Speaker 1: ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Hi everybody. So for today's interpreter tips, I'm going to be talking about studying for and passing your national certification, or it could be your state certification. I'm going to give you 3 tips, 3 very general tips to help you to go ahead and get it over with and get certified. So, now I have been certified for about I think 4 going on 5 years now. I was extremely nervous when I had to take my certification test. It doesn't matter if you're just starting out or if you've been in the business for a long time. Going through your certification process can be very daunting. Now there are 2 parts to the certification. The written part and the performance. So yeah I know a lot of people have taken the written, but they're so scared to take the performance. I understand that. It's a really scary idea. You're paying a lot of money and you just want to pass and get it over with. So tip number 1 is be confident. Now I know this sounds really cheesy and probably like that's not gonna help me much, but it is. Like I said when I graduated from my interpreting program, I wanted to take my certification and I was just so nervous to do it. I kept putting it off and you know then my friend Jenna, who I was friends with at the time, was just like just go ahead and do it. You just need to get it over with. So she forced me to call, set up a time. I took my written and then she forced me to call and set up a time to take my performance and I just did it and I passed. So I think that having confidence in yourself will help you to 1. Go ahead and take the test because I know some people who have paid their money and it's been 5 years and they've never taken the test. So just do it. Set up a time, set up that date, and just use the countdown and let's go for it. Then being confident also will help lessen your nerves when you're going in. You're still probably gonna be nervous, but if you have confidence in yourself then you're not gonna be as nervous and your test will show much better. I think that you'll just do better in general. Tip number 2 is workshops or working with somebody. Now these kind of are a little bit different, yet they go hand in hand. I know there are many different people and places, agencies that offer preparation workshops for both the written and the performance part of the test. More or less I think it's the written part that they offer it for. I would definitely, definitely go to one of these workshops if you are able to do that. A lot of times they will give you really great material. Not necessarily the answers to the test, but they'll give you ideas of what you can practice on and you know they're more knowledgeable about what is on the test. So it'll help you to just kind of be more comfortable when you're going. You'll kind of have some information and you'll feel a lot better. Like I said, if you can't go to a workshop, um maybe see if there is a study group or start a study group in your area. Usually there's always a few different people who are wanting to take their test at the time. So talk with your other fellow interpreters and get some names of people who are going to be taking their test. Maybe around the same time as you. Then you guys can all set up a study group together. You know maybe find a person who has taken the test recently and see if you can get some ideas from them of how to study for the test. Then you guys can get together and then work with each other and that will really help you out. Tip number 3 would be practice. That kind of goes with going to the workshop in your study group, but practicing is going to be key. It's gonna help build your confidence. It's just gonna help your knowledge in general. Practicing for the written would be memorizing your CPC and all the different information that they require. Now I'm not exactly sure cause I took mine 5 years ago. So definitely practice, practice memorize those things because you're going to need to know that. For the performance part of the exam, again just work with somebody who's taken it more recently. Then for the practice part of it, I would say go ahead and sit down with somebody. Whether it's that person that took it, or a friend, or a family member. Someone who's very good at sign language and interpreting. Have them film you. So have them give you a scenario and then you go ahead and give your answer. They're gonna film you doing it. Then you're both gonna sit down and you're gonna watch the film. Then that person is going to give you tips of you know how are you signing it? What do they think of the answer that you gave? A lot of it has to do with how you look. So don't look nervous. You know how are you signing it? What is your style of signing? Are you being repetitive on things? That type of thing they can tell you. Then you watch yourself. A lot of times you can pick up on things that you're doing that you can change. So the more you do this, the more you'll get used to it. Maybe just being filmed. If you're not used to having a camera filming you, then you'll get used to that as well. So yeah those are the 3 tips that I can give you guys. If you have any other questions about taking the test, go ahead and leave those as comments below or you can always direct message me on YouTube. Now like I said I took mine 5 years ago. So I know the test is totally changed on there, but I will still try and answer any questions if you have them. If you guys have taken your test recently, please please if you have any tips leave those as comments below as well. So other people can get some ideas of tips and tricks. What did you do to pass in to get your certification? So alright guys, ok guys so that is everything for today's tips. I hope you guys have enjoyed today's video and as always if you have, click the LIKE button below. Then there will be a few other videos over here for you to check out. Yeah if you're not already, subscribe. Up there, down there, subscribe. I will see you guys in the next video. Good luck on your test everyone. Bye.