Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination: Report

A few weeks ago, I (Judy) took the written portion of the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE for short), which is offered every two years. For those of you who are curious about the exam, here is a brief report. As a matter of course, I will not divulge what's on the exam specifically, but I do want to give you some insight into the process and into my experience. For the first time, the exam was offered on the computer at Prometric testing locations throughout the country, which seemed like...

Job Posting: Senior Project Manager in Vienna, Austria

A few days ago, we received the following job posting through a dear friend and colleague, who highly recommends this agency, ASI (he works for them as a contractor). Note: we do not know this employer personally, but have heard that they are a reputable business. As usual, job postings on this blog, which we do for free as a courtesy to the potential employer, are not endorsements in any way, shape or form. This job is in Vienna, Austria. The unedited job description is below. Please contact the employer directly if you are...

Google AdWords: Win $100 Certificate

Google keeps on sending us many free certificates for $100 in Google AdWords for new users, and we are happy to raffle them off. As usual, we will raffle off the certificate to a colleague (freelancers only, please) who answers one question correctly. We will e-mail the access code to the winning person so he or she can get started with Google AdWords. The certificate expires September 30, 2012. A caveat:...

Sounds Fishy

A few days ago, a potential client contacted us with a personal document that had to be translated for immigration purposes. Even though these certified and notarized translations can be quite painful and time-consuming, we accept them occasionally, especially when people need them for immigration purposes (Judy has been through that difficult process).  As usual, we asked the client, who had given her name, Lucrecia,(we made this up; not her real name) to send us the document, which she said she'd do right after...

What to Expect at a Deposition: Interpreting

When I (Judy) first became a certified court interpreter, the biggest challenge I encountered wasn’t one of terminology, but one of procedure. Even though my home office is well-stocked with fantastic dictionaries and resources about the American and Mexican legal systems, civil procedure and textbooks, and I’ve taken classes in criminal and civil procedure, I was never quite sure what to expect during the many types...