ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Legal Interpretation: Spanish Certificate trains bilingual individuals for the profession of certified court interpreter, a profession much in demand given the linguistic diversity of the state of Nevada. You will learn and practice techniques and procedures for producing an accurate, efficient translation of legal proceedings and documents. Students completing this certificate will be well prepared for a career providing high quality interpretation.
Court interpreters ensure language barriers do not morph into legal barriers for people whose primary language is not English. The Nevada Court Interpreter Program was established in 2002 to provide consistent guidelines for access to court interpreters in the state. Nevada courts use interpreters during court proceedings where a witness, defendant, or litigant has Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The role of the court interpreter is to provide written translation of documents or oral interpretation related to a case. Interpreters must not provide legal advice or deviate from direct translation.
Legal interpreters must be highly skilled in multiple areas. A robust knowledge of legal processes and terminology is essential. Interpreters must be fully aware of all laws and ethical considerations governing legal interpretation in Nevada. An ability and willingness to research topic areas relevant to a case to become familiar with terms that may come up in legal proceedings is also valuable. Legal interpreters must be able to complete sight translation (translating orally from a written document) work with extreme accuracy. They also must be able to perform both simultaneous interpretation (speaking at the same time as the client) and consecutive interpretation (speaking after the client) services both from English to Spanish and Spanish to English. The UNLV Legal Interpretation: Spanish curriculum offers opportunities to learn and practice all these skills in preparation for state certification exams.
This Program is Perfect For
Bilingual (Spanish/English) individuals who are committed to removing language barriers for non-English speakers interacting with the legal system.
What You Will Learn
By the end of the program students will be able to:
- Interpret clearly and accurately between English and Spanish in legal matters or court proceedings between LEP persons and lawyers / public officials.
- Interpret appropriately and impartially based on knowledge of the US judiciary system.
- Perform sight, consecutive, or simultaneous interpretation/translation as necessary.
- Apply dramaturgical strategies and stress management principals to effectively deliver moment-to-moment interpreting.
Program Details
To earn the Legal Interpretation: Spanish Certificate you must successfully complete six required core courses.
Students enrolling in this program must be fluent in Spanish and English and must provide proof of proficiency in both languages. Acceptable documentation is listed below under the registration section of this page.
Once you fulfill all certificate program requirements as outlined in the Academic Plan, you may request your certificate.
Prior to enrollment you must meet the following prerequisites:
You must have at least a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent.
You must be fluent in Spanish and English and must provide proof of proficiency in both languages by one of the mechanisms below. Language proficiency documentation must be received two weeks prior to course start. Once documents are accepted, you will be able to complete your registration.
Please scan and email at least one document from the list(s) below showing language proficiency to ce-assistant@unlv.edu. To avoid any potential security risks transferred through unsecured email, please remove references to social security numbers or confidential information on your documents prior to email submission. If you have several documents for one language, please scan them as one file for upload. If you started the program prior to August 2018 and have earned a passing grade in any of the six courses, you are exempt from the proficiency requirements. If you do not have documents from the list(s) to demonstrate proficiency, you may take the Oral Proficiency Interview by Computer (OPIc) placement exam through Language Testing International.
Acceptable Documents for Evidence of English Proficiency
- High school diploma from a high school in the U.S. or other English language country or from an American School abroad
- Bachelor’s, master’s, PhD, or any other degree from an institution of higher education in the U.S. or other English language country
- Language testing such as one of the following tests:
- TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language): 570+ on paper; 230+ on computer version; 90+ on iBT.
- ELPT (English Language Proficiency Test): 950+
- MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery) 80+
- ECPE (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English): PASS
- FCE (First Certificate in English, Level 3): A
- CAE (Certificate in Advanced English, Level 4): B
- CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English, Level 5): B
- IELTS (International English Language Testing System) 7.0
- ACTFL Oral Exams (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages): Advanced Mid Level; both the OPI (telephonic) and OPIc (computer recording) are acceptable.
- Successful passage of an established interpreter/translator certification exam (that includes a language-specific performance test), such as:
- The Federal Court Interpreter Certification Exam (FCICE)
- Any National Center for State Court (NCSC) exam
- Other national or state certification exams, e.g., ATA, BEI, NAJIT, NBCMI, RID, State of Washington Medical Interpreter Certification
Acceptable Documents for Evidence of Spanish Proficiency (documents must be translated into English)
- High school diploma from a high school in a country where Spanish is spoken
- Bachelor’s, master’s, PhD, or any other degree from an institution of higher education where Spanish is spoken
- 24+ semester college credit hours of Spanish
- Language Testing
- ACTFL Oral Exams (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages): Advanced Mid Level; both the OPI (telephonic) and OPIc (computer recording) are acceptable.
- Time spent studying and/or working where the applicant was required to perform tasks at a professional level in Spanish at least 75% of the time
Language Testing
If you do not have documents from the list(s) to demonstrate proficiency, you can take English or Spanish language proficiency exams online through our partnership with Language Testing International. Download instructions on how to access and schedule the exam. Please note, you must choose Exam Level 4 or higher to be evaluated for an advanced-mid level rating. You must have access to a computer with internet, microphone, and video capability to take the exam.