CIOL Remark - Is It Worth It?

Thinking about applying for a remark for the CIOL DipTrans Exam?

This is a great choice. 

Regardless of whether or not your results change, and congratulations if they do, but what I found to be most important was the feedback. Don't get me wrong - if that fail turns into a pass, so much the better. However, there is more than one good reason to ask for a remark. They do breakdowns of the different areas of grading criteria, and give explanations as to why and how your translation of a word or phrase could be improved. It also allows you to see exactly how they grade and the types of things they are looking for. 

On the CIOL website, once you are registered as a member of any level, they allow you to see a) where they get their articles from, b) past exam example gradings (which again is quite helpful to see how they grade, especially when it comes to your specific language pair), and c) past exams for you to practice on. 

When it comes to your own work, the remark is of course aimed at how you work and translate, so for me it is a priceless tool (alright, there IS a price, but it is definitely worth it) to be used to continue forward. 

What my remark told me, as an example, is on the third and last exam, is to have five shots of espresso beforehand. It was unfortunately sloppy, caused by tiredness of already having been translating for five hours and almost being done. There were some stupid spelling mistakes and other ridiculous errors that easily could have been avoided. This tells me that next time for the exam, I need to do what I can to keep my mind sharp aaaallll the way through. 

Never forget - this is an exam. 

Because that is what this is - an exam. Nerves of the unknown, the panic, the stress, the specific format, the time crunch - it is an exam. Now, I have done self-timed practice exams, but it is never quite the same of arriving to an unknown location, full of strangers, some of whom finish faster than others, many doing much different language pairs than your own. Or they do the same, and you compare their quantity and quality of dictionaries to your own.

Another point for me to pay attention to and work on is translating words not only for the sentence, but for the whole of the article. E.g. 'esperar' can be hoping or expecting, which are quite different in the eyes of the CIOL, and even if you don't know which is the better fit at the moment, it all depends on what comes later in the article. As I have learned the hard way, almost always the correct answer is somewhere further down. 

Retaking the exam

So now it all comes down to if and when you want to retake the exam. I absolutely want to retake. Unfortunately in my case, I will have to wait until 2020. It gives me plenty of time to prepare, and for the entire thing. 

If I were currently in Europe, where all it would take for me to sit the exam is one or two days off and a train ride, I would choose to sit for one of the exams. Ideally, after seeing how the third translation turned out, it would be better for me to do one or two at a time. In a perfect world, I would have chosen the literature exam (I was fairly close with that translation), and I could focus and prepare entirely on literary translations up to the day of the exam. However, timing for me this year is awful, and between the distance and work, being relocated and all the joys that brings, it is unfortunately not an option. 

The other unfortunate thing is, of course, that the exam is only once a year, and at an awkward point right after Christmas break. In the job I currently have, and with plans already made, it is quite difficult to work around it. So, I have chosen a new prep course to begin, on top of the current course I am in now for a different certification,and this time next year I will be signing my name on the dotted line hopefully for the last time. 

To any of you who are signing up for the upcoming exam in 2019, I wish you good luck. 

Stay tuned for upcoming information on the new DipTrans Prep Course I am now enrolled in. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to share your own experience, please don't hesititate to leave a comment in the box below! 

-Em