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NAATI Accreditation Examination
Thread poster: Helen Li
Helen Li
Helen Li  Identity Verified
Singapore
Local time: 13:47
English to Chinese
+ ...
Feb 21, 2008

Hi, I plan to take the Accreditation Examination by NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters in Australia) at the level of "professional translator" for translation from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English.

I have checked all the relevant information avaliable from the website of NAATI, and noticed that the passing rate for their exams are approximately only 20%. To move things forward, I have ordered the Overseas Prospectus Kit (which I
... See more
Hi, I plan to take the Accreditation Examination by NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters in Australia) at the level of "professional translator" for translation from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English.

I have checked all the relevant information avaliable from the website of NAATI, and noticed that the passing rate for their exams are approximately only 20%. To move things forward, I have ordered the Overseas Prospectus Kit (which I should receive in two-week time).

I would be grateful if anyone can give me some helpful tips on the prepration of the exams, or share your experience if you have taken the NAATI exams.

Thanks very much.
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Ramin Vali
Ramin Vali  Identity Verified
Local time: 18:47
Persian (Farsi) to English
+ ...
Re NAATI accreditation Feb 22, 2008

Hello Helen,

First of all I wish you best of luck for the NAATI exam. I have done mine about 3 months ago. I did it both ways in the same day. The exam is easy. most of the material that say it is difficult is to make you buy the extra stuff that NAATI has for sale. Basically, this agency (like any other agency) is there to make a profit. You have to be sensible in buying whatever they offer you in the environment of fear they create for you. I did not study for my exams and I did t
... See more
Hello Helen,

First of all I wish you best of luck for the NAATI exam. I have done mine about 3 months ago. I did it both ways in the same day. The exam is easy. most of the material that say it is difficult is to make you buy the extra stuff that NAATI has for sale. Basically, this agency (like any other agency) is there to make a profit. You have to be sensible in buying whatever they offer you in the environment of fear they create for you. I did not study for my exams and I did them in the same day one after the other. You will have 3 hours per exam I finished mine in 1.5 hours for each exam.

Try to write legibly, use every other line and basically make it easy for the marker. Once you read the first time, take words from the dictionary. Take the 3M sticky notes that you can use for bookmarks. They come in VERY VERY handy.

At the end of the day remember. Your qualification would be good only for 3 YEARS. After that you have to keep a record of everything you have done in those 3 years and send it to so that they extend your qualification. This is a new measure for them. By all means contact me if you have any more questions.

I repeat, NAATI's statistics for their tests might not be reliable. They are there to make you buy their extra examination things. Mind you that is not to say that you can go through it with no experience. When I did mine I was translating legal and technical things for at least 3 years and I am a court interpreter. As long as you are sharp and snappy you will be fine.

Regards

R.V.

[Edited at 2008-02-22 01:01]
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QUOI
QUOI  Identity Verified

Chinese to English
+ ...
NAATI test Feb 22, 2008

I believe the pass rate is far more than 20%, at least in the Chinese language and in particular in the E->C direction. However it will be pointless if you only have accreditation in one direction. The level of difficulty, you will see when you receive the sample package, is not overly high and it should not be a great challenge for someone who has gone through properly English study at tertiary level. Having said that, many people without formal English training have also passed.

Y
... See more
I believe the pass rate is far more than 20%, at least in the Chinese language and in particular in the E->C direction. However it will be pointless if you only have accreditation in one direction. The level of difficulty, you will see when you receive the sample package, is not overly high and it should not be a great challenge for someone who has gone through properly English study at tertiary level. Having said that, many people without formal English training have also passed.

You need to be able to read both TC and SC although you are only required to write in the form with which you are most familiar.

Now, the last bit is a little unpredictable and that is the examiner. In the past, when most examiners were from Hong Kong, they tended to favour writing style that accord to their likings, although good examiners were more tolerant to a wider variety. These days, examiners from mainland China have a more prominent presence on the board, so the so-called "good translation" inevitably goes those written in mainland Chinese style.

It's unpredictable because it involves human and you have no control as to who is going to mark your paper. So you may need to adjust your usual style.

Having said that, an outstanding translation will attract credits your way.

For preparation, read extensively both text from China and Hong Kong, better still if you have both versions on the same subject. UN documents are a very good source. It has a large archive in Chinese.

Medical and environmental topics are the favourite as they are less country/politics oriented and NAATI likes to see itself as an international player. But don't limit yourself only in these two areas.

Good luck




Helen Li wrote:

Hi, I plan to take the Accreditation Examination by NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters in Australia) at the level of "professional translator" for translation from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English.

I have checked all the relevant information avaliable from the website of NAATI, and noticed that the passing rate for their exams are approximately only 20%. To move things forward, I have ordered the Overseas Prospectus Kit (which I should receive in two-week time).

