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Translators should have the competencies outlined in international standard ISO 17100 – Translation Services – Requirements for Translation Services by Technical Committee 37 on Language and Terminology of the International Organization for Standardization.

Per the ISO 17100 standard, the competencies of translators are as follows: translation, linguistic and textual competencies in the source and target languages, competency in research, information acquisition, and processing, cultural competency, technical competency, and domain competency (2015: 3.1.3). Discussion about the meaning of each of these competencies follows.

• Translation – Translation entails the ability to navigate systemic differences in the way that the world is conceptualized by source and target cultures when rendering content from the source to the target language. Because of the nature of translation and differences in languages, some elements from the source will always be omitted and some elements of the target will always represent additions. Translation therefore also entails the ability to identify what elements of the source should be maintained given the specifications for the work, what elements can be omitted (and indeed what elements must be omitted), and the self-awareness to recognize where natural human subjectivity impacts one’s interpretation of the source content. Translations cannot be accurate in and of themselves. Translations are only accurate given the specifications for projects.
• Linguistic and textual competency in the source and target languages – Translation requires reading ability in the source language and writing ability in the target language, of course. Translation also entails the ability to recognize a wide range of text types written in general language and specialized domains in at least two languages, the unique set of linguistic conventions used therein, and the ability to reproduce the conventions that are expected given a text type and its audience. Note that this single competency area in ISO 17100 actually represents four separate competencies: linguistic competency in the source, textual competency in the source, linguistic competency in the target, and textual competency in the target.
• Competency in research, information acquisition, and processing – As stated in the standard, translation entails research to build an understanding the specialized concepts and phraseology of the source text. That said, the abilities to identify and use appropriate sources of information is entailed by translation too.
• Cultural competency – Each culture has its own history of value systems that is constantly evolving and intricately interwoven into language and communication. Translation therefore requires the ability to interpret that which is implicitly implied by language and render that as best as possible into the target language.
• Technical competency – Beyond the cognitive and linguistic skills in two languages and the ability to connect two cultural systems together, translation also entails the ability to render content within technological platforms as necessary and to produce content that is adequate for the technological platforms in which it will be published.
• Domain competency – Translation requires a knowledge of how the subject matter is conceptualized in the source language and how the subject matter is conceptualized in the target language too. For instance, an understanding of the U.S. legal system alone does not adequately prepare a Spanish to English translator to render content from the legal systems of Spanish-speaking countries. Texts for translation seldom encompass only a single subject field. That said, translation entails following the developments in the primary subject fields, but also building subject matter knowledge in any secondary subject fields encompassed within a text. A lack of knowledge in differences in how subject matters are conceptualized between two languages results in inaccurate translations.

The qualifications via which translators demonstrate their proficiency in these competency areas per ISO 17100 include by having a degree in translation, a degree in any field plus two years of working experience as a translator, or through five years of working experience as a translator (2015: 3.1.4).