Oral FCICE

This summer, August 2022, I sat the oral portion of the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Exam (FCICE), and found out in November that I passed on the first attempt. I took the written portion of the FCICE in June of 2019, which you can read about here.

This blog post will address the factors that I believe contributed to success on the exam. I will not spend time detailing the layout or contents of the exam, as the AOUSC publishes an in-depth handbook with everything an examinee needs to know.

Here is the TL;DR (“too long; didn’t read”) version: during the 3 years between passing the written exam and sitting the oral exam, 1) I interpreted for 2 years as a freelancer in state and federal court; 2) I completed 2 semesters of a Master of Arts in Conference Interpretation; and 3) I committed 100–120 hours to FCICE-specific preparation in the 4 weeks leading up to the exam.

Let’s look closer at each of these factors and how they got me where I needed to be. I’ll then share my pre-exam strategy and end with some general thoughts.

Factor #1: Freelance Work

I passed state court certification in 2018 and started getting my feet wet in Washington and Idaho courts. The first year was slow-going. I made waves as the first interpreter in the city to only accept a two-hour minimum in county court; at the time, other interpreters were accepting a one-hour minimum, so the courts did not call me much. I marketed myself to a handful of law offices for depositions and found weekly court work across the border in Idaho, where the court preferred working with certified interpreters at professional rates.

Things picked up in early 2019 when I began contracting with the Executive Office of Immigration Review through the Department of Justice to work in immigration courts. I went from doing a handful of short hearings each week to working eight-hour days for weeks on end. From spring 2019 to summer 2021, I was in state, immigration, or federal criminal court for 20–40 hours per week. As you can imagine, that added up quickly to lots of hours interpreting.

The breadth and depth of terminology and contexts to which I was exposed during this period provided me with solid exposure to certain sectors of the US legal system. My brain became comfortable with court vocabulary and the colloquial language you tend to hear from Spanish speakers in these settings.

Factor #2: Master of Arts in Conference Interpretation

I am currently finishing my third of four semesters in the MACI program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Before taking the FCICE this past summer, I had completed two semesters of courses in sight translation, consecutive interpretation, and simultaneous interpretation, specifically between English and Spanish. This doubtlessly contributed to success on the FCICE, as the coursework involved hundreds of hours of practice with peer and instructor feedback. Although none of the coursework was court-specific, over the two semesters I was really hammering out the skills essential to interpreting: memory, note-taking, décalage, visualization, generalization etc. You’ll hear it said often, but based on my experience, it’s worth repeating: the FCICE is not a terminology exam; it is an interpreting exam.

Factor #3: Dedicated preparation

The dates for the exam were announced in late June 2022. Rumors were circulating beforehand about what those dates might be, but by the time AOUSC actually confirmed, it left about five weeks leading up to the testing day in early August. In the typical timeline, after passing the written exam, you have about 12 months to prepare for the oral portion the following year (the old cycle was having the written on odd years and the oral on even years).

Nevertheless, timing was serendipitous for me in that I happened to be in Mexico City the whole summer with a schedule that allowed for fairly rigorous preparation. I enrolled in Interpretrain’s self-paced FCICE training program. The program includes 50 units of alternating sight/consec/simul exercises, of which I completed 33. Specific information about the structure of the program can be found on Interpretrain’s website.

I will say that I went for quality in my preparation versus quantity. I recorded, listened to, and evaluated each of my renditions, without exception (180+ recordings on my phone). I repeated each exercise until I was at least 90% accurate. I recorded vocab drills that I muttered to myself during the many Uber rides back and forth across Mexico City.

I estimate that I spent 100–120 hours on dedicated practice and preparation during July 2022.

Exam strategy

In the week leading up to the exam, my focus was to put myself in a positive state of mind. Interpretation is in large part a performance; when I’m in tip-top shape mentally and physically, I find I perform much better. Some dear colleagues and friends were cheering me on that week (you know who you are!), and one even administered me a manageable practice exam four days prior to testing, which really placed me in a good headspace.

I suspended all practice 48 hours before testing. Because I had to travel about three hours to the closest location, I booked a hotel and did a dry-run to the testing site the night before. I did a moderate workout that afternoon, had a big dinner, ironed and laid out my suit, and meditated before going to bed (allowing for eight hours of sleep). I woke up two hours before needing to leave for the testing site, did some yoga, a brief shadowing exercise (one that I knew I would succeed at), had a light breakfast, and showed up at the testing site half an hour before exam time.

Although I had butterflies that morning, I slept fairly well and did not at any point feel overcome with nerves. I don’t know how much of this has to do with my ritual, and how much with having gone through several rounds of rigorous exams (in front of panels!) at MIIS the year before.

Conclusion

On a personal note, I’m relieved and happy to have passed the first time. I’m grateful for the timing that allowed me to prepare the way I did, and proud to have this achievement under my belt before finishing grad school. With all the Federally Certified Court Interpreters (FCCIs) I’ve known and talked to over the years, my impression is that there is no single magic potion to pass the exam. Recording and listening to yourself consistently seems to be one common thread in most success stories. For me, having a structured and methodical approach to practice was essential.

To those looking to pass, my general advice would be to find a structured practice system, and stick to it. Don’t memorize strings of vocab without interpreting that vocab in context over and over again. Consistency in small doses is far preferable to binge study sessions once or twice a week. 

I’ll be sharing more of my FCCI adventures as they unfold. Stay tuned and please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by!