Here are some things you can do to begin preparing yourself and start gaining background knowledge and information about interpreting and the kind of skills required in order to become a professional interpreter:
- Become familiar with courtroom settings and legal vocabulary by visiting your local courts and sitting in to observe different kinds of proceedings and practice your interpreting skills by following the hearing and trying to interpret what you hear.
- Watch Court TV, the local and national TV news, and try to simultaneously interpret what you hear. This will give you a sense for the speed required to interpret in the simultaneous mode and the vocabulary you will be expected to master.
- From your local library you can obtain books that explain our legal system, the various types of cases they handle and how they proceed through the state courts. You can also obtain books about interpreting in legal settings and developing interpreting skills.
- Start developing your own glossaries by keeping track of vocabulary and legal terms you come across in all the previous activities and learn the equivalent meanings of legal terms in your working language.
- Review the Glossary of Legal Terms in this web site to start familiarizing yourself with legal terminology used in the Pennsylvania courts.
The following web sites contain information and resources such as self-evaluation tools, the requirements for becoming a legal interpreter, the three modes of interpretation you must master, written and oral practice tests and exercises, reading material to become familiar with the interpreter profession, codes of ethics and many other topics:
|
|
www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/CourtInterp.html This is the site of the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification which Pennsylvania has joined and whose model we'll be following. This site has many resources for learning about interpreting as a profession and for becoming familiar with the necessary skills. There are also links to many additional sources of information and training. |
|
|
www.ncsconline.org/fcice This is the site of the federal certification program and has valuable information and a practice test for the federal oral examination. |
|
|
www.acebo.com This company provides resources and practice material for interpreters in all languages. Their practice tapes are an excellent resource for preparing for the oral examination. |
|
|
www.najit.org This is the site of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators and has valuable information on training opportunities, keeps you informed of what's going on in the professional field and provides resources for training and professional development. |
From the sites listed above, you will be able to access links to other sites that provide additional information and references for further study.
We hope this information proves valuable to you and helps you get started in your preparation for the certification process in Pennsylvania. We will continue to upgrade and update this page so check back in the future to obtain new information.