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Job Outlook for Spanish/English Court Interpreters

  • According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for qualified interpreters and translators are expected to grow by 20% between now and 2029. This is much faster than the expected growth for the overall job market.
  • The BLS reports that interpreters and translators make, on average, $51,830 per year. This rate can increase for those who excel in areas that require specialized terminology and practices, such as the legal field.

Spanish/English Court Interpreter FAQs

WHAT DO SPANISH/ENGLISH COURT INTERPRETERS DO?

Interpreters facilitate legal communication between Spanish and English speakers. They ensure clear and correct understandings of legal passages, testimony, arguments and other legal proceedings.

WHAT LEVEL OF LANGUAGE FLUENCY IS REQUIRED FOR SPANISH/ENGLISH COURT INTERPRETERS?

In order to guarantee confidence in their services, Spanish/English interpreters must be fully fluent in both languages. In addition, they must be able to interpret dialogue quickly and accurately as it flows in the sometimes-heated legal environment. This course includes an interactive lab that trains you to interpret court cases as if they were taking place in a real court.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COURT INTERPRETER AND A TRANSLATOR?

Generally, interpreters work with spoken conversations and translators work with written documents. In a court of law, the interpreter works with the flow of spoken dialogue and commentary. A legal translator would work with the case documents to provide written language translations.

Course Objectives

  • Learn best interpreting techniques – simultaneous, consecutive and sight translation
  • Understand criminal and civil terminology in both Spanish and English and the corresponding transfer into the opposite language
  • Develop an understanding of drug, firearm, fingerprint and gang terminology, colloquialisms and slangs, juvenile court terminology, and children's court terminology
  • Master the necessary material to sit in a State Spanish Court Interpreter examination
  • Grasp courtroom protocol and ethics of the court interpreter

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Prerequisites and Requirements

You must speak English and Spanish fluently. There is no requirement regarding formal education in either Spanish or English. However, you must be able to speak English and Spanish without any hesitations.

Curriculum

INTERPRETING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS I
Begin by learning about arraignment, pre-trial hearings, preliminary hearings, criminal terminology, trials, sentencing, and progress reports.

INTERPRETING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS II
Understand probation violation hearings, colloquialisms, simultaneous techniques, consecutive techniques, criminal offenses in state jurisdictions, and how to interpret laboratory practices.

INTERPRETING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS III
Cover misdemeanors in state court, felonies in state court, waives and plea forms, DUIs, domestic violence, drug terminology, and drug possession cases.

INTERPRETING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IV
Learn firearms, fingerprint, gang, juvenile court, and children's court terminology. You'll also cover typical court proceedings for misdemeanors and felonies.

SIGHT TRANSLATION FOR COURT INTERPRETERS I
Understand the principles of localization, re-structuring technique, equivalent legal structures, and interferences.

SIGHT TRANSLATION FOR COURT INTERPRETERS II
Complete the course by learning about style in delivery, exam-taking techniques, transferring low, regular, and high documents into the opposite language, formal criminal and civil vocabulary, and interpreting lab practices.

Instructor

Nestor Wagner

Nestor Wagner is a certified Court and Medical Interpreter who has been teaching interpreting courses since 1990. He has the highest pass rate of certified court interpreters in the nation. He has published several books in the interpreting community. Mr. Wagner is involved in the examination process for Immigration Interpreters and Analytical Linguists. He participates as speakers in national and international conferences on Criminal, Civil and Immigration Court terminology, advanced interpreting skills, and localization in the transfer of legal and non-legal terminology. Mr. Wagner holds a master’s degree from the University of Washington.

Registration and Enrollment

This course is open enrollment. You may enroll and start anytime.

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