ATA Certification study plan
ATA Certification · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Target-language writing and register (producing a professionally usable translation) & Compliance with the Translation Instructions (text source, purpose, audience, and medium)
Draft a one-page register checklist that maps formal, neutral, and promotional tones to concrete sentence-level choices in your target language
Translate 600 words of a formal source text, then revise it twice focusing only on register and natural target-language syntax
Annotate every translation instruction (purpose, audience, medium, text source) in two practice prompts before starting work
Build a personal error log with at least 15 entries tagged by domain
Your checkpoint
A revised 600-word translation plus a register checklist and a 15-entry error log
Target-language writing and register (producing a professionally usable translation) & Comprehension of the source text (source-language reading and meaning transfer)
Complete three timed source-text analyses identifying main idea, argument structure, and implied meaning before translating
Rewrite five awkward target-language passages to eliminate source-language interference in word order and collocation
Compare your rendering of modality and hedging against a careful self-back-translation
Log every comprehension miss with the sentence feature that caused it
Your checkpoint
Three source analyses with back-translation notes and a categorized comprehension-miss list
Comprehension of the source text (source-language reading and meaning transfer) & Terminology and resource use (meeting terminology challenges with general dictionaries and permitted resources)
Translate two dense expository passages and mark every inference you had to make
Resolve 40 terminology items using only general dictionaries, recording the lookup path for each
Distinguish near-synonyms in your target language by writing usage notes for 20 term pairs
Identify five false friends or calques that recur in your drafts
Your checkpoint
A 40-term glossary with lookup paths, usage notes, and source citations
Terminology and resource use (meeting terminology challenges with general dictionaries and permitted resources) & Compliance with the Translation Instructions (text source, purpose, audience, and medium)
Apply the translation instructions to three texts with different audiences and media, documenting each decision
Build a domain glossary of 30 terms with definitions, sources, and rejected alternatives
Adapt one text for two different audiences and justify every register shift
Verify that formatting, headings, and terminology remain consistent with the stated medium
Your checkpoint
A 30-term sourced glossary plus one text adapted for two audiences with a decision memo
Target-language writing and register (producing a professionally usable translation) & Terminology and resource use (meeting terminology challenges with general dictionaries and permitted resources)
Revise a full practice translation for cohesion, pronoun reference, and paragraph flow
Resolve 25 terminology challenges where no single dictionary entry fits, documenting your reasoning
Standardize term choices across a 1,200-word text using a self-built consistency sheet
Cut source-language syntax patterns from your draft in a dedicated editing pass
Your checkpoint
A fully revised 1,200-word translation with a consistency sheet and terminology rationale
Comprehension of the source text (source-language reading and meaning transfer) & Compliance with the Translation Instructions (text source, purpose, audience, and medium)
Complete two full timed practice passages under exam conditions, reading instructions first
Self-score comprehension errors separately from writing and instruction errors
Rewrite instruction compliance failures and state the corrected approach for each
Practice reading a source text once for gist and once for detail, noting what changes
Your checkpoint
Two timed practice passages with a scored error breakdown by domain
Target-language writing and register (producing a professionally usable translation) & Comprehension of the source text (source-language reading and meaning transfer)
Complete three timed passages and reduce register and comprehension errors by half against week 6
Proofread under time pressure using a fixed three-pass routine
Diagnose recurring errors and write a one-page personal correction protocol
Translate one passage in a genre you have avoided so far
Your checkpoint
Three timed passages plus a one-page correction protocol with error trends
Terminology and resource use (meeting terminology challenges with general dictionaries and permitted resources) & Compliance with the Translation Instructions (text source, purpose, audience, and medium)
Run two full mock exams with strict timing and no extra resources beyond those permitted
Audit every terminology choice against your glossaries and flag unresolved items
Verify instruction compliance line by line on both mocks
Finalize a condensed reference sheet of terms and decision rules for exam day
Your checkpoint
Two completed mock exams with a compliance audit and a one-page exam-day reference sheet
Milestones
Week 2: Can identify main idea, structure, and implied meaning in a source text before drafting, with comprehension misses logged and categorized
Week 4: Can resolve terminology using only permitted resources and justify audience-driven register choices in writing
Week 6: Completes two timed passages with errors separated by domain and shows a written diagnosis of instruction-compliance failures
Week 8: Completes two full mock exams under exam conditions with a documented compliance audit and a finalized reference sheet