State Written Exam!!!!

I'm planning to take the next written exam as soon as they announce the dates, I have been studying a lot, but lately many have been telling me that the Spanish section is really hard and it is beginning to worry me. Can someone give me tips? Is it true?

Challenging? yes. Impossible? no.
Imagine the SAT in Spanish. That's all. Go onto the prometric website and download the sample written exam. Take it and use it to study and to gauge yourself. THe exam is tiring. Your stamina is tested along with your comprehension. Just do not give up and remember, if you THINK you CAN do it, you are right.. and if you think you can't then you are right too.

belanova in Orange County, California said: I'm planning to take the next written exam as soon as they announce the dates, I have been studying a lot, but lately many have been telling me that the Spanish section is really hard and it is beginning to worry me. Can someone give me tips? Is it true?

There is a lot of info out there for the English section but not much for the Spanish section. I took a class at the Southern Ca. School of Interpretation to get some material in Spanish... Check out your local libraries. See what material they have similar to SAT, GRE studying books, that will have vocab. as well as short reading comprehension... good luck!
Romina Cohen
www.rominacohen.com

Romina Cohen in Compton, California said: There is a lot of info out there for the English section but not much for the Spanish section. I took a class at the Southern Ca. School of Interpretation to get some material in Spanish... Check out your local libraries. See what material they have similar to SAT, GRE studying books, that will have vocab. as well as short reading comprehension... good luck!
Romina Cohen
www.rominacohen.com

Hi! Thanks a lot! I took my exam and I passed!

Has anyone taken the new written state exam that came out this June? Its all in english and wanted to know if anyone has taken it, if they wouldnt mind sharing what it was like. Thanks

I took the state interpreters written exam on July 21st 2010 , in glendale.
There were 135 questions , ALL IN ENGLISH . i was surprised.
I studied english/spanish GRE words, legal terminology synonyms antonyms idioms, and general vocabulary.
I thought it may have been a mistake that it was all in english , but apparently it is the new test .

There was lots of vocabulary, idioms , and general questions about court interpreter ethics, and the order of court business.

NO sentence correction NO reading comprehension. I cant be sure that this is the case for all the tests . I mean obviously they change the test around and everyone gets a different test . So i would not guarantee that the test i took is the standard for everyone , but i could be wrong . Take your time , and if you get stuck on a question , move on and come back to it later . I found the test very "logical' and by process of elimination , the multiple choice really helps.

I encourage you to study any and all aspects of vocabulary related to court and have a general knowledge of how the system court works.

I passed the test , and now i am studying for the Oral exam that will be available in January 2011.

Good luck to all .

Thank you so much for sharing. First and foremost Congrats!!!!! that is awesome that you passed! :)

So, the test that you took did you see alot of questions relating to criminal terminology and identifying their meaning? Or just basically vocab, idioms, and ethics?
Order of court buisness, can you explain what that means? is it choosing correct order of events in a jury trial & such?

Thanks for sharing!

Yes , there was lots of criminal terminology , but they did throw some "curves" just general vocabulary. Lots of college level vocabulary , but not impossible. If you understand the general etymology (word orgin) it should be helpful.
LOTS of ethics questions , but if you have a general idea of how the law and ethics as an interpreter works, it should come as very logical.

Order of business , yes like what comes first , the voir dire ,discovery,testimony, preliminary hearing, trial , sentencing etc.
Of course , i put these in no particular order, but that is the generality of the "order of business"
Familiarize yourself with all action in the courtroom.

Hope this was helpful.

Thanks so much for your input. It was helpful. :)

No problem. Just study, prepare, be confident and you can do it !

thanks ;).

se vale in Los Angeles, California said: I took the state interpreters written exam on July 21st 2010 , in glendale.
There were 135 questions , ALL IN ENGLISH . i was surprised.
I studied english/spanish GRE words, legal terminology synonyms antonyms idioms, and general vocabulary.
I thought it may have been a mistake that it was all in english , but apparently it is the new test .

There was lots of vocabulary, idioms , and general questions about court interpreter ethics, and the order of court business.

