{"188":"I have been interpreting for about 8 years, with 2 years of court interpreting experience.","173":"2018-01-18","174":{"first":"Nanme","last":"Zheng"},"175":"nanme.zheng@gmail.com","176":"215-609-9867","177":{"street":"2313 Solly Avenue","street2":"","city":"Philadelphia","state":"Pennsylvania","zip":"19152","country":"United States"},"178":"The Court Interpreter Program at Widener University Delaware Law School is the only court interpreter training program in the Philadelphia area that provides in-depth training in both legal knowledge and hands-on interpreting skills. When I first heard about this program, I knew that I would want to apply right away. It is the perfect program that will provide an interpreter with training in more than just legal terminology. On one hand, it will equip an interpreter with knowledge in legal terminology, procedure, ethics, and standards of practice taught by a real legal professional; on the other hand, the program will also help an interpreter to hone the skills needed to interpret in all modes necessary for court interpreting provided by a working interpreter. This is exactly the type of program that I am looking for to help me advance as a court interpreter towards achieving state certification. The flexibility of the program is very accommodating for working professionals and new moms, like me. In addition, Widener University Delaware Law School has a good reputation in providing students with the training they need to pursue various careers in the legal field. With all of this in mind,  I knew for sure that this is the program that I want to be in.","179":"After I complete the Court Interpreter Certificate Program, I hope to complete and pass all stages of the Pennsylvania State Court Interpreter Certification Exam. I hope that state certification will allow me the opportunity to pursue a career as a full-time in-house Mandarin court interpreter in the Philadelphia court system. With the need for Mandarin interpreters growing each year in the Philadelphia courts, I hope that a career as a full-time in-house interpreter will provide Mandarin-speaking LEPs with quick, reassuring assistance and also, in turn, ease the needs of the court. Furthermore, I also hope to be able to train other highly qualified court interpreters and help them towards certification when I have enough experience and training to do so. Finding a good interpreter is difficult. Finding a good, qualified interpreter is even harder. Finding a good, qualified, ethical and professional interpreter, especially one who interprets for a rare language is comparable to finding a needle in a hay stack. I hope to share what I learn from the program with others so that such interpreters will always be readily available to LEPs when they need us. These are my professional aspirations.","180":"I plan to take advantage of the fact that we will be having real, working professionals teaching us each area of study. Learning information from books is different from learning it from an actual professional in the field. Not only is the information valuable, the sharing of experience for an interpreter is also very important and essential. An actual lawyer will know what information an interpreter truly needs to know in everyday court cases, what the procedures are when working in court, and can tell us what a lawyer will look for and\/or need from an interpreter, not just provide a list of common legal terms and rules of the book. An actual interpreter will know what skills we will need to refine to be a good interpreter and be able to share his\/her experiences with us to let us expand our vantage points of how to handle certain situations in court, which don't always go by a standard of practice. In addition, the network of Delaware Law School gives me the chance to ask for shadowing opportunities in actual courtrooms so I can enhance my hands-on experience. When the language lab becomes available, I also hope to utilize the tools in the lab, along with the extensive collection of the library, to help enhance the knowledge and skills I will need to advance my career in the field.","181":"Nanme Zheng","189":"Court Interpreter Certificate Program Scholarship Application","190":{"first":"Nanme","last":"Zheng"}}