Prefessional examinations for professional translators - J.C. Sager

This article, translated into Basque and published by permission of the ma-na-ge-ment of the Babel International Journal of Translation, was published in that magazine in 1990, issue number 36:1.

According to the author, the existence of professional associations is justified due to the efforts they make to control and guarantee the work of their members. Due to this, he proposes the need for associations of translators and interpreters who set out to require a high professional level among their members to establish some type of examination for candidates who wish to join these associations.

A qualifying examination of this type should consist of a single level and give a complete professional qualification for all translators or interpreters after a trial period of from two to three years.

This examination, logically, should be practical, and would consist of translating under specific controlled conditions; in the case of interpreters, it would consist of assessing a recording made by the candidate.

The author advises that these examinations be introduced gradually, beginning with the youngest members of the profession. This does not mean, however, that other qualification criteria should be ignored in the case of specific groups of translators, such as translators of books, and especially for translators and interpreters with wide professional experience.