NO sentence correction NO reading comprehension. I cant be sure that this is the case for all the tests . I mean obviously they change the test around and everyone gets a different test . So i would not guarantee that the test i took is the standard for everyone , but i could be wrong . Take your time , and if you get stuck on a question , move on and come back to it later . I found the test very "logical' and by process of elimination , the multiple choice really helps.

I encourage you to study any and all aspects of vocabulary related to court and have a general knowledge of how the system court works.

I passed the test , and now i am studying for the Oral exam that will be available in January 2011.

Good luck to all .

Thanks for the info. I will be taking the exam in a few weeks, this helps a lot. Thanks again and congratultions to you! And good luck on the oral.

I have also been waiting to shedule my exam as I have been studing for about 1 year , and I noticed via the Prometric test website that this year they changed the content of the test. In my opion they made it easier, which is good for us,because they took out the sat and comprehension areas in Spanish. I already work as an Interpreter and in my opinion we do not need to know that because we do not use about 99% of the words in that section.To me its like college, I obtained a degree I do not use. As long as you command both languages and know how to interpret industry specific terms and or specialty terms in the consecutive, simulanoes or sight mode,you are good to go for this career. I am excited, I plan on taking the State test in about one year. I am glad to hear someone can vouch they took the newly revised test. Thanks for sharing.

ERIKA

Thanks for your info as well, its helpful to know people are POSITIVE about this whole process and can encourage one another !

Thanks for your positive comment. I try to stay positive as much as I can because life is too short to be stressed and worried all the time. I just found this forum doing research on interpreting this weekend and I think its cool that there are alot more people on the same boat as me...GO INTERPRETERS...LOL...well anyway there is a lil book that has helped me remain positive and I recommend every interpreter reads it and I feel if you apply these methods to your everyday dealings when interpreting, everything will go smooth about 95% of the time. Its called " The 7 laws of spiritual sucess" ISBN 1-878424-11-4. Hope it helps.

Ms. AP in Cerritos, California said: Has anyone taken the new written state exam that came out this June? Its all in english and wanted to know if anyone has taken it, if they wouldnt mind sharing what it was like. Thanks

Did you take the test already? If so, what additional feedback can you add to the existing one?

belanova in Orange County, California said: I'm planning to take the next written exam as soon as they announce the dates, I have been studying a lot, but lately many have been telling me that the Spanish section is really hard and it is beginning to worry me. Can someone give me tips? Is it true?

i took it yesterday in rancho, and there was no spanish section to my suprise...but i would say it is very similar to the SAT enlglish test . Now, I am preparing for the Oral examination, which seems like it would be a lot more...a lot more...something. Honestly, the written test was very easy, short and if you are good at multiple choice and narrowing answers down you are good for this one. All I can say that ws difficult was the court protocol questions such as the definition of Voir Dire, and the order of the protocol, like what comes first, jury selection or appeal or whatever. But I think if you took a course or have a degree you should be a guaranteed passing grade. 135 questions and you need 108 to pass.

Joyce Torres in Trabuco Canyon, California said: Did you take the test already? If so, what additional feedback can you add to the existing one?

Hi,

Yes i took the written exam this month and passed. I took the old exam and failed by one point. To me this new exam is 10 times easier.
study SAT and GRE words and review the material that is posted on the prometric website. and idioms. I studied and found the test super easy. Dont stress it :). ummm...maybe i should follow my own advice lol im super stressed out about the oral exam in January.

Hi,

Yes Joyce i took the written exam this month and passed. I took the old exam and failed by one point. To me this new exam is 10 times easier.
study SAT and GRE words and review the material that is posted on the prometric website. and idioms. I studied and found the test super easy. Dont stress it :). ummm...maybe i should follow my own advice lol im super stressed out about the oral exam in January.

I took the written exam and I found it easier than expected. It's mostly legal and general vocabulary with some idioms and some basic questions about court procedure and ethics. It's fairly basic, English is not my first language and I passed it with 96 percent.

I hear the oral exam is much more difficult. I guess I'll find out in a few days.

Congrats!! Can anyone share what they have been doing to pass the Oral Exam?? Im taking it next week ....

I just took the written exam yesterday(January 15th). Passing grade is 80%. Unfortunately, I scored 76%. Prior to the test I've done most of my studying on my own. I did take a "legal class" last year and found it to be useful on a huge portion of the test. I'm not giving up though. I plan on retaking in 90 days. Does anyone know wether there is more than one version of the written exam?

