| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Passed my FCICE!!! Thread poster: Eng2Span
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Hinara 
United States
Local time: 17:00
Spanish to English
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| FCICE - Questions on training | Sep 24, 2008 |
Congratulations on those who have passed the exam. This weekend I took the written portion and I'm fairly confident I passed it 
Can anyone provide tips for the oral portion (I have a whole year to prepare and want to start now).
Has anyone used ACEBO materials, specifically the Edge 21 set for consecutive, simultaneous, and sight?
Does anyone have an opinion on the interpreter training ... See more Congratulations on those who have passed the exam. This weekend I took the written portion and I'm fairly confident I passed it
Can anyone provide tips for the oral portion (I have a whole year to prepare and want to start now).
Has anyone used ACEBO materials, specifically the Edge 21 set for consecutive, simultaneous, and sight?
Does anyone have an opinion on the interpreter training program at CSUN (Cal State Northridge) or the training program at the Univ. of Arizona in Tucson?
Eng2Span, can you tell me what you did to prepare?
I would appreciate any help or tips.
Thank you,
Hilda ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I certainly appreciate any pointer you can give me. Thank you, Claudia ([email protected]) | Mar 17, 2009 |
Eng2Span wrote:
Hi everybody!
Just wanted to share my joy with those that are familiar with the topic. Well, I don't know how... but I actually passed the oral portion of the FCICE (Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination)... wow, did I ever think I flunked it! Makes my passing all the more a happy event, not that I'm proud that I didn't do better, but hey...
I did much better on the written portion last year, barely passed this one with an 82... minimum was an 80.
Just about all of my interpreting has been at church, so the legalese posed quite a challenge... if anybody needs any info regarding the exam (NOT questions/answers!!! just pointers) let me know, I'll be glad to help!
Take care,
Eng2Span
| | | | Sara Senft
United States
Local time: 20:00
Spanish to English
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| ¡Felicitaciones! | Mar 18, 2009 |
¡Felicitaciones!
I am taking the first round of exams for aspiring court interpreters in my state. I have been preparing intensively since late January, so I think I will pass.
I also put in a prayer request at church....you know who else is helping me! (Points towards ceiling.)
| | | | | CONGRATULATIONS! | Jan 8, 2010 |
Great job !
This is what I want to do, any advise on where to start?
[Edited at 2010-01-08 21:20 GMT]
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| test workbook? | Jul 5, 2010 |
hfp wrote:
Hey, Eng2Span. Thanks for posting! I can't believe you passed the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination. That exam looks like a beast. Lately I have been going through the certification manual in order to prepare myself to take the test some day. At this point, it seems like I won't be ready for a few years. In the meantime I'll study and try to improve my interpreting skills down here in Chile. Well, I just wanted to say great job and let you know that I may ask you for pointers sometime. Take it easy!
Hola!
Ive been trying to find a workbook to study for the test, but havent been able to find any. where did you get this manual youre taking about? please help!
thanks!
| | | | | Congratulations! | Dec 17, 2010 |
Although this reply too is hideously late: congrats Eng2Span!
I have now passed the written (on first attempt, and I frankly didn't expect to pass...) and am working my tail off now for the oral, sometime during summer next year. They're at this moment on overlapping biannual cycles, with written exams during the even years and orals in the odd years.
For Raashella, hopefully this is now unnecessary (i.e. I hope you passed meanwhile!) but the link to the Examinee Handbo... See more Although this reply too is hideously late: congrats Eng2Span!
I have now passed the written (on first attempt, and I frankly didn't expect to pass...) and am working my tail off now for the oral, sometime during summer next year. They're at this moment on overlapping biannual cycles, with written exams during the even years and orals in the odd years.
For Raashella, hopefully this is now unnecessary (i.e. I hope you passed meanwhile!) but the link to the Examinee Handbook is this one:
http://www.ncsconline.org/d_research/fcice_exam/handbook.htm
For the written exam, there used to be a great workbook but it's out of print for ages now; as an alternative, look into GRE prepping workbooks. Of course, finding an equivalent in your "other" language is more challenging but the GRE puts the bar at approximately the same level as the federal written, with somewhat similar type questions. When you are comfortable performing at that level, you're ready for the written exam.
As to the oral: I passed the state level exams (so I'm state-level certified) which has the same basic components as the federal exam, i.e.: sight translation in both directions, consecutive interpreting and simultaneous interpreting. The biggest difference is the intensity of the federal exam: somewhat like the California exams, keeping up with a relatively high rate of speech (at least 160 wpm) and jargon density (including the odd curveball, e.g. numbers and section references) is a tough nut to crack. That's why Holly Mikkelson's CDs (among other top-notch interpreters offering material) are a very sound investment.
Practice, practice, practice. And above all: record and review your performance! Nowadays, using a digital voice recorder or a simple headset attached to a computer is not a prohibitive or technologically complex thing. Practice, practice, practice. There's no substitute for that.
To all peers prepping for the exam: good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Written test | Jun 19, 2012 |
Hello !
I'm getting ready to take my written exam soon, unfortunately, not too many study books to prepare for it. How hard is this test and where I could get the sample of it ? Thanks !
| | | | | pointers, what to study? | Jun 25, 2014 |
The message about your passing is really old. I hope you are doing fine with your job. Could you please resend some pointers from the exam. It would be greatly appreciated. What would you recommend to study besides Acebo? Thank you so much ahead of time for your answer.
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Eng2Span
United States
Local time: 20:00
English to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | Outside the box options help quite a bit... | Jun 26, 2014 |
Hi Zuzana and all other FCCI hopefuls!
