ATA Certification case studies
ATA Certification · Put your knowledge to work in context.
ATA certification is a professional credential for translators, awarded by the American Translators Association in a specific language pair and direction - either from English or into English. ATA describes it as one of the industry's most respected credentials for translators and the only widely recognized measure of competence for translation in the United States. The ATA Certification case studies are 5 cases and about 2,488 words.
1The Bread That Cannot Be Named
You are translating a 900-word bakery profile from Spanish into English for a US food magazine. The source repeatedly uses pan de pueblo , literally "village bread," a rustic sourdough baked in a wood-fired oven and sold only within the province.
532 words, about 3 min2The Consent Form With Two Audiences
A hospital asks you to translate a 1,200-word informed-consent document from English into Spanish. The instructions say: "for patient use, plain language, sixth-grade reading level." But the same file is also routed to the ethics board, which reads Spanish and wants the legal citations intact.
491 words, about 2 min3When the Dictionary Offers Three Wrong Answers
You are translating a 700-word German technical bulletin about hydraulic press maintenance into English for field technicians. The term Dichtfläche appears 14 times.
462 words, about 2 min4Register Slip in a Museum Label
You are translating twelve museum wall labels from French into English for a contemporary art exhibition. Each label is capped at 90 words and must be readable by a general adult visitor standing at the wall.
516 words, about 3 min5The Instruction That Contradicts the Source
A nonprofit asks you to translate a 500-word fundraising appeal from English into Arabic for a Gulf-region donor audience. The instructions say: "Keep it under 500 words, keep the emotional tone, and use the formal register our donors expect." The English source opens with a second-person anecdote: "You wake up and the water is already gone." It includes a statistic ("1 in 3 households"), a Quranic allusion in a quotation, and a direct appeal ending "Give today." The client's sample of past appeals uses أنتم (plural formal "you") and long periodic sentences.
487 words, about 2 min