D.P.O. in Alameda, California said: I took the written exam and I found it easier than expected. It's mostly legal and general vocabulary with some idioms and some basic questions about court procedure and ethics. It's fairly basic, English is not my first language and I passed it with 96 percent.

I hear the oral exam is much more difficult. I guess I'll find out in a few days.

Have you taken the oral exam yet?

HI,
YES THERE IS, I DONT KNOE HOW MANY BUT I TOOK 2 DIFFRENT ONES.

belanova in Orange County, California said: I'm planning to take the next written exam as soon as they announce the dates, I have been studying a lot, but lately many have been telling me that the Spanish section is really hard and it is beginning to worry me. Can someone give me tips? Is it true?

I took this test probably 2 years ago, I did not pass the written exam but I remebered the spanish portion. this was the last protion of the test and it was very small too so in other words the written test is all about grammar but nothing about translation.

yes I think there are 3 test

Has anyone taken the oral exam? If so, can you give me some feedback?
Thanks!!!

Took it in January. It was a few degrees easier than the previous exam given by the Judcial Council. However, while it lacked in legal terminology, it more than made up for in infomal dialogue and idiomatic expressions that a native speaker would have no problem with. Pay close attention to position markers in speech,
such as going towards, coming from, facing, out of and then into,
etc. Filled with details (in consecutive).

futureinterpreter in Sylmar, California said: Took it in January. It was a few degrees easier than the previous exam given by the Judcial Council. However, while it lacked in legal terminology, it more than made up for in infomal dialogue and idiomatic expressions that a native speaker would have no problem with. Pay close attention to position markers in speech,
such as going towards, coming from, facing, out of and then into,
etc. Filled with details (in consecutive).

How would you rate the oral portion? Is it extremely difficult what materials did you use to prepare,

The oral exam is the one I'm writing about.

I use everything from Acebo's Interpreter's Edge material, to the material offered on the NCSC website, I interpret out loud while listening to news reports, Spanish broadcast radio stations,& tv shows..and I record myself while doing so. I visit my local courthouse and sit in on preliminary hearings and practice simultaneous while the judge goes 160 words per min rattling off constitutional rights, watson warnings, etc. Take note of phrases I don't know, then look them up.

Hello!! I just found this forum and I wish I had found it a couple of months back. I will be taking the written exam next Monday and after reading all your posts I get the sense that the test includes lots of court procedure questions. Can anyone give me some input on this??

mxliinterpreter in Mexicali, Mexico said: Hello!! I just found this forum and I wish I had found it a couple of months back. I will be taking the written exam next Monday and after reading all your posts I get the sense that the test includes lots of court procedure questions. Can anyone give me some input on this??

the website on prometric.com is very helpfull in detailing out the things that the exam covers and how to prepare for it. I studied this and passed the exam ib december of last year.

the exam contains idioms, legal terms, vocab, synonims/antonyms..and so on.

Good Luck!!

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my post.
This last week before the exam I am dedicating it to review all order of business in court proceedings and catching up on idioms. I guess that regarding synonims and antonynms i'll have to trust my general knowledge and hope for the best,since there is a whole universe of them out there.

Thank you again Ms.A!!

I am preparing to take the oral test on the thirtieth of this month. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?

mxliinterpreter in Mexicali, Mexico said: Hello!! I just found this forum and I wish I had found it a couple of months back. I will be taking the written exam next Monday and after reading all your posts I get the sense that the test includes lots of court procedure questions. Can anyone give me some input on this??

For the written test, This should help you out with the Ethics and Professional Conduct area of the test. Not sure if this is on the Prometric website or not but here you go. prometric gives you an "overview" of the material included on the test.

www.courts.ca.gov/Ethics_Manual_4th_Ed_Master.pdf

Its kinda long and I know your test is on Monday, this next link is a summary of the ethics manual.

eyelegallanguagesolutions.com/The_Daily_Journal.pdf

This is the test overview
www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/CourtInterp/Web%2010%20Overview%20of%20the%20Written%20Exam.pdf

Here's another link to court related terms and glossary for spanish
www.nevadajudiciary.us/index.php/viewdocumentsandforms/func-startdown/4654/

I believe you have to be familiar with the actual procedures, so I would review the criminal process from beginning to end. Arraignment, plea, preliminary hearing, court trial, jury trial, motion, jury selection, etc.

