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All information posted on or available through Cross-Cultural Communication, LLC’s (CCC) websites (www.cultureandlanguage.net, www.thecommunityinterpreter.com, www.tcio.net, www.interpretertraining-online.com and www.tcitrainer.com) is protected by U.S. and international copyright law. No one in any country has permission to copy, display, distribute, republish, or create derivative works from such information in any form without permission in writing from Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC unless otherwise specified.
These websites are owned and operated by Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC (CCC), 10015 Old Columbia Road, Suite B-215, Columbia, MD, 21046, United States of America.
By accessing or using these sites you hereby agree to be bound by the Terms of Use specified below. These Terms of Use for all websites owned by CCC, include Privacy Policies and relevant guidelines, rules or disclaimers that periodically may be updated and posted on certain web pages and in notices that are sent to you. Please do not use CCC’s websites if you do not agree with these Terms of Use.
CCC reserves at all times, and without giving prior notice, the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use at its sole discretion. Check this page periodically to verify any changes. The continued use of these sites after any changes are posted signifies your acceptance of the changes.
All content in these sites is CCC’s sole property protected by copyright and other U.S. and international intellectual property laws: such content includes but is not limited to the site layout, design, images, text and other information.
Except as stated in these Terms of Use, in relevant CCC licensing or subscriber agreements, or as otherwise expressly permitted under applicable law, no one may copy, distribute, change, display, publish, reproduce, store, transmit, create derivative works from, sell or license all or any part of the content, products or services obtained from these sites in any medium to anyone.
You may print, save or store content from CCC sites for personal or educational purposes, provided that your use of the content is non-commercial use and you maintain intact all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices. Unless you obtain prior permission in writing from CCC, you may not retrieve any content from this website to create or compile, directly or indirectly, any collection of content in any format, whether a compilation, database or other kind of directory or listing. To request permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, display or make derivative works from any content on these sites, visit the Permissions page at www.cultureandlanguage.net.
No user of this site is authorized to publish or distribute any advertising, promotional material, or solicitation to other users of the site for use of any goods or services without prior permission in writing from CCC.
All trademarks appearing on these sites are the property of their respective owners.
Hyperlinks on this website to other sites or resources are provided for your convenience. CCC is not responsible for the accuracy of information on these external sites, the expiration of the links to such sites or the availability of data or resources linked to the sites. CCC neither endorses nor is responsible or liable for any content on external sites.
A product return request must be received in writing no later than 30 calendar days after original date of purchase. Please email return requests to: CLP@cultureandlanguage.net. Original shipping and handling charges paid by the customer will not be refunded and the customer must ship returned items to CCC at customer’s own expense. Moreover, the 3% merchant service fee that is automatically deducted on all credit card transactions is not refundable; therefore, refunds on purchases made by credit card will be minus this 3% fee.
A product return request should include:
Invoice or Order Number
Date purchased
Book title
Quantity to be returned
Please ship approved returns to:
Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC
Attn: Andrew Hall, Publications Manager
10015 Old Columbia Road
Suite B-215
Columbia, MD 21046
Only products in new, resellable condition will be accepted for returns. In the event products are not in new, resellable condition, products can be returned to customer at customer’s expense. We do not accept returns of DVDs. We recommend packing products tightly with paper or air pouches to help ensure safe delivery. We also recommend that customers ship returns via a trackable shipping service. CCC will not be responsible for issuing a refund until a return request has been approved and products have been returned to our office.
Refunds will be issued in the same manner in which original payment was made. Credit card payments will be refunded to the customer’s credit card. Purchases made by check will be refunded by check.
An electronic product return request must be received in writing no later than 30 calendar days after original date of purchase. Please email return requests to: CLP@cultureandlanguage.net.
A product return request should include:
Invoice or Order Number
Date purchased
Book title(s) to be returned
If a request is granted, the user relinquishes all rights to further access to the e-book or e-product being returned. Refunds will be issued in the same manner in which original payment was made. Credit card payments will be refunded to the customer’s credit card. You will receive an immediate notification when the refund is applied, though it may take several business days processing time by the relevant bank or credit card company for the refund transaction to be completed.
Registration and payment
Public trainings are on-site (face-to-face) sessions offered by CCC in Maryland. Live online trainings are offered online by CCC. Registration for these courses is open to the public on CCC’s websites. Public trainings and live online trainings feature a deadline for payment and registration effective two weeks prior to the start of the training. Full payment is due at that time in order to reserve a place in the training program. Space for our programs is filled on a first-come, first-paid basis.
