Tag: ethics

Preparing for, and passing, the Code of Ethics exam.

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Guest Blog, Industry Tips, Interpretation, Translation

The Code of Ethics exam is just around the corner, March 9th to be exact, and if you are just as nervous as I was, keep on reading.

I always become very stressed out about writing exams; I try to avoid them at all costs.  However, sometimes they are unavoidable such as the Code of Ethics (C of E) exam you need to take if you want to become a member of the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Alberta (ATIA) and eventually a certified Translator/Interpreter.  I was especially nervous about this exam since the passing rate is below 50 percent. Many people I talked to failed this exam the first time, and sometimes the second time as well.

The exam I wrote (it is subject to be revised and changed by the Association at regular intervals!) consisted of 20 questions with multiple choice answers.  The passing mark is 80 percent which means you can have only four incorrect answers.  Each question will give you a specific scenario, and from there you have to form your answer. You will have a limited amount of time to write this exam.

I am very fortunate to have passed this exam the first time!  I am not gloating about it—ok, maybe a little—but the message is:  If I can do it, you can too!

How did I prepare for it?  A month or so before the exam I started reading the C of E every single morning as I sipped my first cup of London Fog.  I took notes, and I became very familiar with its content.

I also took the webinar? that was offered by ATIA, and I have to say this was extremely helpful.  It allowed me to think about the rules and regulations of the C of E from a different perspective.  Since the webinar was live, we were able to have discussions, questions, and exercises.  The week following the webinar, I reviewed the exercises we did and the reasoning behind the answers.

When it finally came time to write the exam, I knew I was prepared and felt confident.  Of course, once I sat down to write the exam my heart started to pound loudly, my mouth was extremely dry, my vision became blurry, and my mind was completely blank.  After a few minutes, I regained my composure and proceeded to write the exam.  I found most of the questions straightforward and the ones I had doubt about, I left blank to come back to afterward.  When writing this exam, it’s important to always think of the question in reference to the C of E and not just what you imagine the correct response should be.  Once I finished, I went back and made sure I had answered all the questions and quickly reviewed the answers.

If you are writing the C of E on March 9th, start reading it every day now, take notes, and become very familiar with it. Invest in the webinar?because it can be the deciding factor on passing this exam.  Once you are there writing the exam, take a deep breath and trust that you are prepared to pass this exam, and answer well.

Good luck!  I know you can do it!


 ???Paulina Ponsford was born in Chile and has lived most of her adult life in Canada.  She worked as an Accountant for thirty years in the Oil and Gas industry in Calgary.  At the same time, she always wanted to connect with people at a different level and for this reason, she became a volunteer Fitness Instructor and later on a Certified Facilitator in the area of human interaction.  Paulina is now preparing to become a Translator and Interpreter in the languages of English and Spanish.  Paulina also loves to travel and embraces what different cultures have to offer.  She is also an avid reader and some of her favorite authors are Paulo Coelho, Khaled Hosseini, Mark Mustian, and Isabel Allende.  If you would like to know more about Paulina, check out her blog at www.paulinaponsford.com where she shares some of her thoughts, insights, and experiences.  

Strength in Numbers: How joining a professional association benefits you, your clients and your field

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Field, Professionalism

?Are you looking to establish and build a new career as a translator or interpreter or are you an already an established professional looking for ways to continue your professional development? Interested in becoming more actively engaged in your chosen field of translation or interpretation? Membership in a professional association has numerous benefits for both early career translators and interpreters and more seasoned professionals.

Some of the benefits of joining a professional association are practical and tangible. A professional association is a trusted source for clients seeking translators and interpreters, so being included in a respected association’s directory will make it easy for prospective clients to find you. Membership, whether at an associate or certified level, also designates you as a professional in your field. This indicates to prospective clients and employers that you have a certain level of experience and training. ATIA members undergo an application and certification process tailored to their specialization. There are five categories of ATIA membership: Translator, Court Interpreter, Community Interpreter, Medical Interpreter, and Conference Interpreter, and members may attain certification in multiple categories.