Good luck!
Alekz
www.certifiedcourtinterpreters.net

P.S. Ya esta haciendo calorcito en Mexicali?

Skip Hicks said: I am preparing to take the oral test on the thirtieth of this month. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?

Hi, I started typing away and then realized I didn't have enough room on this textbox so I ended up posting my response on our forum. Please check it out here:

certifiedcourtinterpreters.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=25

Good luck!

Alekz
www.certifiedcourtinterpreters.net

Alex, thank you very much for all the links provided, most of all the ones refering to ethics and professional conduct, I was kind of behind on that part.
And yes, basically this week I have dedicated myself to get familiar with the court procedures, civil and criminal.

Si, ya hace calor. Aunque todavia soportable. Conoces??

Muchas, muchas gracias deveras,

Iliana

Alex, thank you very much for all the links provided, most of all the ones refering to ethics and professional conduct, I was kind of behind on that part.
And yes, basically this week I have dedicated myself to get familiar with the court procedures, civil and criminal.

Si, ya hace calor. Aunque todavia soportable. Conoces??

Muchas, muchas gracias deveras,

Iliana

You're welcome mxliinterpreter, I have a friend that lives in Mexicali, I've driven by a couple of times on my way to Hermosillo, so I know it gets nice and warm.

I don't think you're tested much if at all about civil procedures so since your test is so close I would totally just focus on criminal.

If you have any other questions you can either post them here or at our forum and I'll be happy to try to help.

Where are you taking the test? do they offer it in Calexico/El Centro or are you coming all the way to San Diego?

Alekz
www.certifiedcourtinterpreters.net

Ok. I get. Focus on the crimimal procedure.
I am taking the exam at a Prometric's Test Center in La Jolla. Mmmm, it's actually not a very far distance, and well, if that's what it takes....

Iliana

How did you do illiana?

Alekz
www.certifiedcourtinterpreters.net

Alekz,you won't believe what happened.
I was unable to take the test, yes you read it right, unable, because the name in my ID did not match the name registered when I scheduled the test.
My ID has my two last names as used in Mexico and the registering process was with just my given name and father's last name.
The information bulletin for the test only contemplates rescheduling after 90days - and that's when rescheduling takes place for failing the test, so I have to see if the test provider has any leniency o allows the waiver of the 90 days for the reason that I am rescheduling.
Que te parece todo esto?

That sucks! Not only did you have to drive all the way out there but then they don't let you take the test? I hope they do have a way for you to reschedule sooner, waiting another 90 days would be a nightmare.

Usually if you hyphenate the last names you can get both of them on there, but you're going to have to talk with them and ask you how they want you to do it so that you won't encounter this same problem again.

Don't stop studying tho, make sure you keep reviewing everything, however frustrating it can be.

In the mean time, we're here to help you, so anything you have to ask, don't hesitate.

Alekz
www.certifiedcourtinterpreters.net

Thanks Alekz.

Alekz, thank you so much for your support.
I will be rescheduling next week and I'll let you know my next date.
In the meantime, like you say, i'll just keep studying. :)
Iliana

Skip Hicks said: I am preparing to take the oral test on the thirtieth of this month. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?

OMG! i am dying.. My test is today at 4PM in S.D.... Yikes!

My oral exam is today at 4pm in S.D - Has anybody taken the Oral exam? If so, I was told that there is 5 different versions of it.
My problem is to remember each and every single word in both languages like.. Ditch for zanja or Ayuntamiento for City Council, Aporrear for Bludgeon.. Or, what about if they tell me to translate like some type of "tayer mecanico" scenario where they start mentioning all the parts of a vehicle and I wont know the parts in English or in Spanish.. A girl from my class took the test and hers was about a robbery at a bus stop and the lady got hit with a tire wrench, i was like.. Whats a tire wrench in Spanish.. Oh yeah Cruceta.. See, this is my thing. Can anybody please help.

Ugh!!! I am dying here!

Please let me know how was the oral test. Any feedback will be greatly appreciate it.

Please let us all know how you did on the test.
Good luck!