Have you considered a career in translating and interpreting?

Have you ever considered using your bilingual skills to assist others? A career in translating and interpreting might be for you. In Australia you can train for a TAFE certificate all the way to Master’s degree prior to getting certified. In this episode we help you navigate the pathway to becoming a qualified practitioner.

Translating and interpreting use completely different skill sets. Source: Moment RF / Adrienne Bresnahan/Getty Images

Key Points

• The pathway to a career in T&I in Australia is very structured.
• Everyone is required to sit a NAATI test to work in the field.
• Translating and Interpreting are tested separately.
• NAATI is looking for an IELTS 6 level in English proficiency.

• Translating and interpreting—aren’t they similar skills?
• Where to begin?
• What level of language proficiency do you need?
• What courses are on offer?
• What does a NAATI test feel like?
• Why recertify?

Australia’s new and emerging languages are experiencing a shortage of interpreters and translators, with our health sector in particular calling for skilled interpreters. This includes AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) and Australian Indigenous languages.

If you are proficient in both English and a language that’s in demand, you might have considered getting your Translating and Interpreting (T&I) credentials. But before securing work there are formal steps you must take.

Translating and interpreting—aren’t they similar skills?

T&I are distinct professions. Interpreting involves real-time spoken language while translation focuses on written content.

“The two may sound similar on the surface,” Tee, a language and T&I Instructor, says.

Outsiders usually think you're just transferring words. What could go wrong?” But they’re actually completely different skill sets that require different strategies.

Tee, T&I Practitioner

She believes translation allows you to reflect on what you know about a topic, and to workshop how best to express ideas so that audiences from different worlds receive the same meaning from the text. In contrast, interpreting has an immediacy and urgency to it.

“You rely on your immediate agility and how exhaustive your research and preparation have been.”

Certified AUSLAN interpreters and translators are in demand. Credit: SolStock/Getty Images

Where to begin?

The pathway begins with formal study. Here you have options ranging from a TAFE certification all the way to a Master’s degree.

The idea is to build your skills and prepare yourself for NAATI testing to work as a certified translator or interpreter. NAATI is the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, and it does what its name implies: it sets and maintains professional standards for T&I.

Tee says it’s about getting NAATI’s stamp of approval, before registering with as many agencies as you can to be offered jobs.

“So this lengthy process can take anywhere from six months to two-and-a-half years in preparation time.”

What level of language proficiency do you need?

To gain entry into a formal T&I course you’ll need to demonstrate proficiency in both English and another language.

Similarly, NAATI will need evidence of your language proficiency when it comes to certification.

Marina Morgan is a Senior Lecturer with TAFE SA where they offer NAATI-endorsed courses. She says NAATI is looking for an IELTS 6 level in English proficiency.

“And people need to be conversant in current affairs issues and know at least the amount of vocabulary and terminology that the general public would know about any particular topic.”

Interpreting is immediate and reactive. Source: Moment RF / Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images

What courses are on offer?

There are many NAATI-endorsed courses designed to match your goals, including university and TAFE-level diplomas and certificates.

Ms Morgan says the minimum requirement would be the Introduction to Interpreting or Introduction to Translating ‘skill set’, a 12-week course aimed at preparing candidates for the NAATI test.

Offered by many Australian colleges, the course includes an introduction to professional ethics, techniques and research.

“The ‘skill set’ is really for people who are already at a good level with their languages, have a good grasp of interpreting and communicating techniques and are practically ready for a NAATI test,” she says. “There are also people who want to do the ‘skill set’ to see whether the profession would be for them.”

For a deeper dive, the Diploma of Interpreting is a one-year, part-time course. A handful of institutes and universities offer the Diploma, including online with TAFE SA.

It’s worth noting that the ‘skill set’ course is not language specific. You attend class with people who speak other languages, so teaching and assessments are conducted in English.

The Diploma however is language specific, so students are tutored in their language by a NAATI-certified interpreter.

A qualification assures NAATI that you meet their ethical and intercultural competency standards, and you’ll need these skills when inevitably faced with ethical challenges on the job.

What does a NAATI test feel like?

Everyone is required to sit a NAATI test, regardless of qualification.

NAATI offers tests in around 70 languages, Paula Aparicio says. She is a NAATI team leader for certification testing, and a certified practitioner.

“For any languages that don’t have a test, we have a credential called Recognised Practising Credential. This credential doesn’t have formal testing, but it does confirm that someone has the training and experience and has also met some of the prerequisites.”

At entry level you’ll qualify as a Certified Provisional Interpreter. Levels progress all the way to high-level specialist, qualifying you to work at conferences or in the health or legal sectors, for example.

You can qualify to work in the health sector. Credit: Maskot/Getty Images

The test itself is designed to feel like a real job, Ms Aparicio says.

“[For] interpreters, what you can expect is a conversation that you have to interpret on the spot between two speakers, or maybe sight-translate a document. You have to quickly scan it and say what the document says in the other language. And for translators it's also similar to real scenarios, so you will have to translate a text that simulates what you normally will get once you’re a translator yourself.”

The tests are of a high standard, and passing demonstrates that you have met a nationally-recognised professional benchmark.

And because they are different skills, you must sit separate tests for translating and interpreting.

The translation test is also direction-specific, Ms Aparicio explains.

You’ll need to sit one test if you want to translate from English into your language, so in my case Spanish. If you wanted to do it the other way around, to get that credential from Spanish into English, you’ll need to set another test.

Paula Aparicio, NAATI

Why recertify?

Your certification must be renewed every three years.

This means that practitioners must demonstrate to NAATI that they're currently practising and undertaking professional development.

“That's what will give the community the confidence that all the translators and interpreters that hold a NAATI certification are skilled, ethical, and also that they are actively working in the profession. So that's the guarantee that we're giving to the community,” Ms Aparicio explains.

Further information

The NAATI website provides all you need to know about pathways, prerequisites and testing.

Interpreters generally undertake contract work through agencies, so it can be helpful to ask them which languages are in most demand when considering your pathway.

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