ALTA NTP (Title Insurance & Escrow Producer Credentials) case studies
ALTA NTP · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The ALTA NTP is a translation proficiency assessment administered within ALTA Language Services' testing program, a suite that also includes speaking and listening, reading, writing, interpretation, and translation assessments. It is intended for working translators, bilingual job candidates, and language professionals who need independent evidence of their ability to render a source text accurately into a target language. The ALTA NTP case studies are 5 cases and about 2,797 words.
1The Ambiguous 'It' in an Indemnity-Adjacent Services Clause
You are translating a 12-page English master services agreement into Spanish for a client in Mexico. Clause 7.2 reads: "The Supplier shall notify the Client if its subcontractor fails to maintain the insurance required under Schedule 3, and it shall suspend all work under the affected purchase order until the Client confirms receipt." The client style guide requires "shall" as "deberá" for obligations, bold defined terms on first use, and an explicit noun wherever "it" could refer to more than one antecedent.
614 words, about 3 min2French Release Note: Pronoun Reference and Orthography Under a Style Guide
You are translating a software release note from English into French for a Canadian client. Source: "Users who have enabled two-factor authentication and whose devices were registered before 1 March 2024 must re-register their devices; otherwise, they will not be able to access the dashboard until they do so." Your draft reads: "Les utilisateurs qui ont activé l’authentification à deux facteurs et dont les appareils ont été enregistrés avant le 1er mars 2024 doivent réenregistrer leurs appareils ; sinon, ils ne pourront pas accéder au tableau de bord jusqu’à ce qu’ils le fassent." The reviewer flags four points: the referent of "ils," the referent of "le," the date format, and the spelling "réenregistrer." The client's French style guide prefers 1990 orthography and uses "tableau de bord" as a defined term.
574 words, about 3 min3Luxury Hotel Welcome Letter: Brand Voice vs. Source Politeness
You are translating a French welcome letter from a luxury hotel into English. The source sentence reads: "Nous vous prions de bien vouloir noter que certaines prestations sont soumises à réservation." The client's brand guide asks for warm, direct English; it bans "please kindly," prefers "guest" to "client," and says "service" is acceptable for "prestation" but "offering" should be avoided because it sounds like a product bundle.
536 words, about 3 min4Administrative Deadline Exception: Scope of 'Salvo Que' and Civil-Law Imputability
You are translating a Spanish administrative notice into English for a U.S. immigration law firm.
545 words, about 3 min5German Safety Instruction: Dangling Modifier and Imperative Register
You are translating a German technical safety instruction into English. Source: "Vor dem Öffnen des Gehäuses ist die Anlage spannungsfrei zu schalten und gegen Wiedereinschalten zu sichern." Your draft: "Before opening the housing, the system is to be de-energized and to be secured against restarting." The reviewer notes that the English is grammatical but has a dangling modifier, a heavy passive, and an ambiguous scope: does "gegen Wiedereinschalten zu sichern" apply to the system or to the person performing the task?
528 words, about 3 min