Online legal interpreter courses by Bromberg & Associates

by NITA Administrator ~ November 29, 2009

Thanks to our friends at NAJIT our attention was drawn to an interesting online resource made available to interpreters preparing to work in the legal field: Michigan-based Bromberg & Associates offers several courses, on a regularly ongoing basis, for those interested in judicial interpreting in several languages, presently including Albanian, Arabic, French, Hmong, Mandarin, Polish, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Their current offering falls broadly into three categories:

• A Basic Course, which prepares aspiring bilinguals approaching the career of legal interpretation, providing basic skills and knowledge. This course covers fundamental information on the U.S. legal system, the Interpreter role and Code of Ethics, interpretation theory, and skill-building practical exercises. The course comprises 3 units and should be completed normally in 6 weeks.
• An Advanced Language-Specific Course, which provides in-depth training to legal interpreters. The course offers a comprehensive approach to theoretical and practical training for aspiring legal interpreters, and consists of six major components, distributed among eight units: Fundamentals of the U.S. legal system and various areas of law (Criminal Law, Civil Law, Immigration Law, Juvenile Law, and Intellectual Property Law); Categories of Crimes and Stages of Criminal Procedure; Special Topics such as Controlled Substances, Firearms, Physical Evidence, Autopsies, Jargon, and more; Court Interpreter Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice; Interpretation Theory; and Interpretation Practice. The course comprises 8 units and is normally completed in 16 weeks.
• Single-topic units, each dedicated to one of various areas and aspects of legal interpretation. Professional interpreters can  benefit from a wide array of single topic units, ranging from an in-depth look at interpreting traffic and vehicular accidents, to concepts and terminology needed to successfully navigate IP matters. Single Topic Units are completed within two weeks of the starting date. Single Topic Units can be expanded, for an additional fee, with  language-specific interpretation exercises, evaluated by an instructor.

For more information and registration details, please visit the Bromberg & Associates website.