Who are we and what do we do?

The National League of Translators (NLT) is a professional association established in 2004 in Moscow by full time expert translators and interpreters providing services of the highest international standard in the Russian market. They have come together as acknowledged experts in their field to provide a reliable resource for clients needing translation and interpreting services and to promote the high standard of professional services for which their members are known.

NLT is an organization established to protect the reputation and interests of bona fide professionally trained and skilled translators/interpreters and to this end is pursuing entirely practical objectives. Its members have united to stand up collectively against the catastrophic upsurge in slipshod translations and poorly qualified interpreters flooding the marketplace. NLT is committed to overcoming the current situation where many clients tend to contract translators and interpreters driven “by the cheapest possible price” disregarding the quality of professional skills and services they can deliver.

The National League of Translators, through the work of its members, is able to demonstrate that there are translators in Russia who:

• do vouch for the quality of the translation product and interpreting service they deliver;
• are looking for a meaningful cooperation with those clients who place a premium on high quality translation and interpreting and understand how important this quality is for the success of their business;
• are qualified enough to translate complex and intricate texts and interpret on these subjects correctly and professionally and who value their own professional reputation. Such translators shape the public image of their trade and represent their professional community with pride and confidence.

Apart from displaying high professional skills, in today's market environment translators/interpreters are expected to be able to respond quickly and flexibly to changing trends and conditions. We intend to provide to NLT members ample opportunities for interaction and communication with peers and for improvement of their professional skills as a result of such networking.

NLT is not just another translation bureau or interpreter agency in the Moscow market. Its purpose is different. It facilitates clients' search for professional and highly skilled translators/interpreters and helps them establish direct contacts, bypassing intermediaries. Members of NLT are helped to structure their professional relationships with private and corporate clients in a positive, honest and professional manner that inspires confidence and, where appropriate, builds for the future.

Good translation is the result of intensive and concentrated effort by a skilled linguist whose work calls for ongoing and substantial investments in infrastructure (dictionaries, hardware and software, modern communication facilities, etc.) and which, consequently, needs to be adequately remunerated. In this context, NLT intend not only to monitor closely the market for translation/interpreting services in Russia and in other countries, but to be active in shaping and pursuing a fair and appropriate fee policy for the service being offered.

Bringing together professional interpreters with well developed connections in the Russian interpreters community, the National League of Translators provides free advisory services to clients seeking guidance on issues relating to arrangements for oral (consecutive or simultaneous) interpreting, and can offer practical help in finding suitable solutions.

The National League of Translators carefully builds relations with clients looking for high quality translation/interpreting services and maintains an ongoing dialogue with them, exchanging opinions and working out solutions to ensure satisfaction. Such interaction is conducive to a better understanding within which a client's expectations can be managed and the specific professional needs of translators/interpreters can be catered for. This ensures that conditions are created in which they are able to deliver high quality translation and/or interpreting to the standard that the client is expecting.

The cornerstone of NLT’s mode of operation is a combination of the highly developed translation skills of its members and their abiding sense of responsibility for the work they do.

To continue to deliver these core values presents many challenges for NLT members. To meet these, NLT provides its members with ample opportunities for interaction and communication with their peers and for improvement of their professional skills as a result of such networking.

Each NLT member has behind them many years of successful work as a translator/interpreter in Russia whilst many have honed their skills working in overseas locations. NLT do not pretend that every member can do everything nor do everything uniformly well. As a rule, every good translator specializes in certain subjects and within their area of expertise is able to warrant that the deliverable will always be of high caliber. However, a professional will always be a professional and is able to ensure that the maximum possible quality is delivered under the particular circumstances of a translation or interpreting assignment.

Membership of the League is personal and candidates are assessed on their merits. The National League of Translators welcomes skilled translators and interpreters (both consecutive and simultaneous) who share the same goals and objectives and subscribe to the philosophy as defined above as well as the formal Articles of Association of NLT. For the sake of all this, members have come together to provide mutual support, shared learning and experience and to uphold the high standards that it is hoped clients will always insist upon and appreciate.