I would be grateful if anyone can give me some helpful tips on the prepration of the exams, or share your experience if you have taken the NAATI exams.

Thanks very much.


[Edited at 2008-02-22 10:31]

[Edited at 2008-02-22 10:32]
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Helen Li
Helen Li  Identity Verified
Singapore
Local time: 13:47
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Many thanks to Ramin and Abintio! Feb 23, 2008

Thanks very much to Ramin and abintio! very kind of you, the information in your posts are VERY VERY HELPFUL to me !

Now I have got more clues about this exam, and will give a try!:)


 
Kaiya J. Diannen
Kaiya J. Diannen  Identity Verified
Australia
German to English
Just found this thread May 3, 2008

To the original poster: I had a bad experience with NAATI, the whole thing still leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

If you'd like to know more, please feel free to contact me privately.

Janet


 
Edwin Koh
Edwin Koh
Singapore
Local time: 13:47
English
Overseas Prospectus Kit Nov 7, 2008

Anyone in Singapore can sell me the Overseas Prospectus Kit for Chinese to English (translator)? Wish to try the test soon, kindly advice me on how i can improve my chances of passing and how difficulty of the Chinese to English translation.

Cheers


 
shal
shal
Local time: 11:17
Naati exam in tamil May 1, 2009

Hi i ma planning to appear for the Naati exam in tamil. Can anyone please tell me how to go about it with the dictionaries and all. Is it tough and what is the passing rate???

thanks


 
James_xia
James_xia  Identity Verified
China
English to Chinese
+ ...
It's the writing style that really counts May 15, 2009

Ray_S wrote:


Now, the last bit is a little unpredictable and that is the examiner. In the past, when most examiners were from Hong Kong, they tended to favour writing style that accord to their likings, although good examiners were more tolerant to a wider variety. These days, examiners from mainland China have a more prominent presence on the board, so the so-called "good translation" inevitably goes those written in mainland Chinese style.


Thanks very much.


[Edited at 2008-02-22 10:31]

[Edited at 2008-02-22 10:32] [/quote]

As a few sumplementary words to the above comment, to pass an exam like NAATI depends more on the years of accumulation than a couple of special books for it. Plus, it's quite beneficiary to study some the past exam papers, best the last three years in order to figure out the style orientation. After all, an exam is to check what do you know. This is somewhat different from your actual use of the language pairs.


 
Geraldine Oudin
Geraldine Oudin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Japanese to French
+ ...
my experience Jun 20, 2009

I passed the test (French to English) and I found it to be very easy.

I bought the practise material, but I suspect it had not been written by a native French speaker because it contained a few inaccuracies and mistakes (which I have discussed with fellow French translators who completely agreed with me). This gave me a bit of confidence and indeed, I passed with a very high mark.

I think you should sit the test only if you need it for your visa, because most translat
... See more
I passed the test (French to English) and I found it to be very easy.

I bought the practise material, but I suspect it had not been written by a native French speaker because it contained a few inaccuracies and mistakes (which I have discussed with fellow French translators who completely agreed with me). This gave me a bit of confidence and indeed, I passed with a very high mark.

I think you should sit the test only if you need it for your visa, because most translation work you can get through Australian agencies is not really exciting (certificates, etc...). 99% of my work comes from outside Australia, where no one knows about NAATI.

One more thing : James says that it's the writing that is important, but I am not so sure about it. I think NAATI likes candidates to stick as much as possible to the original text. I did the following experience : I translated the first passage as I usually do (respecting the meaning of each sentence but writing in "good" French), and the second passage in the same style as the practise material, which is to say in ugly ugly French but closer to the original. They gave a better grade to the second one.
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go4asurf
go4asurf
Local time: 16:47
English to Sign Language
+ ...
Food for thought! Aug 3, 2009

France-Japon wrote:

... but I suspect it had not been written by a native French speaker because it contained a few inaccuracies and mistakes ... I did the following experience : I translated the first passage as I usually do (respecting the meaning of each sentence but writing in "good" French), and the second passage in the same style as the practise material, which is to say in ugly ugly French but closer to the original. They gave a better grade to the second one.


The reason that you would have been given a better grade for the second would probably be that the style of the ugly ugly translation would have been closer to the style of the original - also ugly ugly in style, from what I understand.

One mistake many T & I's make is "correcting" linguistic errors in the original text rather than accurately rendering these errors into the target language - 'warts and all.' This is especially important for when your work will be used in legal or diagnostic contexts.

A result that looks or sounds awkward in the target language, because it was awkward in the source language is more accurate. Depending on the context that your work is to be used in, this should give you more brownie points. In the context of an translation / interpretation assessment it certainly should do so.


 
Geraldine Oudin
Geraldine Oudin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Japanese to French
+ ...
Unfortunately, no Aug 3, 2009

go4asurf wrote:

The reason that you would have been given a better grade for the second would probably be that the style of the ugly ugly translation would have been closer to the style of the original - also ugly ugly in style, from what I understand.



