Translator Certification Pre-DipTrans

Foundation course (Pre-DipTrans) for linguists and early-career translators

This eight-module foundation translation course is designed for native and proficient English speakers working from French or Spanish.

The Conversion course is the right choice for you if you have fewer than two years’ full-time experience as a professional translator, if you’ve passed the CertTrans exam or if you want to prepare to pass it and set yourself up for career success.

When you buy this course, you can buy the CertTrans Examination Trove at half price (select the offer on the purchase page).

If French or Spanish is your first language but you have a proficient level of English, then you could use this course to improve your reverse translation skills.

The progression from this course is our advanced DipTrans preparatory course.

Why choose us?

Extremely detailed feedback is where we excel. Our feedback is much more than just a proofread or a few comments. Our teachers dedicate between an hour and an hour and a half to each feedback we do creating around 50 comments on each translation. This gives us time to deeply examine your work and produce highly personalised feedback to show you how to improve and pass your translation exams.

Course format

Each of the eight modules on the course covers two aspects. First, the course introduces you to the practice of professional translation. To do this, the modules progress through the various stages of the translation process from text analysis, through drafting and editing, to proofreading and quality assurance. For English speakers with rusty French or Spanish, it’ll also give you a chance to re-acquaint yourself with the language. The aim is to give you sufficient grounding in translation to enable you to progress on to our advanced course and the DipTrans exam.

Second, the course modules follow a professional translation commission, from quoting and accepting an order, through CAT tools and terminology management, to translation delivery, invoicing and post-delivery issues. The aim here is to help you build confidence and understand what a professional freelance translator does.

If you’re looking for a CertTrans preparatory course, our Conversion Course includes our CertTrans Examination Trove at half price. That course has all the information you need to help you prepare for the CertTrans.

Course progression

The progression from this course in the foundations of translation is to our Advanced Translation Course with DipTrans preparation. That’s why the texts you’ll translate are past papers from the DipTrans exam: general (journalism), technology, business, literature, science, social science and law.

What you’ll have on completion

Once you’ve completed this foundation course in professional translation, you’ll be more confident in your language and translation abilities. You’ll be a better writer in English and more aware about style and the technical elements of written English. You’ll also be a member of a network of translators through our private Facebook group. Last but not least, you’ll be ready to sit the CertTrans exam offered by the Chartered Institute of Linguists.

Speakers of English as a second language

If French or Spanish is your first language, the course is a solution if you’re proficient in English and are looking for a way to take your writing skills up to a more professional level. Using translation as the method, the personal feedback will help you progress enormously in the standard of your written English. It’s a great choice for professional translators who need to prepare for the reverse translation section of a translation exam. One example is the official traductor jurado exam run by the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Spain.