Looking over my past goals at the beginning of this mentor relationship in Sept. I realize that most of my questions have been answered for my career.
1. How to work on becoming better at Transliterating vs. Interpreting. Understanding what the difference was between these two.
-I understand that Interpreting is ASL and Transliterating is signed English. This
has helped me greatly understand what is expected with me in different
interpreting situations.
2. Getting my NIC certification
- I have gone through the Signs of Development program and passed my NIC Written
test. Now I am moving on to studying for the performance/interview portion but
am much more confident that I can pass this part with some studying.
3. Legal Interpreting- I wanted to get more information on how to get this certificate.
-It was so funny because a week after I had discussed it with Pat I got a
VIEWS in the mail with a focus on Legal Interpreting. One of the first
things that they stressed was the importance of being an interpreter for
a long time gaining valuable experience before you can start to do legal
interpreting. You need a certain number of hours shadowing someone working
in a legal setting, and then you can take the test through RID. The Do It Center
at the University of Northern Colorado offers a Legal Interpreting Certificate
program that I will keep in mind to use possibly at a later date.
4. Getting my Masters Degree in a related field.
-Northeastern University in Boston offers a Masters of Interpreter Pedagogy that
is all on line. This would be a great degree for me to pursue and would allow me
to continue to work full time and spend time with my family.
5. Improving on finger spelling
-this is something that I needed to develop a stratagy with and really think about
what I was doing before I was interpreting. Thinking about the way something is
spelled really allows me to spell the word correctly and confidently without
many errors. Slowing down and really understanding the message has really
helped me with this one.
1. How to work on becoming better at Transliterating vs. Interpreting. Understanding what the difference was between these two.
-I understand that Interpreting is ASL and Transliterating is signed English. This
has helped me greatly understand what is expected with me in different
interpreting situations.
2. Getting my NIC certification
- I have gone through the Signs of Development program and passed my NIC Written
test. Now I am moving on to studying for the performance/interview portion but
am much more confident that I can pass this part with some studying.
3. Legal Interpreting- I wanted to get more information on how to get this certificate.
-It was so funny because a week after I had discussed it with Pat I got a
VIEWS in the mail with a focus on Legal Interpreting. One of the first
things that they stressed was the importance of being an interpreter for
a long time gaining valuable experience before you can start to do legal
interpreting. You need a certain number of hours shadowing someone working
in a legal setting, and then you can take the test through RID. The Do It Center
at the University of Northern Colorado offers a Legal Interpreting Certificate
program that I will keep in mind to use possibly at a later date.
4. Getting my Masters Degree in a related field.
-Northeastern University in Boston offers a Masters of Interpreter Pedagogy that
is all on line. This would be a great degree for me to pursue and would allow me
to continue to work full time and spend time with my family.
5. Improving on finger spelling
-this is something that I needed to develop a stratagy with and really think about
what I was doing before I was interpreting. Thinking about the way something is
spelled really allows me to spell the word correctly and confidently without
many errors. Slowing down and really understanding the message has really
helped me with this one.
Comments
I just wanted to give you a heads-up that this is not a program that allows a person to work full-time or spend time with their family. Many people assume that online programs mean less time commitment. I can tell you that I spend a minimum--minimum--of 6 hours per day, every day (that's weekdays, weekends, even Thanksgiving) on this program. I have gone through a string of several 14-hour days in a row and am sure I will again.
Lest you think it's just me :) you should know this is the standard experience for all of us. Hence, the classes shrink every quarter as people either drop to part-time (still a ridiculous amount of work) or leave entirely. My class began with 7 students last fall; we are down to 3 full-time and 1 part-time. The attrition rate is extremely high because the program demands are extremely high.
With all that said, we do learn a lot! This isn't meant to dissuade you from considering the program--rather, to encourage you to talk with as many current students as you can to understand what you'd be getting yourself into.
Kelli Stein