American Translators Association
The ATA (American Translators Association), established in 1959, is the largest professional society of translators and interpreters in the United States, with more than 6,000 members. Its headquarters are at 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 220, Alexandria, VA 22314-2840.The Association primary goals are "to advocate and promote the recognition of translation as a profession, formulate and maintain standard of professional ethics, practices, and competence; and improve the standards and quality of translation".
ATA membership is open to anyone with an interest in translation. There are several classes of membership, among them Active, Corresponding, Corporate, Student etc. ATA members can also share common interests joining ATA divisions. The current divisions are: Japanese Language, Literary, Portuguese Language, Science & Technology, and Slavic Language. More divisions are being established.
ATA members can also benefit from special discounts on UPS services, medical disability and life insurance, and professional liability insurance. Also a copy of the ATA Membership Directory published annually is included in the membership fee.
The ATA publishes a monthly magazine, the ATA Chronicle, featuring interesting articles written by professional translators and/or interpreters, information about the translation business, job opportunities for freelance and in-house positions, the translation inquirer (with queries and responses on the translation of specific words / phrases), dictionary reviews, and an update on educational events such as the Annual Conference and regional conferences or workshops.
The ATA Annual Conference is held every fall in a major U.S. city. This year's 38th conference will take place on November 5-9 in San Francisco, CA. The Annual Conference features panel discussions, workshops, scholarly papers, presentations, a job exchange, accreditation testing, and provides opportunities for professional contacts and networking.
In 1963 an ATA accreditation program was established to ensure that individual translators meet certain professional standards. More than 2,000 ATA members are currently accredited. Accreditation is now available in 23 language pairs: from and into Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian and from Arabic into English. Chinese and Hebrew in both directions are supposed to be added soon. Accreditation sittings take place all over the United States and, in the last two years, sittings have been held also in Mexico, Germany, and Italy. Information about the places and dates of the upcoming accreditation exams are published every month in The Chronicle.
More detailed information can be found visiting the ATA web site or emailing the ATA at 73564.2032@compuserve.com.
Information updated as of June 18, 1997.
Acknowledgements: This profile is based on the information provided in the ATA web site, and in the following articles published in the March 1997 issue of the ATA Chronicle: "Gearing up for San Francisco" and "ATA Accreditation Program".