It takes more than just the ability to understand two languages.

Professional translators and interpreters have the education, experience, and expertise to understand the nuances in one language and transfer them to another. The right professional will have solid knowledge of your industry and will know how to culturally adapt your content for the target audience you are trying to reach. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make sure it counts.

Why Should I Hire a Professional?

Can I afford to hire a professional?

You can't afford NOT to. Getting your message wrong can cost money, ruin your image, and even cost lives. Whether you’re having a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign translated or need an interpreter to communicate treatment options between a doctor and patient, it pays to hire a professional to get the job done right.

Instead of hiring a professional, this restaurant used machine translation and did not realize the result was an error message.

Understanding what’s at stake

ATA publishes articles to illustrate why it is critical to hire qualified translators and interpreters.

How to choose a translation vendor: 9 tips to a successful experience

By ATA Compass | January 5, 2016

The thought of purchasing a new product or service can seem overwhelming at times. If one doesn’t know much about languages, there can be a sense of uncertainty at first about what dialect of a language is needed or how much is a good price for a translation project, but if you follow the steps to find a high-quality, professional…

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Creative translation solutions: Making the most of your translation budget

By ATA Compass | December 20, 2015

A US-based precious metals investment company was considering investing in a mine in West Africa. However, they were concerned that the mine’s environmental standards might not be acceptable to their largely American investors. The mine’s environmental documentation was easy enough to obtain, but filled hundreds of pages of text—in French. The investment company did not have any French-speaking staff, and…

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Translation as a Tool for Understanding

By ATA Compass | December 2, 2015

Legal firm saves on discovery costs by partnering with translation company We’ve all seen the images on the evening news: federal agents hauling computers and file boxes into the back of a big, white van, to be potentially used as evidence in a lawsuit. Anyone who has worked in a legal firm knows that there will be a small army…

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Healthcare Interpreters: Replacing Myth with Fact

By ATA Compass | November 25, 2015

If you had a bad experience with an incompetent doctor, would you give up on the entire medical profession? Of course not—but that’s the attitude many doctors have toward healthcare interpreters. It’s time to replace myth with fact. Myth: All interpreters are incompetent. Fact: You’ll get good results if you use a professional instead of a bilingual bystander. Qualified healthcare…

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Export or Die

By ATA Compass | November 1, 2015

“Export or die,” The Economist warned American businesses in an April 2010 special report on rebalancing the US economy. In a recent interview with The ATA Compass, Rosetta Stone CEO Tom Adams confirmed this imperative for US business. A polyglot who took the helm of the computer-based language-learning company in 2003 and has increased annual revenue from $10 million to…

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Why Hire an ATA Member?

ATA members have a commitment to continuing education and are held to the highest professional standards. Feel secure knowing if you’re hiring an ATA member, you’re hiring the best in the business.

Expertise

ATA plays a crucial role in helping members pursue the knowledge and skills necessary to help clients reach their goals. Through their membership in ATA, translators and interpreters signal the importance they place on professional education in the service of their clients.

Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility

ATA members share a commitment to the ethical business practices that hold their services accountable to the highest possible standards. ATA's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility is the basis for a member's honest, confidential, and responsible interaction with clients.

It’s easy

ATA’s Language Services Directory is the largest of its kind in the world. It’s free to use and lets you customize a search for translators, interpreters, and companies that meets your requirements.

Find a Professional Translator or Interpreter

When you are committed to quality, the language professional you need is an ATA member.

The ATA Compass

Our outreach publication provides up-to-date information and resources about the translating and interpreting industry.

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What's the difference?

Translators do the writing. Interpreters do the talking. ATA helps you find the right language professional.

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Can't a computer do all this?

There are times when machine translation is useful, and times when it's not. Learn when to use Google Translate, and when to hire a professional.

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