With over 46 million immigrants in the U.S., the demand for qualified interpreters is growing across healthcare, education, human services, and legal sectors.
If you’re 18 and over, have a high school diploma or equivalent, and speak or sign at least two languages, you could pursue a career in interpreting. Most industries require interpreters to have completed a 40-hour certificate program, at a minimum, before being able to work as an interpreter.
Our Community Interpreter® 40-hour certificate programs are the most trusted and widely taught curriculum for community interpreting, essential for interpreters who are just starting their career or those pursuing a specific certification.
Two national organizations certify medical interpreters, Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) and The National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI).
CCHI provides certification preparation resources, including practice tests. NBCMI also provides certification preparation resources.
Credentialing of state court interpreters is done by the individual states. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) offers extensive information, legal glossaries, and exam preparation for state court interpreter certifications as well as a map of language access programs for each state.
The Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE) is a standardized assessment used to certify interpreters for federal court proceedings across the United States. It is administered by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) offers certifications and certification maintenance programs for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters.
The Board for Evaluation of Interpreters Certification Program (BEI) also certifies the skill level of ASL interpreters. Although based in Texas, the BEI certification is used and recognized in several states for ASL interpreters.
The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services certifies its bilingual staff; social service and medical interpreters; and translators working throughout its many divisions and programs.
What’s the difference?
A certificate is often required before pursuing certification. Certificates demonstrate completed training, while certifications verify skills and expertise. It is crucial to obtain certificates and certifications from a recognized organization to ensure credibility and industry-wide recognition.
Take our FREE 2-hour self-paced course to learn more about interpreter credentials and certification.
No, CCC is an organization dedicated solely to interpreter and cultural competence training. Our mission is language access. However, we do provide graduates of The Community Interpreter® with a list of nearby language companies and public organizations that employ interpreters. We also occasionally send out job postings to our program graduates and/or e-newsletter subscribers at the request of other organizations.
Cross-Cultural Communications is the leading international training agency in the U.S. devoted to community interpreting, educational interpreting, healthcare interpreting and cultural competence. It is also the only organization that licenses community interpreters across the U.S. and in other countries. We regularly train bilingual staff as well as contract interpreters. We also provide training and consulting services to private companies, non-profits and government agencies. Our programs are grounded in a mixture of theory and practical, hands-on activities.
The Community Interpreter® International, or TCII, is a 40-hour certificate training program for interpreters who are just starting out or those experienced interpreters who are looking for a recognized qualification. Subjects covered include the interpreting code of ethics and standards of practice in order to give participants a solid grounding in the profession. This is complemented by practical, hands-on activities such as role-plays and interactive group discussions. The program fulfills the 40-hour training requirements considered by many (certifying bodies employers and industry associations) to be the minimum needed to entire the field.
At the moment, a combination of two CCC programs fulfills this requirement: Medical Terminology for Interpreters (7.5 hours) and The Community Interpreter® International. Since TCII is open to all community interpreters and the subject matter covers education and social services as well as medical interpreting, at the end of each TCII session any participant who is seeking medical interpreter certification will be given a letter from CCC, stating the number of hours that can be counted towards this requirement. Typically 34-36 hours count towards the 40 hour requirement.
Yes, although the CE credits offered for each program will vary according to course length and content. Our programs are currently approved for continuing education credits by the following organizations:
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