Our Founding Director and Chief Translator, Eric Arturo Torres-Mendieta, has obtained recertification from the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) for a further three years (2024–2027). This recertification confirms his continued inclusion into the NAATI certification system which is designed to evaluate competency to practice Translating and Interpreting.

Mr. Eric Torres-Mendieta thus retains his Certification Practitioner/ID Number: CPN2GA02L. This corresponds to his NAATI Credential as a Certified Translator: English into Spanish.

​This recertification complements his already-gained NAATI Accreditation as a Professional Translator (English to Spanish) which has been valid from December 2001 onwards. In other words, this recertification is in addition to his status as an Accredited Translator-for-life.

This recertification complements his already gained NAATI Accreditation as a Professional Translator (English to Spanish) which has been valid since December 2001 on-wards. In other words, this recertification is on top of his status of Accredited Translator-for-life.

ATIS wishes to advice that our electronic payment/bank transfer details have changed. For clients who prefer this payment method, please take note of our updated electronic payment/bank transfer details when seeking translations quotes.

ATIS has officially set-up on Google My Business: g.page/ATISAustralia/

I just wish to share this beautiful quote from Pope (now Pope Emeritus) Benedict XVI:

Even thought translation is not the central theme of the quoted passage, as a translator, Pope Benedict XVI's words speak loudly of how highly he thinks and appreciates the profession of translation. For Pope Benedict XVI, the art of translations in not just a mere human activity of communication between human languages, but rather something blessed with the divine signature, for God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is also, as it were, a translator. God translates His mind and love in a way we humans many comprehend and respond to.

Furthermore, as everything Catholic is, by its very nature, Christocentric, then Christ in the Incarnation is the translation par-excellence. In Christ, the Word, we have the divine language of love in human language and in human flesh. Jesus said "He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?" (John 14:9). Here we have see what every translation ought to aspire to be: not only a honest reflection of the source document, but such a true (and in Christ's case, living) reflection of the source; to be consubstantial with the source. In other word, a translation should not merely be a means or a pale image of the original, but rather a translation should be so faithful to the source that it becomes, as it were, one and the same with the source. As Jesus, the Divine Translation, said, "I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

To me, as a translator, this gives a very high value to the art of translation; indeed, it exalt the work we translators (and interpreters) undertake for it is a collaboration in the work of God. We translators (and interpreters), swear an oath to be true and faithful to the source. In this we are echoing "Jesus Christ the faithful witness" (Revelation 1:5). Hence in undertaking this work of translation, we ought to not only convey meaning from one language to another, but also, more importantly, communicate God's love to our fellow human beings. Indeed, is it not this communication of God's love our duty in every work and action?

Today we have a special post in commemoration of the Patron Saint of Translators: St. Jerome. It's only proper being September 30th, his feast day.

The Catholic Church has given us many heavenly intercessors. These patron saints pray to God unceasingly on our behalf. (Catholics praying to saints is often misunderstood, suffice to say here that praying to saints doesn't mean we can't pray to God directly, indeed we can and should, however just like you can get your friends to pray with and for you, saints are your heavenly friends whom also pray with and for you, the only difference is that they can do it non-stop with perfect love and dedication.)

A patron saint is chosen due to their particular connection with the subject of the prayer. Indeed, many, if not most occupations and professions have one (and sometimes more than one), and Translation is no exception. St. Jerome is our saint.

St. Jerome (b. 340-2 and d. 420) was born in Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia (Croatia). With his passion for books and great thirst for knowledge he went of to study in Rome. Indeed, St. Augustine said of him, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known.” It was also in Rome where he was baptized in approximately 360.

Unlike many saints which are remembered for their outstanding virtue or peaceful nature, St. Jerome is often remembered for his bad temper! This doesn't mean he was any less holy however. He was so passionately in love with Christ that he used his mighty pen to, lets say, instruct the ignorant. Indeed anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth, and St. Jerome went after him or her with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen.

He travelled, particularly in Palestine, and studied theology but eventually became ill at Antioch. He withdrew to the wild desert in Syria where he ever increased in holiness and wisdom. In 379 be was ordained. Three years later, in Rome, he became Secretary to Pope Damasus I. However when Pope Damasus I died in 384, St. Jerome's position in Rome became very difficult due to pressure from his enemies (many of them gain by his harsh criticism). St. Jerome was compelled to leave Rome and settled in Bethlehem in 386 where he lived a life of asceticism and study.

It was in Bethlehem where his great works were competed. St. Jerome is best remembered for his revision of Latin translations of the Gospels and Psalms and translation of the Old Testament into Latin from Hebrew and Greek. In simple terms, these translations collectively form the Vulgate. Furthermore, St. Jerome also wrote extensive biblical commentaries.

St. Jerome died on September 30th, 420.

In this fourth instalment, we would like to highlight the image from our 'Services' page. The previous blog entries in this series can be found here: Part I, Part II and Part III.

For any website offering services, it needless to say, that their Services page is of importance. Indeed, it is here where they show potencial clients their range of services how their services would help in achieving the client's goals. For ATIS, it's no different; our Services page highlights our range translations and language services.

With this photograph, I wished to represent how ATIS can service all size of clients: from individuals to large organisations. Furthermore, ATIS can service wide range of project sizes: from small single paged documents to large and complex translations projects.

I wished this, no project or client too small or big ability of ATIS, to be displayed with the juxtaposition of the big and small bilingual (Spanish<>English) dictionaries, each with it's respectively sized peg.  

What do you think about this image?​

In this third instalment, we would like to highlight the image from our 'How the Translation Process works' page. The previous blog entries in this series can be found here: Part I and Part II.

For our 'How the Translation Process works' page, the image I wanted to display needed to show that we care for our clients. Furthermore, it had to depict what we do; that is, deliver high quality Spanish <> English Translations and Interpretation services.

I believe the photograph does capture the desired message. Would you agree?

The hand, perhaps like the human face but to a lessor extent, can express powerful messages, expressions and emotions. Indeed, the hand is not only a tool but also a most valuable part of non-verbal communication. A hand can tell you to proceed or stop, it can show love and care or anger and aggression.

This little red dictionary is a cute miniature. I knew it would indeed came in handy. Of course, dictionaries and other language recourses are essential to translators and interpreters; they are an important tool for us.

Below is the original colour photo:

(For those wondering, the hand photographed is mine; and yes, I also took the photo with my other hand)