In addition to standardized membership requirements and certification, many associations offer professional development opportunities and resources such as seminars and webinars. ATIA has offered webinars in topics ranging from exam preparation, to how to freelance as a translator, to elevating your English grammar skills, as well as mini-courses on different specializations within the field of translation and interpretation.

Other advantages of involvement in a professional association, such as collegiality and a deeper engagement with your chosen field, are less tangible but are still important to developing a successful and rewarding career. For younger professionals, joining an organization opens opportunities to network, learn their new industry, and access a degree of professionalization while building early career experience. It is often recent graduates and new professionals who are most likely to seek and utilize networking opportunities, but experienced professionals should not underestimate the importance of collegiality and connection. Participating in a professional association is a way to maintain and develop professional connections and to stay in touch with industry developments and news. Ongoing learning and active engagement keep skills fresh and careers dynamic.

? Professional organizations, whether at a provincial level such as the ATIA or national, contribute to the health and strength of the entire professional field. By developing and implementing standardized certifications and Codes of Ethics, professional associations maintain the quality and consistency of the field, protecting the interests of both clients and providers. Standardized certification and regulation ensures that the expertise that translators and interpreters work hard to attain is recognized as a profession. It also ensures that clients and employers are able to connect with consistent, quality services. A professional association’s strength is in its members, though! Each individual who joins a professional association contributes to making that association a robust and active presence in its field.

The Association of Translators and Interpreters of Alberta is itself a member of the Canadian Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters Council (CTTIC), and through the CTTIC is affiliated with the International Federation of Translators (FIT). To find out more about the ATIA membership categories and the membership process, check out the Membership page.   ?

The Art of Exceeding Client Expectations: Why customer service should matter to freelancers

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Industry Tips

As a freelance translator or interpreter, you’ve dedicated years to learning your craft, building a portfolio and mastering certifications. You may want to believe that your specialized knowledge and experience will speak for (and sell) itself, but succeeding as a freelancer takes a whole host of other skills. A freelancer has to be his or her own sales and marketing team, accountant, office administrator and maybe even web designer. Among all the roles that freelancers play, it is easy to see why the importance of customer service is sometimes overlooked. It should not be that way, though. Effort put into customer service saves double that effort in seeking and securing clients.

What is customer service? It is about more than fielding complaints and practicing good email etiquette. Customer service is the art of exceeding customer expectations. Success as a freelance translator or interpreter relies on being able to build strong relationships with clients. You are not just a representative of a business, you are your business. Customer service based on communication, responsiveness, and integrity will help secure new clients, build long term relationships with existing clients, and will contribute to a positive reputation.

A freelance professional who communicates clearly is easy to hire and easy to work with. You are the expert, so give potential and new clients the information they need to understand your services and value as an expert. Good communication builds rapport and connection, setting you apart from the competition. You are not just trying to secure a contract. You are establishing a relationship that may lead to repeat contracts and recommendations. Good communication is also essential to ensuring that you deliver the service that the client expects, or better yet, a service that fulfills their needs and priorities so well that it exceeds their expectations. Ultimately, this is what generates repeat business and good word-of-mouth.

Clients will also return to a freelancer who demonstrates that they are responsive to the client’s needs. This may mean being flexible to changes of direction and being open to unique requests. It also means being able to resolve problems and rectify mistakes with a positive, solution oriented attitude. Flexibility and responsiveness to requests will garner new clients. To existing clients, it will demonstrate your ongoing dedication to their satisfaction. Being able to effectively respond to problems and mistakes, which will inevitably occur, demonstrates reliability and integrity.

Like most relationships, the most successful, long term client-freelancer relationships are based on trust. Integrity is fundamental to establishing and maintaining this trust. This is can be as simple as delivering work by agreed upon deadlines, or as challenging as resolving conflicts or rectifying mistakes in a fair and constructive manner. Becoming a trusted name in your industry will also generate new business.

A strong portfolio and certifications are fundamental to establishing a career as a translator or interpreter. Customer service, however, is what will set a career as a freelancer into motion.  Prioritizing customer service from first contact with a potential client and throughout the entire project pays off in a positive professional reputation, long-term, repeat clients, and new business.

