATI accreditation other than to sit the exam.
Marcus
| | | | Marisa Schiavi (X) 
Local time: 23:29
Spanish to English
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| Try to use your Sworn translation certification | Aug 31, 2006 |
Hi Nicole,
They won´t accept a degree which is not translation based but they will accept accreditations from other translation bodies, so I reckon the way to go would be to submit your Sworn translation certificate. Another thing is that they won´t grant you accredited status in English if your mother tongue is German, even if you have years of experience and you are accredited as an English translator in your own country (unfortunately). You will definitely have to pass an exam ... See more Hi Nicole,
They won´t accept a degree which is not translation based but they will accept accreditations from other translation bodies, so I reckon the way to go would be to submit your Sworn translation certificate. Another thing is that they won´t grant you accredited status in English if your mother tongue is German, even if you have years of experience and you are accredited as an English translator in your own country (unfortunately). You will definitely have to pass an exam for this.
Hope this helps!
Marisa ▲ Collapse
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Thanks for your feedback, Marcus and Marisa.
The thing is that my official qualification IS in translation. I am a State Certified Translator, having taken a test ONLY in translation. But normally people go on a 2-year course in translation and THEN sit the test, but I was admitted to sit the test as external candidate without attending the school first. So any other person with the same translation qualification from the same school would have done a course in translation studies.<... See more Thanks for your feedback, Marcus and Marisa.
The thing is that my official qualification IS in translation. I am a State Certified Translator, having taken a test ONLY in translation. But normally people go on a 2-year course in translation and THEN sit the test, but I was admitted to sit the test as external candidate without attending the school first. So any other person with the same translation qualification from the same school would have done a course in translation studies.
There is no difference in my qualification, the only way NAATI will know if I actually went to the course before the exam is because their form asks how many months I have attended the school, which would be zero. But the qualification as such is strictly translation only. (Comparable to the UK IoL's Diploma in Translation I'd say.)
Marisa, I read that you can only get accredited in one direction only, I did not see the rule that it could only be into your mother tongue. Maybe I overlooked it? Do you perhaps know where in the handbook / on the website it says that? I mainly translate into English, and English is my dominant language, so I had planned to go for German/English.
Thanks again for your input,
Nicole
[Edited at 2006-08-31 06:54] ▲ Collapse
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Just an update to let you know that I received my NAATI accreditation without any problems and without having to sit any test as Marcus and Maria suspected.
So all's well that ends well!
| | | | ivanzhao
China
Local time: 23:29
English to Chinese
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| NAATI accreditation | Dec 31, 2007 |
Nicole Y. Adams, M.A. wrote:
Just an update to let you know that I received my NAATI accreditation without any problems and without having to sit any test as Marcus and Maria suspected.
So all's well that ends well!
Thank you for your update. Could you let us know what documents you included in your application?
| | | | | NAATI: An unfulfilling experience | Jun 25, 2008 |
Hi there,
Before you even consider applying for a NAATI accreditation, let me share my experience with you. It might not be as easy as you would hope.
I have studied translation (French-English-Spanish) in a widely recognized French university for approximately seven years. I graduated with a B.A in Translation and also obtained a Master's Degree in Localization, Translation and Multilingual Website.
During my studies, I happened to work both as an in-house transl... See more Hi there,
Before you even consider applying for a NAATI accreditation, let me share my experience with you. It might not be as easy as you would hope.
I have studied translation (French-English-Spanish) in a widely recognized French university for approximately seven years. I graduated with a B.A in Translation and also obtained a Master's Degree in Localization, Translation and Multilingual Website.
During my studies, I happened to work both as an in-house translator for a European Union partner, as well as a freelance translator on the side.
After relocating to Australia, I found out that, even though you have the credentials, the referees and the experience to be pretending to work as a translator, you cannot work without a NAATI accreditation. That's where the problem lies. I found NAATI was quite unhelpful at providing me with the right information, so much so that I spent $800 applying for the wrong level of accreditation.
First of all, the success rates of their tests is really really low. I assume that this is to protect their standards, but it is a costly and difficult experience (an exam is on average around 600AUD).