Payment can be made by credit card (VISA, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) or by check (made out to: Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC). Our website currently only accepts credit card payments. Please contact us (info@cultureandlanguage.net) if you need an invoice and/or would like to pay by check.
Please send checks in USD to:
Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC
10015 Old Columbia Road
Suite B-215
Columbia, MD 21046
USA
Confirmation of registration
Upon receipt of online payment for a training registration, within 2-3 business days an email confirmation will be sent to you.
Approximately two weeks before the first day of a training program, a welcome email will be sent to you. This welcome email will reconfirm the training location, date(s), time(s) and include further information such as trainer bio(s), contact telephone number(s) and item(s) that participants should bring to the training.
Approximately 2-3 days before the training, a final reminder email will be sent to you.
Refunds and credits
A refund request for a public training or live online training program fee must be submitted in writing to info@cultureandlanguage.net. Refund requests submitted before the two-week training registration deadline will be subject to a $50 cancellation fee. ($150 cancellation fee for our Training of Trainer programs.) Refund requests submitted in the two-week period from the day of the registration deadline up until 11:59PM of the day before the training will be subject to a cancellation fee in the amount of 50% of the training program fee. Refunds will not be given after this deadline. Rather, a credit may be issued upon request submitted within two weeks of the first day of the training program, meaning that in the event of being unable to attend a program, you may submit a written request to apply that training program fee to a future program. If approved by CCC, this amount will be kept on file as a credit for up to 2 years, after which the amount will be forfeited.
Cancellations
In the event of a training program cancellation, CCC will communicate this information to you as quickly as possible. You can either request a refund or apply the training registration fee as a credit toward a future program.
Attendance and Certificate Policies
In order to receive a course completion certificate, participants in our on-site and live online programs must submit all applicable documentation; complete all coursework requirements; be visible on their webcam for the entire program (for live online programs); and complete the applicable attendance requirement:
For programs shorter than 10 hours, participants must attend all live scheduled hours.
For programs 10 hours or longer, participants may miss no more than 10% of the total live scheduled hours. (For example, attendance of 18 hours is required for a 20-hour program; attendance of 36 hours is required for a 40-hour program.)
Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC keeps participant files, including certificates, for three calendar years from the present date. Beyond that time, CCC makes no guarantee that participant files or certificates will be saved. Course certificate replacement requests for courses that took place more than three calendar years from the present date will incur a $30 fee for an electronic certificate and $40 for a print certificate. Course certificate replacement requests for courses that took place within three calendar years from the present date will incur no fee for an electronic certificate and $25 for a print certificate.
Training Participant Information Release
By registering for our public training or live online training programs, you agree to allow Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC to share your contact information with participants in the same training session for purposes of creating a collaborative face-to-face or online training experience for all participants. Should you have concerns or not wish to have your contact information shared by CCC, prior to the training session please email info@cultureandlanguage.net.
Filming and Photography Release
You agree to be filmed and/or photographed by Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC.
You grant to Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC and its subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns and designees (collectively, “the Released Party”), approval for past use and the absolute right and permission for present use of any photographs, videos, recordings or images taken of training participants for any legitimate purpose in any manner or media, worldwide, in perpetuity, without notice to training participants and without limitation, condition, consideration, consent or compensation.
Your image and/or voice may be copyrighted, used and/or published individually or in conjunction with other photography or video works, and recordings, in color or black and white, in any medium including, without limitation, print publications, public broadcast, CD-ROM format, and for any lawful purposes, including, without limitation, trade, exhibition, illustration, promotion, publicity, advertising or electronic publication in the world and/or on the Internet and worldwide web.
In practice, CCC uses photos or video clips primarily for promotional purposes on CCC’s websites, newsletter, fliers and social media posts.
Disruptive Behavior Policy
In order to uphold the collaborative nature of our online training programs, onboardings, support sessions and webinars, Cross-Cultural Communications reserves the right to remove any participant for abusive or aggressive behavior, spoken or written, towards CCC staff, trainers or other participants. We recognize that the past few years have been difficult for everyone. However, our participants, trainers and staff have the right to a safe and respectful learning and working environment. We thank you for your understanding.
Registration and payment
Registration for self-paced online courses can be made on CCC’s website. You are required to create a personal, non-transferable account in order to register and pay for CCC’s online courses. Upon creating your account, you agree to be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account details, including password; and for all activities that occur in your account.
You may not transfer, sell or share your account with anyone else. You may not use anyone else’s account. Violation of this policy may result in the termination of your account. Refunds will not be issued if an account has been terminated due to a policy violation.
You must notify CCC immediately if you have lost your log-in credentials and/or believe that unauthorized use of your account may happen or has already occurred. CCC will not be responsible or liable in any way for any loss or damage of any kind incurred by your failure to comply with this policy.