Translation & The Richness of Culture (An Interview with ATIA President Perla Ben-Zvi)

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in interview

In the coming months, the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Alberta (ATIA) will be profiling some of our prominent members and those who have served (or continue to serve!) ATIA in a volunteer capacity. This month, we talked to Perla Ben Zvi, certified translator and current president of ATIA.

How long have you been part of ATIA?

In the year 2002 I became an English to Spanish Certified Translator.

Tell me a bit about your personal history and what brought you to the organization.

I came to Canada in 1989, and after going through the process of “being an immigrant” myself, I tried to give back to the community by translating for immigrants at a non-profit organization.

I loved translating from the beginning.  I enjoy translating and interpreting for my clients so they may achieve their goals. I enjoy finding ways to represent as faithfully as possible the meaning of a text in another language and the constant learning experience of working on translations.  Sometimes the challenge is the topic and sometimes it is in how to precisely calibrate the translation to make it the best fit for the country in which the material will be presented.  Most of my translations are for Latin America where there are lots of different countries and I need to adapt the translation accordingly.

I was born in Argentina, where I studied four years towards a degree in Economics.  To improve my translations skills, I completed a program offered through New York University.  It was very interesting to be part of a class with students from different Latin American countries and to become aware of the subtle differences in the Spanish of the various countries.

In which positions have you served the organization?

I was the treasurer for two years from 2005 to 2007.  At that time the treasurer used to do the accounting, write receipts, issue cheques, prepare the budget, etc.  We were a smaller organization then, so the support was limited. From 2015 to 2017, I held the position of Vice President for Northern Alberta and I currently serve as the President.

Can you tell me about some of your most enjoyable moments as a translator? What are some of the most memorable projects you have worked on so far? Do you have a favourite?

I very much enjoy doing translations in the agricultural field.  I always have something to learn about plants and animals and the richness of Alberta’s agriculture.

What struggles have you had?

Like many other translators, a big struggle is to find that “right word” in the sentence: you end up reading lots of material in the target language to make sure that the translations will read as ‘naturally’ as the original English text.  At times, the problem is that the document in English was not written in the best possible way and that makes translating it effectively a bit challenging, but you work around such things.


How did you know you were cut out for translation work?
When I started to do translations I did not confine myself to personal documents.  I found that enjoyed the entire process of reading, doing research, translating, editing and feeling very good about the translation I had just finished.  I enjoyed reading books in the topics of translation, especially one by Marina Orellana entitled “La traducción del inglés al castellano”. Such things indicated to me that I had found my passion and my vocation.

What type of work do you primarily do? Is there another type you wish you did more of?

Over the years, most of my work has been translation, but in the last couple of years, I have increased my workload as an interpreter.  I find that the balance between translations and interpretations suits my professional goals of aiding a wide variety of clients very well.

ATIA has been around since 1979! In your opinion, what makes the organization successful and gives it such longevity? What sets ATIA apart?

ATIA is a professional organization and part of a national body (CTTIC). A major reason for our success and longevity is that we take pride in the way translators and interpreters become members after proving themselves as professionals through rigorous exams.  ATIA has a very strong Code of Ethics and the members are aware of the way they must conduct themselves in the field. Such standards have always set our members apart – to the satisfaction of their clients – and that makes the organization stand out for the better.

To become a member of ATIA requires preparation, experience, commitment and continuous study.

What vision have you brought to the position of President?

My vision is to help establish ATIA as the “place to go” for clients looking for professional interpreters and translators with high quality and ethical standards.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I like to travel, read books, and be with my family.

What is a quirky fact someone may not know about you?

I like salads and soups.


perlaPerla Ben-Zvi is a Certified English-Spanish Translator and an Associate Community and Court Interpreter.  Perla provides high-quality English-Spanish translations in a variety of areas, as well as exceptional interpreting services in a number of settings. Her studies also include CISOC Community Interpretation Protocols and Procedures training and police interpreting. Perla has more than 20 years of experience working in the translation industry. Perla lives in Edmonton with her family.