Frequently Asked Questions
Potential Students
- Do you offer certification?
- What qualifications do I need to enroll in a course?
- Can I skip the first interpreting course?
- Do you train legal interpreters?
- Do you train health care interpreters?
- May I audit a course?
- Do you offer training for American Sign Language interpreting?
- Do you offer an M.A. in translation and interpreting?
- Does anyone else offer training in translation and interpreting?
Current Students
Clients
- Can you translate something for us or recommend a translator?
- Can you provide an interpreter for us?
- I have a question about the video tape, Interpreting in Refugee Mental Health Settings.
Answers
Potential Students
Q: Do you offer certification?
A: No. The University's College of Continuing Education offers a Certificate in Interpreting with specialization in Legal or Health Care Interpreting. The certificate attests to completion of a course of study. Certification is different; certification is done by professional organizations or government agencies.
At present, no certification is required in order to interpret in Minnesota, with two exceptions. First, state law requires sign language interpreters to be certified by a national professional association. The second exception has to do with court interpreting. Employment as an interpreter in the federal courts (in Spanish and certain other languages) requires certification through a rigorous examination. The Minnesota State Courts have set minimal requirements for having one's name added to the roster of eligible interpreters--this is NOT certification. The State Courts do, however, offer a certification examination in certain languages. Non-certified interpreters may not be employed by the courts if any certified interpreter is available for the required language. If a certified interpreter is not available, non-certified interpreters on the roster may be called. For official information about interpreting in the Minnesota State Courts please call 651-297-5300.
Related Links
Q: What qualification do I need to enroll in a course?
A: A potential student must have a high school diploma or equivalent and must demonstrate a high level of written and oral language proficiency in English and the other language they want to interpret or translate. Our courses are not designed to improve one's language ability; it is assumed that a student will not register unless they have native or near-native fluency in the two languages. The fluency may have been achieved through any number of means; we require nothing in particular.
To be able to register for TrIn 3001: Introduction to Translation, a potential student must complete a written application to demonstrate their knowledge of and ability to write in both languages. Please refer to the Language Screening form for further information on the writing requirements.
Q: Can I skip TrIn 3101: Introduction to Interpreting? I have a lot of interpreting experience.
A: We expect every student who wants to take the interpreting sequence to take TrIn 3101. Many of our students have interpreting experience. In rare instances, the director of the program may allow a student to skip this course. You should discuss the matter with him directly, Dr. Bruce Downing at 612-624-6552 or bdowning@umn.edu.
Q: Do you train legal interpreters?
A: Students who have already taken TrIn 3101 and 3102 can pursue a specialization in legal interpreting by taking the following courses:
- TrIn 1301: American Law for Interpreters
- TrIn 4301*: Interpreting in Legal Settings
These courses are available in Rochester as well as the Twin Cities. Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are taught bilingually and will be available only for certain language pairs, depending on enrollments.
Related Links
- The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT)
- National Center for State Courts
- University of Arizona - Agnese Haury Institute
- California Courts: The Judicial Branch of California
- Court Interpreters Program in California
- University of California, San Diego, Professional certificate in Legal Interpretation and Translation
- University of Charleston, South Carolina, M.A. program in Legal Interpreting
Q: Do you train health care interpreters?
A: Students who have already taken TrIn 3101 and 3102 can pursue a specialization in health care interpreting by taking the following courses:
- TrIn 1201: Fundamentals of Health Care for Interpreters
- TrIn 4201*: Interpreting in Health Care Settings
These courses are available in Rochester as well as the Twin Cities. Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are taught bilingually and will be available only for certain language pairs, depending on enrollments.
Related Links
A: You may audit a course; however, you must pay full tuition and no academic credit will be given to you for the course. You must receive permission from both the instructor and the lab assistant, if there is one, to audit a course. If your language is not currently included in a course offering, you may still audit the course; however, the instructor will not be able to offer you anything when the class breaks into groups for language-specific lab work. If the class is full, the instructor has the option of not letting a student audit the course.
Q: Do you offer training for American Sign Language interpreting?
A: To date we have not offered a course with an American Sign Language (ASL) section. However, the potential to offer such a section is great. One of our instructors is an ASL interpreter, and would be willing to offer a section of the course for ASL students. The only catch is that we need at least four interested, qualified students to contact us and indicate intent to take such a course if offered. We know of two programs in Minnesota that offer ASL interpreting courses: 1) College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN, which has a bachelor's degree program in medical interpreting, and 2) St. Paul Technical College, St. Paul, MN.
Related Links
- American Sign Language, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Information about courses for persons who want to learn ASL
- Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Very thorough web site with many related links
Q: Do you offer an M.A. in translation and interpreting?
A: Unfortunately, at this time we do not offer a master's degree program at the University of Minnesota in translation or interpreting. The classes that we do offer are undergraduate level.
Q: Does anyone else offer training in translation and interpreting?
A: We know of several schools that offer degrees and/or certificates related to translation and interpreting. If you know of others, send us an e-mail so we can expand this list.
- California State University, Long Beach
- University of California, San Diego
- Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California
- University of Charleston, South Carolina
- University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa
- University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Current Students
Q: Can you help me find a job?
A: Unfortunately, we do not have the staff power to help our students find interpreting jobs. If you are interested in interpreting in health care settings, you should try looking at hospitals and clinics. Some have interpreting departments. You can also contact local interpreting agencies found in the yellow pages.
Clients
Q: Can you translate something for us or recommend a translator?
A: Unfortunately, we no longer provide these services.
Q: Can you provide an interpreter for us?
A: The Program in Translation and Interpreting does not provide interpreter services and in general cannot handle referrals. Occasionally we are able to help someone find an interpreter for a less common language because our staff has contacts with others in the community. What we do to help is to publish a list of students who have completed one or more of our interpreter training courses. The people on the list have consented to be called for freelance interpreting jobs. All related arrangements are made between the client and the interpreter.
Please find the List of Trained Interpreters on our Web site.
Q: I have a question about the video tape Interpreting in Refugee Mental Health Settings.
A: To order this video tape, please visit our Interpreter Training Materials Web page. If you have questions about the content of the video, please call Dr. Amos Deinard at 612-627-6888 ext. 212.