Full payment for each course is due in order to access an online course.
Payment can be made by credit card (VISA, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) or by check (made out to: Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC). Our website currently only accepts credit card payments. Please contact us (info@cultureandlanguage.net) if you need an invoice and/or would like to pay by check.
Please send checks in USD to:
Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC
10015 Old Columbia Road
Suite B-215
Columbia, MD 21046
USA
Confirmation of registration
Upon receipt of online payment for a training registration, a confirmation and receipt will be emailed to you. You will also be able to access the self-paced online training course immediately.
Refunds
A refund request for a self-paced online training program fee must be submitted in writing within 48 hours of payment to: info@cultureandlanguage.net. Refunds will not be given if any of the course quizzes, tests or completion certificates have been accessed. Refunds will not be given for refund requests made more than 48 hours after the course has been purchased. A 10% cancellation fee applies to all refund requests.
Course Completion Time Limits
Beginning July 1, 2024
The time allowed to complete the program varies by course.
You will have 120 days from course purchase date to complete The Community Interpreter® Online or any other 40-hour foundation program.
You will have 90 days to complete courses from 5 to 39 hours in length.
You will have 60 days to complete courses fewer than five hours in length.
Course completion extensions can be purchased for courses or course bundles that are 8 or more hours in length. Extensions are available for purchase on each course page for eligible participants. They can also be found on the “My eLearning” page. Extensions are priced as follows:
30-day course extension: $30
90-day course extension: $70
Course extensions can be purchased up to 120 days after your course access has ended. A maximum of 3 extensions can be purchased per user per course.
Course extensions are available immediately upon purchase.
Course Final Assessments
Some courses require passing a final assessment in order to receive a course completion certificate.
You will have six attempts to pass the final assessment for courses that require passing such an assessment in order to receive a course completion certificate. Participants who do not pass on the sixth attempt are required to submit a written request to re-take the entire course. If the course is still active (i.e. the course time limit from date of purchase has not expired) the participant will be required to re-take the entire course and will be given six more attempts to pass the final assessment. If the course time limit has expired, the participant will be required to purchase a course extension prior to re-taking the course.
The final assessment passing score for courses up to 39 hours is 70%
The final assessment passing score for courses 40 hours or longer is 75%.
Submission of Materials
Information uploaded by you to CCC’s website will be not be shared with third-parties unless CCC is required to do so by law or is directed by a court order.
Course Completion Certificates
A course completion certificate will be automatically generated and accessible upon completion of a course. You should download and save this certificate for your records. If you need to download your course certificate after your course access has expired, you will be required to purchase a course extension.
CCC may terminate a user’s access or suspend any user’s access to all or part of any website owned or operated by CCC, without notice, for any conduct that CCC, in its sole discretion, believes is in violation of any applicable law or is harmful to the interests of another user, a third-party provider or CCC itself. CCC reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of these Terms of Use.
CCC disclaims all warranties. CCC makes no warranty that this site’s operation will be uninterrupted or free or errors or defects, that defects in the site will be corrected or that this site, including the server that makes it available, is free of viruses or other harmful components. CCC also makes no warranty whatsoever as to the results that may be obtained from use of the content or other materials on this site or the accuracy, quality, non-infringement or operation of any content, product or service provided on or accessible from the site. CCC also does not endorse or take responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors on this website.
Although this site is typically continuously available, its availability may be limited at times without prior notice due to technical failures, acts of God or scheduled maintenance. CCC shall not be liable for lost information or non-availability of the services caused by limited access to this site.
CCC disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether they be express, implied or statutory regarding use of this website for any purpose. As the service user you agree that any material or data obtained through visiting this site is at your own discretion and risk and that you alone will be solely responsible for any resulting damage to your own computer system, including any loss of data.
You understand and agree that CCC and its suppliers shall not be liable for damages of any kind, including, without limitation, any damages for lost data or lost profits arising from or relating to use of this website or any services obtained through this website, the cost of procuring substitute information or services, unauthorized access to or alteration of the service user’s data or any other matter arising from use of this website. CCC’s total cumulative liability to anyone who uses services procured through this website, for any and all claims, will not exceed the fees paid for the service or product.
No waiver of any breach of any provision of these Terms of Use will constitute a waiver of any prior or subsequent breach of the same provision or a waiver of any breach of any other provision.
All actions, cases, suits and proceedings in connection with these Terms of Use between the parties shall be brought in Maryland and heard without a jury. All persons affected by this agreement, specifically waive all right to a trial by jury and specifically consent to the personal jurisdiction of and venue in said courts.