Fortunately, I didn't have to sit the test and was accredited for ENG to FRE. This application implies a big 600 AUD fee. Not only that, you have to have all your documents translated by a NAATI translator (add another...800 AUD) when, in my case, I could have done it myself.
After doing so, I was accredited only in the aforementioned language pair (even though I am bilingual in English and have an outstanding track record in other language combinations (FRE-ENG and SPA-FRE).
When I asked to be accredited for those language pairs....I didn't go as smoothly as I expected.
First of all, your application needs to be assessed by a committee that only meets up twice or three times a year. I submitted my application and was to be contacted by May 11th 2008. By May 12th, after calling them up several times, I found out the committee did not discuss my application....(that didn't make sense to me as part of the reason this committee was going to meet up was to actually discuss my case.
However, I had hope as they "were going to let me know within a week". TWO MONTHS LATER, after taking their sweet time, avoiding all communication, they denied my application and politely invited me to sit their tests (more money for them I assume). What's funny is that I only had an answer when I told them I was going to be away for a couple of weeks. With those words, out of the blue, they suddenly knew what the result of my application was.
In our last correspondence, I found out that my application was never going to work, as you have to sit the test for the Advanced Translator accreditation. To sum it up, they accepted my money, when they could have told me right away that it wasn't going to work out.
If you do want to work with tNAATI, good luck (Don't forget you'll have to pay for everything: stamps, on line presence on their website?directory, business card, symposiums you will have to attend...
As far as I am concerned NAATI took the fun of Translation, and even though it is the thing is I do best, they won't let me do it. I just wasted seven years of my life...that's all. Oh, on the other hand, if you have studied 2 or three years at TAFE (a sort of Community College), I'm sure you'll have no problem being accredited....but seven years in at University specialized in Translation won't help you at all....
They're not linguists but only a bunch a bureaucrats.
[Edited at 2008-06-26 00:43] ▲ Collapse
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carol so
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:29
Member (2008)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Taking NAATI test or being assessed on the basis of overseas qualification? | Aug 13, 2008 |
Hi,
I am thinking about applying for the NAATI accreditation, as part of my plan to move to Australia.
To work as a translator in Australia the NAATI accreditation seems a must, and for migration purpose one would have to be assessed by NAATI and get accredited. As I am relatively new to this profession and still building up my profile, I dont really have any formal qualification in Translation, but I am working towards this.
At the moment it seems that I... See more Hi,
I am thinking about applying for the NAATI accreditation, as part of my plan to move to Australia.
To work as a translator in Australia the NAATI accreditation seems a must, and for migration purpose one would have to be assessed by NAATI and get accredited. As I am relatively new to this profession and still building up my profile, I dont really have any formal qualification in Translation, but I am working towards this.
At the moment it seems that I have two options in front of me:
1) Sit the IoL Diploma in Translation test, and once succeed try to get the NAATI accreditation on the basis of DipTrans.
The problem is my university degree is not in Translation and I havent completed a formal programme in the university which is mainly in Translation. Will the DipTrans be good enough for the accreditation purpose? Is there anyone who has gained NAATI accreditation on the basis of having the DipTrans?
2) Sit the NAATI test directly, and if I can pass, obviously I can get the accreditation. I will then have to take the test overseas (in the UK in my case), and I have no idea of the standard and level of difficulties of the NAATI test. It sounds like the NAATI test is not as complicated as the DipTrans (in DipTrans you will have to do three translations in one day, in NAATI it would be two translations plus two questions on the ethic of the profession). Is there anyone who has passed both the DipTrans and NAATI test, and can share his/ her experiences?
Apart from translation I also work as a community interpreter, which my result of the DPSI should come out next month. Unfoturnately you cant get NAATI accreditation as a professional interpreter on the basis of overseas qualification, you have to sit their test.
I would love to hear any comments and suggestions from all of you, especially those who has gone through similar situation. I dont mind taking all these tests and doing both DipTrans and NAATI test, but I just wonder what would be the best way (best could mean the fastest track or most secure way) and cost less.
Your advice is always appreciated.
Thanks and Regards,
Carol ▲ Collapse
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