I can't believe how much time has past since I first shared my joy of having past the exams with you all in this thread! As an update, yes, I'm still at this full time (subcontracted, never as an actual employee) for the local federal and state courts and do a good bit of private work too. I absolutely love my profession and am very grateful for it.
Well, every so often someone writes me asking for suggestions and I'm sad to say ... See more Hi Zuzana and all other FCCI hopefuls!
I can't believe how much time has past since I first shared my joy of having past the exams with you all in this thread! As an update, yes, I'm still at this full time (subcontracted, never as an actual employee) for the local federal and state courts and do a good bit of private work too. I absolutely love my profession and am very grateful for it.
Well, every so often someone writes me asking for suggestions and I'm sad to say I haven't been following up on test-specific studying material since as you can imagine, what one does to prepare for a test is a bit different than what one does to improve at one's job. Although I guess with interpreting it's not toooo far off as in the more notorious example of attorneys who find that law school and the the bar exam are just about opposite to the real world.
Anyhow, here's what comes to mind for me since I know many of you are considering signing up for the written exam this year. Aside from the FCICE, throughout my life I have managed to get pretty good at taking tests (especially standardized ones) and I think a big part of what's needed to pass this monster is often overlooked. Knowledge of your subject matter is obviously beneficial, especially if we consider this process to be a you-either-got-it or you-don't type of thing, but then again, a multiple choice exam is not how you really utilize this knowledge out in the field. Then why do so many extremely capable and experienced interpreters that I know fail the exams? It is often the case that it's due to them being better interpreters than test-takers. Now sure, when you know your stuff, the test becomes easier. However, if you get better at tests in general you'll at the very least just be done quicker than you would have, orrrr what we all want: get a higher grade. And, as you can see even in one of the posts of this thread, for many folks just a couple more points means all the difference in the world.
Sooo, what do I suggest to get your brain in "test-taking" mode? Well, take some practice tests! For this specific task they don't have to be uber expensive FCICE ones either. Just get some for the SAT or ACT exams and do several of them in a controlled manner (ie, use a clock, remove distractions, etc) and then check and see what your weak points are as far as tests are concerned. Are you overlooking obvious clues in the reading comprehension type questions? How about taking an entire practice exam limiting yourself to your first "gut choice" only making speed your goal. You'd be surprised to see how often our first "guess" is the right answer for those questions we're not so sure about. Oh, and now that I mention speed, time is a HUGE factor on the written FCICE test. Given just 15 more minutes would have been phenomenal for me, and I felt I was going really fast. So, it's not just that the questions are difficult but also, you don't have very much time to do them all and be as thorough as one would like. Again, practicing test-taking will help a ton.
Ok, so that's my first point for right now. I need to go to bed (in the middle of a trial, yayy!), and there's a ton more to say but in summary... get better at taking tests. As to actual interpreting related advice? Well, yes, the ACEBOs are good, and there are quite a number of options available today which I'm sure would be quite beneficial, but I haven't been personally exposed to any of them so I can't say much more. The sad part is that being such a niche product we can't usually find them locally so we just have to buy these to then determine if we like the way they're written or if they suit our style or not. How about on the cheap? Something you can do right now for very little money. Well, my go-to suggestions for interpreting improvement is a bit unconventional, but I notice these things get MY interpreting juices flowing. Ok, first let's deal with vocabulary improvement. There's no way I can sit and read dictionaries and expect to retain anything useful. I don't function that way. One unlikely tool that does help me is the crossword puzzle. I know it's weird, but there's something about the abstract way we have to approach the clues to get to a word that parallels what our brains do when interpreting. Of course, I'm being anecdotal, since I'm only saying this based on my experience, but hey, it is me you're asking. So, yes, good crossword puzzles (think NY Times from Wednesday forward, but if you're new even Mondays are great) expose you to new vocabulary in odd ways that will often get etched into your grey matter to use later.
My next suggested prep aid helps with being exposed to court scenarios and lingo... you're probably not going to be well-received if you try and sit in actual court to mumble while seated in the audience section, but hey try if you can! Barring that, I really like the way the old TV show Dragnet gets just about everything right. It's not over the top make-believe pseudo-science drama like modern shows. Just run-of-the-mill crimes being solved with old-fashioned police work. They even have a stenographer typing away in the background! The plus side to this is that you can be as loud as you want while interpreting these at home, you can record yourself, etc, etc.
So there you have it folks.
Oh, one last thing...
I know I'm a weird guy, but I took these tests without ever once in my life having set foot in a courtroom; not federal, not state, not local... (well, I did get jury duty one time, but you know, I mean to interpret) nor having done a single depo or sworn statement! I can't say I sat down to study seriously either. I did do the practice exam they sent me, but that didn't prepare me for the time crunch I would feel since I didn't mimic that aspect. So, everything against me, right? And yet, I passed it all first try. I'm not saying this to brag since you all don't even know my real name, and yes, the test was exceptionally challenging. I just want to get this point across. DON'T SWEAT IT!!! This is not the type of test you can cram for anyway. I think a big part of it for me was that I really didn't feel I "neeeeded" to pass. I was working and doing well in an entirely different field. It was more of a "let me see what this is about" approach where I felt that if it's my time to slay this giant, then it will be slain, and I've gotta tell ya, eliminating the stress of self-doubt will really set the stage for you to ace any of life's tests.
Well, I hope my wacky answers help!
Let me know if there's anything else I can share. ▲ Collapse
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