Entering the Interpreting world

Entering the Interpreting world

More from Dale's Interpreting Rules Photo Courtesy of Crystal Nichols
Taken In Hawaii at the RID Conference(me)  

Now that you have made it through the classes and intense courses, you are ready to become an interpreter and start your journey as a certified Interpreter. For state level testing you do not need to have a degree you just need to be 18, pass the written test and be able to pass the performance exam. However if you are interested in interpreting on a National level NIC certification you would need a Bachelor’s Degree before you can even take the written. Once you have taken the written and passed then you can take the performance examine. Both require a substantial amount of knowledge about Deaf culture, Interpreting and how to interpret. All elements can be learned and are covered in the Interpreting classes as well as Interpreting workshops. As you will learn Interpreters are much like Doctors and Lawyers. There is a strict Code of Ethics, called the Code of Professional Conduct that must be adhered to by Interpreters and Interpreters must attend so many workshops and continued education classes a year to keep their certificate.

Me Interpreting a video from Voice to Sign on my computer in 

a lab for the Interpreting Program

It is hard work but the reward is that you can have new and different experiences everyday when you work depending on whom you work for.  There are many different places you can work once you are certified, I will just a list a few and hopefully that will get you started. There are two main agencies here in Utah, ASL Comm, and Inter West Interpreting, and then there is Sorenson Communication, which is a Video Relay Service company. Each place is unique and can provide the consumer with an Interpreter it really is just a personal preference and ability. I hope this blog will help you to get started in an Interpreting career or motivated you to learn more about the Deaf community. Maybe it has sparked an interest you didn’t know you had.