Help us carry the message around the world
Welcome to the Literature Translations page on acawso.org. This service is offered by the WSO Translations Subcommittee, which provides assistance, guidance and support to ACA members, groups, intergroups, and service bodies world-wide in carrying the message of recovery to the suffering adult child in their own language. The WSO Translations Subcommittee is part of the WSO Literature Committee.
Translation of our literature is an important service to our fellow travelers. ACA grows in countries where adult children of alcoholics/dysfunctional families can read program literature in their own language. The ACA Fellowship is deeply grateful for the service that you (individuals, groups, intergroups, and service bodies) carry out to translate our literature into your language.
Conference-approved literature is currently being translated into many languages (e.g. Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, German, Danish, Dutch, Slovenian, Polish, Romanian, Hebrew, Turkish, Korean, Hungarian, Bangladeshi, Estonian, Czech, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portugese, Italian, Hindi, French, and more) and we are hoping to have other translations coming soon.
See also our regularly updated ACA Translations Chart here. This chart is provided to inform members which ACA Conference-approved literature is currently being translated, has already been translated and in which languages it is available.
Translation Is a Group Conscience Process
We encourage and uphold the principles of Group Conscience and Unity as we set about translation, licensing endeavors, and all important decisions. Regarding translations, this means that your work is not finished when only one person has translated a text.
Before a translation is submitted to WSO, it is essential that we follow our thorough process, which includes obtaining the group conscience of the entire national ACA fellowship to review and approve each translation, to ensure the accuracy of all translations.
ACA WSO has a legal, moral, and spiritual responsibility to maintain the integrity of the ACA message in all translations of ACA literature. During its Group Conscience process, translation groups should be familiar with all obligations to ACA WSO, especially licensing and copyright requirements.
Note: More information about copyright procedures and license agreements can be found here.
A License From ACA WSO Is Required
Adult Children of Alcoholics®/Dysfunctional Families World Service Organization, Inc. (ACA WSO) holds the copyrights for our literature in trust for the worldwide ACA Fellowship.
In order to safeguard the intellectual property ACA WSO has in its literature, everyone involved in translating ACA WSO literature must first sign a license. These licenses allow ACA WSO to have a point of contact with the translation group since translation projects can take many months or years to complete.
It is important that translators understand the importance placed on licensing and copyright protection of ACA literature. ACA WSO, Inc. has been assigned the operational responsibility for preserving and protecting literature, which is a valuable Fellowship resource.
Infringement or misuse of our literature, even within the Fellowship, might lead to a great deal of confusion, particularly with our friends outside the Fellowship and more importantly with the newcomer; our copyright interest might be diluted and the precious ACA message of recovery might be distorted.
For these reasons, ACA WSO is establishing procedures for licensing and copyright protection of ACA literature. Before an approved translation is published, a license to publish the ACA book or booklet must be signed by both parties and approved by ACA WSO. This assures that all necessary permission requirements are in place and prevents problems with the Copyright protection afforded to the translated ACA book, booklet or other material.
Upcoming licensing process: In the near future we will have a two-step licensing process. Previous translation agreements will be replaced by the new license agreements.
Note: More information about copyright procedures and license agreements can be found here.
Translation Resources
Glossary Template (Word)
Translation Workflow (PDF)
Guidelines for Translations (PDF)
ACA Translations Chart (PDF)
ACA Translations Workshop (PDF)
Contact
For more assistance with translations, use this list of contacts:
ACA WSO Translations Coordinator
ACA EC Service Sponsor Coordinator
ACA WSO Chair of the Translations Subcommittee
European Committee
If you are interested in building a national service body and translating ACA Literature or you want to get in touch with other service bodies and/or translation teams/committees, please consider joining the Monthly Telephone Conference of the European Committee on Zoom. The ACA European Committee is currently in the process of establishing a pool of service sponsors. For more information, see here. The Monthly Telephone Conference takes place every first Saturday of a month. For dial in information see here.
For queries and requests about translation and licensing; copyright issues; obtaining permissions to translate or retranslate ACA literature, to renew licenses, to post translated literature on websites, etc., please contact the Translations Coordinator.
The WSO, the Translations Subcommittee and the Translations Coordinator will do their best to help you.