SLTES Open study guide
SLTES Open · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
SLTES Open is a translation and interpreting credential assessed through multiple-choice questions across six weighted domains: language proficiency and communication (25%), translation theory and practice (25%), consecutive and simultaneous interpreting (20%), cultural and contextual competence (10%), professional ethics and standards (10%), and technology and terminology management (10%). It suits working translators, interpreters entering the profession, bilingual staff who handle translation informally, and candidates preparing for agency or in-house language roles who want an independent check of their knowledge. The SLTES Open study guide has 6 sections and about 1,925 words.
01Language Proficiency and Communication
Language Proficiency and Communication tests your control of both working languages as a communicator, not only as a grammarian. Expect items on register, cohesion, collocation, implicature and paraphrase, plus error-spotting tasks where a rendering is grammatical but communicates the wrong stance or emphasis.
339 words, about 2 min02Translation Theory and Practice
This domain tests whether you can name, apply and criticise translation theory, and whether you can turn a brief into defensible decisions. Items typically ask you to identify a concept from a description, match a theorist to a claim, or choose the procedure used in a given pair of sentences.
326 words, about 2 min03Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpreting
This domain tests cognitive management of interpreting modes: how you allocate attention, structure notes, control lag, and recover from overload. Questions often present a short scenario and ask what the interpreter should do next, or name the mechanism behind a described failure.
325 words, about 2 min04Cultural and Contextual Competence
This domain tests whether you can read a text's cultural frame and decide how much of it to carry across. Items cover realia, forms of address, politeness, humour, taboo, institutional differences and audience design.
303 words, about 2 min05Professional Ethics and Standards
This domain tests applied ethics through scenarios rather than slogans. Expect short cases about confidentiality, competence, conflicts of interest, fees, dual roles and data handling, plus questions asking which published standard or code governs a situation.
306 words, about 2 min06Technology and Terminology Management
This domain tests working knowledge of translation technology and terminology practice: translation memories, termbases, file formats, quality assurance and machine translation post-editing, including the confidentiality decisions around them. Segments are stored as source–target pairs after alignment of legacy material.
326 words, about 2 min