This Agreement will be deemed to have been made in and be governed by and construed under the laws of the State of Maryland.
If you have any questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us at:
Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC
10015 Old Columbia Road, Suite B-215
Columbia, MD 21046
USA
Voice: +1 410-312-5599
Email: info@cultureandlanguage.net
To become an interpreter, you must be at least 18 years old, possess a high school diploma or equivalent, and be bilingual. Since we're based in the United States, where English is the primary language of service, one of your working languages must be English. Increasingly, the industry standard requires interpreters to have completed a 40-hour certificate program, at a minimum, before being able to work as an interpreter.
CCC recommends that participants first strengthen their non-native language before taking our programs. Some options for language training are: community colleges, online programs such as Rosetta Stone, conversation groups (such as free groups sponsored by public libraries), etc.
Interpreting is an expanding sector of the job market due to several factors. There is a high percentage of foreign-born people in the U.S. seeking access to publicly funded services such as health care, social services and education. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (signed in 1964) any organization receiving one dollar of federal funding must not discriminate on the basis of national origin and must make reasonable efforts to provide this access. Therefore, if a public school system serves a large Korean population they must provide Korean interpreting (and translation) services free of charge. Health care organizations are increasingly using medical certified interpreters after several high-profile medical malpractice lawsuits resulted from either no interpreter being present or untrained bilingual staff or family members being used to interpret.
It depends on the type of interpreting you’re doing and what type of interpreter you are. In general, there are three types of interpreters, volunteer interpreters (such as those who interpret at places of worship or at clinics for low-income patients), bilingual staff (employees such as nurses, case workers and psychologists who are asked to interpret in addition to their main job) and contract/freelance interpreters. Contract interpreters typically work for several organizations, either directly with the client or through a language agency. They drive to different locations and pay varies according to the assignment and employer. At the moment, local public school systems tend to pay on the lower end of the interpreting scale, while pay will be higher for medical and legal interpreters and highest of all for certified medical interpreters and court-certified interpreters.
Medical certified interpreters have passed one of the two national certification exams (see below). They have different formats but both are equally valid and accepted. Only certain languages are available at the moment (such as Spanish and Mandarin) but others are in development. Among current pre-requisites is 40 hours of medical/health care interpreter training. The best way to get information about how to prepare for medical interpreter certification is to go to the websites of the two national medical interpreter certification programs:
CCHI at http://www.healthcareinterpretercertification.org/
NBCMI at http://www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org/
Court certified interpreters have passed an exam given by a state or federal interpreter certification program. These exams usually have extremely low pass rates. At the federal level, only Spanish is currently offered. Certification exams vary at the state level for other languages.
A certificate is awarded upon successful completion of an academic or non-academic program. For interpreter training programs, language proficiency testing may or may not be a requisite for successful completion of the program. A certification can only be awarded by local, state or federal authorities (such as the community interpreter certification in Washington state; state and federal court certification; and the two national medical interpreter certifications). CCC offers certificate programs.
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:
*To apply for RID CEUs after completing one of our courses, please contact our RID sponsor, admin@linguisteducationonline.com, with your course certificate of completion.
Yes…but it’s also so much more! The Community Interpreter® International was designed to address any one of, or all of, three target audiences: medical, educational and/or social services interpreters. Some of our trainers and we ourselves present all-medical sessions that include medical terminology training and others gear their programs to general community interpreting or a specialized audience, like educational interpreting. Our TCII sessions are hosted both in a live online training context and via our self-paced learning platform. They cover medical, educational and social services interpreting.
CCC hosts sessions of The Community Interpreter® International as a live training seasonally. along with many other programs. See our current training offerings.
The Community Interpreter® Online (TCIO) is the self-guided, online version of The Community Interpreter® International and includes open, ongoing enrollment. Learn more about TCIO.
Our licensed trainers also host their own trainings across 44 U.S. states, Washington DC, Guam and six other countries. Search for a trainer near you.
Live online trainings of The Community Interpreter® International currently cost $550.
The course fee includes:
The Community Interpreter Online self-paced course currently costs $390. Sign up here: https://courses.cultureandlanguage.net/ccc_english/the-community-interpreter-online.html
Sessions of The Community Interpreter® hosted by our licensed trainers will vary in cost depending on the location and session.
No. A training program certificate is not the same as certification. In fact, in the U.S. the certificate for a 40-hour training program is a prerequisite to apply for national medical interpreter certification. In The Community Interpreter® we teach you about the difference between a certificate and certification. A good training is the beginning of certification, not the end, because after training you will need to take the written and oral exams of a properly credentialed certification program to become certified.
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