I am not a member of the American Translator's Association (ATA), never have been, and most likely will never be.

However, there are a lot of translators out there that are members of ATA. It makes me wonder, does being a member of ATA and paying all the dues and doing everything to maintain membership really help a translator build his/her client list and increase business?

It seems to me that while ATA does provide some good information for translators through conferences, publications, and their website, the cost for the that information is not worth it. I've known plenty of translators that have been unhappy with ATA and the way it portrays itself as the end all be all of translation certification in the U.S. What gave ATA the right to say whether a translator is good enough to translate?

It would be interesting to know what percentage of professional freelance translators are actually certified by ATA, as well as how many are members.

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