Thursday, July 27, 2006

ATIO Preparatory Exam

Realising that some candidates are fearful of a traditional exam or may have an inaccurate picture of their proficiency, the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario has for some years now had a exam preparatory course that aspiring translators can take.

It usually consists of 4 separate texts that the candidates are required to translate. Their work is then critiqued by an experienced revisor/tutor whose main purpose is to give guidance and point out areas which may need further work. My experience in the last five years has been that there are three kinds of candidates: 1) those that are competent translators and whose work would be valued by their employer; 2) those that are on a learning curve and who need to do further work to hone up their skills and 3) those that, despite their claims, are not experienced enough to provide a reliable, quality product to their customers and who cannot claim to be a professional translator.

I tutored three candidates last year and was just recently advised that one of them passed the exam and is now a Certified Translator.


Is the translator you are using a Certified Translator?

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

ATIO Admission Exam

Nancy McInnis, the vice-president of ATIO, shared with the members, in a recent issue of the newsletter "Informatio", the new steps being undertaken to better screen the competency of candidates, help them prepare for the CTTIC exam and ensure that the profession, and therefore its customers, is protected.

The exam would be made up of three sections: one on ethics, one on reading comprehension (texts in French and English only), and one on grammar (in the target language). Applicants would have to receive a mark of 70% in each section. In other words, they would have to pass each part individually, before the could be considered to have passed the exam. Then they would have to write and pass the CTTIC exam within five years of passing the admission exam. Should an applicant fail the exam, they would have to wait one year before writing it again.


Further information may be obtained at:

http://www.atio.on.ca/Main/Welcome.asp

I welcome this initiative and fully support the Board's decision. Let us hope this will remedy the situation.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Tomography for Michaelangelo?

It is amazing how my Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling reading has made me attuned to news about art and frescoes in particular. When I chanced upon the following article

(http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2106360,00.html)

on the German Deutsche Welle Website, it was like revisiting the book again. To discover that medical apparatus will be used to analyse paintings just blows your mind.