Community Interpreting Level 3 Certificate (Ascentis)

This course is for people who are fluent in English (minimum ESOL level 2 in all skills, CAE, C1 CEF) and native speaker capability in a language spoken in one of the bilingual communities in London. Participants will normally be native speakers of another language.

Participants will have some experience of interpreting in the public sector in the UK .This could be with community members on a paid or voluntary basis. Experience with friends and family-while valuable-is not enough for acceptance onto this course and some of the experience must be with people previously not personally known by the applicant.

Participants will have been in the UK long enough to have gained some knowledge of the British system with regard to public services.

Understanding of the role of the community interpreter. Familiarity with the language used in some of the public services and ability to render these to the nearest equivalent in their own language.

Awareness of professional issues including codes of ethics and codes of practice to which an interpreter is expected to work.

Knowledge and awareness of cultural and racial implications of their work.

Research skills to gain basic information about services where community interpreters are needed.

Awareness of the means by which a community interpreter may gain employment .The course involves 72 hours attendance during which time participants will be introduced to the techniques and issues involved in Community Interpreting and will look at other styles of interpreting for comparison.

Participants will also be introduced to the public services- Housing, Immigration,Benefits Agency, Social Services, Education,Health etc., through visiting speakers and recommended reading.

Successful completion of the course involves a minimum of 80% attendance and participants may not miss any of the first 30 hours which set the context for the rest of the course or the final 6 hours which round up the course and deal specifically with issues of professionalism and looking for work as an interpreter. There are also projects to be completed for assessment; a role play which will be done in class and video taped, a bilingual glossary of terminology from public services and research into services available to the community in the participants' local areas and London-wide as appropriate.You will also be expected to reflect on your practice throughout the course.

The course is accredited through ASCENTIS and offers up to 16 credits at level 3.
Participants will be able to demonstrate:

Ability to use a range of interpreting techniques and skills as appropriate to community interpreting.

Ability to use intervention skills as appropriate to community interpreting.

Understanding of the role of the community interpreter. Familiarity with the language used in some of the public services and ability to render these to the nearest equivalent in their own language.

Awareness of professional issues including codes of ethics and codes of practice to which an interpreter is expected to work.
Knowledge and awareness of cultural and racial implications of their work.
Research skills to gain basic information about services where community interpreters are needed.
Awareness of the means by which a community interpreter may gain employment.

The course uses teaching and learning methodology which involve the participants in exploring their own experiences and the needs of their own communities. Methods used are group work, pair work, role play, case studies, presentations from tutor and visiting speakers, workshops for the assignments.There is a considerable amount of research which participants are expected to undertake during the course.
- ongoing assessment by tutor and peers
- portfolio of evidence assessed by tutor and language assessors - taped evidence of role plays.
Successful completion of all modes of the course will result in the award of the Level 3 Certificate in Community Interpreting.

Students will need to provide a folder which will contain the work to be presented for final assessment. Students will also have to provide evidence of research into services available to their own communities which will take the form of directories etc. Confidence with using the internet for research and Word to present work elctronically would be a definite advantage.
Students will be expected to complete project work at home as part of the course accreditation. This amounts to approximately 10 hours of home study per week.

Successful students will be invited to attend a recruitment fair to find voluntary/ paid interpreting work. Students can also take further courses to develop their skills such as telephone interpreting and managing complex cases. See the prospectus for more details or speak to your tutor.