Chartered Institute of Linguists
FEATURES
An enthusiast of CIOL's electronic 'certified translation'
stamps explains why more translators should use them
The Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL)
provides members with a range of electronic
stamps and logos. The stamps – which come
in several designs and colours – can be found
by logging in to the website and heading to
the 'My CIOL' tab and 'Membership logos &
link' option. This area contains logos and
banners that we can use to give our headed
paper and documents a more professional
look, as well as handy electronic stamps for
certifying translations intended for
administrative and official purposes.
While stamping translations is not
mandatory, I choose to do so for several
reasons. Firstly, my private customers
appreciate it. Many hail from countries in
central Europe and Africa where stamps are
routinely used on official documentation.
Customers of an African background often
mention how important stamps are to them.
The simple act of using one helps me to
meet their expectations.
Secondly, I believe that stamps help to
elevate the professional look of translations.
While accurate and faithful translations are the
most important goal, appearances also count.
Customers can be surprised at the cost of
translation services. It is important to provide
them with professional-looking paperwork in
exchange for the price, and CIOL's 'certified
translation' stamps are an easy way to make
our translations stand out from the crowd.
They also remind the target reader – the
Home Office, solicitors, civil registrars, etc –
that the translation has been produced by a
member of a professional body. This can give
them extra reassurance concerning not only
the quality of the translation but also the
independent and professional nature of the
translator. This is equally attractive to
corporate customers, such as law firms, that
buy certified translations to complete legal
and administrative tasks on behalf of their
clients. Corporate customers also deal with
public authorities and need to know that
translations will be promptly accepted.
How should the stamps be applied?
When it comes to where and how many times
to stamp certified translations, there are no
hard and fast rules. As an avid fan of stamps,
I put them on every page of the target
document, but that isn't a requirement unless
it has specifically been requested. Many
central European countries have adopted
frameworks for the certification of translations.
In contrast, no official requirements exist in
the UK. This lack of standardisation can lead
to confusion concerning how best to certify
translations. To make matters worse, the
various recipients of the translation may have
their own unique standards. For this reason, I
always ask customers to check the target
reader's requirements.
I take care to offer my knowledge without
providing formal advice. CIOL's guidance on
this, 'Certified Translation – Getting It Right'
(ciol.org.uk/certified-translations), is a good
place to start. It offers best practices on how
to certify translations for the UK market,
including the use of stamps. I believe that
using stamps can offer some great benefits
to translators and our customers. And as
members of a professional association, why
not make good use of the resources offered
to us? Are you ready to give it a try?
Julie Barber MCIL CL is a French to English
translator specialising in business, legal and
personal documents for official use. She
manages Translation & Secretarial Services;
https://ts-services.co.uk/certified-translator.
Put a stamp on it
JULIE BARBER
©
SHUTTERSTOCK
WINTER 2025 The Linguist 23
