American Translators Association

The American Translators Association (ATA) was founded in 1959 and is now the largest professional association of translators and interpreters in the United States with more than 10,000 members in 90 countries.

Membership is open to anyone with an interest in translation and interpreting as a profession or as a scholarly pursuit. Members include translators, interpreters, teachers, project managers, web and software developers, language services companies, hospitals, universities, and government agencies.

ATA offers certification examinations for its members in some language combinations and is affiliated with the International Federation of Translators (FIT). The association is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.

Unlike a trade union, the ATA represents both "labor" and "management"—that is, both the translators who produce written translations and the translation agencies who purchase them. The ATA likewise does not provide benefits, such as collective bargaining or health insurance, to its freelance members.

ATA's primary goals are to foster and support the professional development of translators and interpreters and to promote the translation and interpreting professions. The Association offers a variety of programs and services in support of these goals, including a series of one-day seminars and workshops throughout the year and an ATA Annual Conference every fall—both of which feature education and training concerning diverse specialties and languages.

The ATA currently offers certification exams in the following language pairs:

Into English from Arabic, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.