The International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI) is an international

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

s and

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

s based in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

History

Based in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, IAPTI was established on 30 September 2009. Created by a group of professional language mediators as a vehicle for promoting ethical practices in translation and interpretation and providing a forum for discussing problems typical of the globalized world, such as

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

outsourcing Outsourcing is a business practice in which companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another ...

, bad rates and other abuse. Technological-ethical issues are also important to IAPTI, such as the exploitation of language professionals as cheap

proofreader Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place co ...

s of machine-translated texts. It was founded by Aurora Humarán, an Argentinian sworn translator, Corresponding Member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language, and

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

specialist. IAPTI applied for registration as a civil association in the

City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

(Argentina). Its legal registration under the name "International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters" took a long time to process with the Office of the Argentine Inspector-General for Justice. On 23 February 2017 it was announced that the Inspector-General for Justice has finally approved IAPTI as a civil association. According to its bylaws, the Association is directed and managed by a Board of Directors made up of the six following officers: President, Vice President, Secretary General, Treasurer, two Voting Members and two Alternate Voting Members. In November 2016, a number of staff members stepped down from their positions, including its former Ethics Committee president, claiming IAPTI's legal status controversy, unaccountability and lack of transparency of IAPTI, as well as its failure to hold elections since its establishment. As a response, IAPTI’s board informed that several modifications of its bylaws had been made to accommodate the requirements of the Argentine regulatory authority, and dismissed the claims as baseless, unfounded charges by some of its former members. Some months later, the Argentine regulator finally approved IAPTI.

Events

As of 27 August 2024, IAPTI has held 5 international conferences:

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(2013),

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

(2014),

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

(2015),

(2017),

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

(2018),

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

(2023). Another conference is about to be held at Bursa.

Partnerships

In 2013, IAPTI joined forces with AIIC, Red T and FIT in the Open Letter Project, which had been launched in 2012. Later they were also joined by Critical Link International, the International Council for the Development of Community Interpreting (CLI), and the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI). They have sent open letters addressing several issues, among others: * put pressure on governments to ensure the long-term safety of linguists who served their troops in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

* ask the President of the United States for consideration with translators and interpreters in the wake of war against

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

* advocate for the UN to pass a resolution declaring the 30 September as International Translation Day

Supports

Since 2009 language professionals from several countries have been active members of IAPTI, such as interpreter Tony Rosado or academic Mona Baker. Further, IAPTI's actions regarding freedom of expression of translators and interpreters received support from the New England Translators Association.

References

External links

IAPTI website
* *{{cite web, url=https://www.ivoox.com/edicion-112-18-05-17-aurora-humaran-audios-mp3_rf_18939320_1.html , title=Interview to Aurora Humarán at ''Traductoras, ¡al aire!'', date=18 May 2017, language=es International professional associations Professional associations based in Argentina Translation associations Interpreters associations Organizations established in 2009 2009 establishments in Argentina