Unfortunately (or fortunarely), the English was not ugly in style at all. Only the French was. And it was not only a matter of style...it was just WRONG.


 
Patricia Will
Patricia Will  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 13:47
Member (2004)
German to English
NAATI accreditation examination Aug 3, 2009

You said: One mistake many T & I's make is "correcting" linguistic errors in the original text rather than accurately rendering these errors into the target language - 'warts and all.'

I'm sorry but I don't think it is a mistake to correct linguistic errors in the source text. Just because the source text is inadequate doesn't mean I have to reproduce this. Remember that the translation has to serve its purpose and I always strive to make the best of the source text without of c
... See more
You said: One mistake many T & I's make is "correcting" linguistic errors in the original text rather than accurately rendering these errors into the target language - 'warts and all.'

I'm sorry but I don't think it is a mistake to correct linguistic errors in the source text. Just because the source text is inadequate doesn't mean I have to reproduce this. Remember that the translation has to serve its purpose and I always strive to make the best of the source text without of course changing the meaning of it. If there are ambiguities and obvious errors in the source text I point these out to the customer and advise how I propose to translate it to produce an acceptable outcome. I believe that is part of our job. I'm sorry but I would never translate "warts and all" without consultation with the customer. If something obviously doesn't make sense and to translate it as such would produce nonsense in the target language this is unacceptable. I have seen too often the results of translators blindly translating the rubbish in the source text. Let's have some professional integrity here. The examiners must be made aware of such shortcomings, if staying true to the original results in a clumsy translation.

Just some thoughts.
Patricia
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go4asurf
go4asurf
Local time: 16:47
English to Sign Language
+ ...
Although ... Aug 14, 2009

I work in within legal contexts primarily. Within this context I frequently meet language that is 'ugly' and linguistically incorrect. If I take it upon myself to 'correct' these errors through my work, then that may not facilitate an accurate rendering of the source language in it's original form. One consideration is whether I have the right to make that judgement call anyway. For me it is a matter of ensuring that all of those nuances remain. This way at least I hope that the perception t... See more
I work in within legal contexts primarily. Within this context I frequently meet language that is 'ugly' and linguistically incorrect. If I take it upon myself to 'correct' these errors through my work, then that may not facilitate an accurate rendering of the source language in it's original form. One consideration is whether I have the right to make that judgement call anyway. For me it is a matter of ensuring that all of those nuances remain. This way at least I hope that the perception that all parties are left with is the same one they would have had if they all used the same language in the first place.

I used to work for a number of years as a proof reader. In that role it was my job to correct errors, and I happily did. Context can be very important. I accept that, and for some work, fixing errors in consultation with clients may be more important (to them) than accurately rendering these mistakes through our work, but that needs to be agreed and stated within the context of your work.

Again if you take this back to a legal setting, by 'correcting', you may be facilitating an inaccurate understanding of your clients' standing. This could result in changing the way a judgement is rendered, at worst, resulting in a miscarriage of justice. The same gravity would exist when your work is used within a psychiatric context.

Professional integrity is as much about integrity to your source and target as it is to the people involved.

A question to ponder is - does the context of a NAATI examination place more emphasis on your ability to accurately render one language into the other, or, to correct real/perceived errors in your source?
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Geraldine Oudin
Geraldine Oudin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Japanese to French
+ ...
once again Aug 16, 2009

go4asurf wrote:

A question to ponder is - does the context of a NAATI examination place more emphasis on your ability to accurately render one language into the other, or, to correct real/perceived errors in your source?


No one ever said there were mistakes in the source text of the NAATI test...only in the target text they put forward in the practise material as a "model" translation. I am talking about errors comparatively as "The cat is not blue">"The cat is blue". Very, very bad...

To answer your question anyway, a translator has to be as accurate as possible.

This doesn't mean you are qualified to correct the contents of the text. If some figures seem really irrealistic to you, and you feel like contacting the client, bear in mind that in many cases, those "mistakes" are intentional. Stick to your expertise (the language).

However, as a linguist, you should render a text written in a perfect target language. You absolutely have to correct linguistic errors. NAATI will also judge the fluency of your target language, even though theirs might be questionable. So if you come accross something like "Mary am a girl", you should render "Mary is a girl".

If the target text is grammatically bad, no one will think "Well, the source text was probably bad". They'll just think you are a bad translator.

That said, I know nothing about legal translation.


 
hi Aug 21, 2009

i will take the interpretors test the coming wek
can any one advice me
how does the test look like?
can any one help me
also
what is the code of ethics?
where can i find it?
can i find it on line?
thanx again
i am happy to find people like u who can help

oh
another question
which is easier
translation test or the interpretors test ?
and is it allowed to use the dictionaries?
thanx again


 
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