A certified interpreter is certified by a certifing entity who gives competency exams that measures their language skills and their ability to interpret. In many states, such as California, this exam is overseen by the Judicial Council. It is comprised of a written test in both languages. These written exams are similar to a college entrance exam; except that they are in both languages, some include translations. These written exams tests general knowledge of the language and they are not field-specific. The interpreter must pass with 80% accuracy. If the interpreter passes that written test then s/he can qualify for the oral exam that is comprised of sight-translation, consecutive interpretation and the simultaneous component. If the interpreter passes all three components then s/he is a Court Certified interpreter.

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Court interpreting is a profession that demands high levels of knowledge and skills. Many people do not realize that merely speaking two languages is hardly sufficient. If you want to perform at the level of a professional court interpreter, you must: • Possess a highly educated, native-like mastery of both English and a second language. • Possess wide general knowledge, characteristic of what a minimum of two years of general education at a college or university would provide. • Perform the three major types of court interpreting: Sight Translation --oral translation of documents, e.g., pre-sentence reports, letters to judges, birth certificates, marriage certificates, contracts, agreements, etc.; Consecutive interpreting--interpreting questions from judges, lawyers, at business meetings, or press conference, from English into another language and the witness' or party's answers from that language into English; and Simultaneous interpreting--interpreting everything while it is being said during a proceeding from English into the language of a person sitting at counsel table. Perform each of those types of interpreting in a manner that: Includes everything that people say; preserves the tone and level of language of what people say; and never changes or adds anything to what people say. • Deliver interpreting services in a manner faithful to (1) all canons of the Code of Professional Conduct for Interpreters, Transliterators, and Translators and (2) all policies regarding court interpreting promulgated by the court.

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Having a certified interpreter gives you the confidence that s/he has been tested and if s/he can interpret in a very demanding job, like the court system, then you can rest assured that the person will perform well in your non-court matter.

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Conference interpreters may have a degree in interpretation or not. Some have done it exclusively for many years and have mastered the skills required for such a demanding job. Yet, some of us have certification from the Courts that have tested our skills at a college level in both languages. We have been tested in the consecutive mode of interpretation, the simultaneous mode, and sight translation (reading a document in a foreign language to English and vise versa.). We have handled very sensitive matters that have a great impact on other people’s lives, such as a prison sentence or life in prison. So you can feel confident that having a person with such experience can do a good job for you. Aside from prior experience, this gives you an additional credential that the interpreter has been tested by a respected and accredited entity. Either way, credentials are no guarantee of an interpreter’s performance. It behooves you to carefully interview the interpreters to be used or have a respected language agency do the interviewing for you.

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The first question an interpreter usually asks is: what’s the subject matter? You should give as much information as possible on the subject. You may refer him/her to a website, fax or email the agenda or the caption or refer her to a company’s website for additional information. This will enable the interpreter to search and group together her knowledge on the subject or search for vocabulary ahead of time. She may take a field specific glossary or dictionary with her to aid in the interpretation, create a glossary based on the information given to him/her. If this is a conference this may take five hours or a couple of days of preparation. Again, the essential need of the interpreter is to get as much information ahead of time as possible to render a better service. This may require several hours or preparation time, i.e., reading articles related to subject matter, search companies website for field-specific terms, etc. We gather terms, words, phrases and create glossaries that will help us when doing any type of interpreting service.

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Interpreters who do conferences use their skills differently from the court interpreter. In court, the interpreter must not change the register of he language, must not add nor omit anything, the interpretation must be faithful and accurate. The Code Ethical Procedures for court interpreters must be adhere to. On the other hand, a conference interpreter can summarize what the speaker says. If the speaker makes a mistake, a blunder, or commits a gaffe, says a joke that doesn't translate well, etc., the interpreter has the liberty of accommodating or correcting the words said into the target language, even if the speaker did not. In other words, the interpreter saves face. There are many conference interpreters who are not court interpreters and only specialize in conferences. However, there are many court interpreters who are also conference interpreters. They have the ability to accomodate the environment in which they work.

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