Most U.S. states use the same screening exam for bilingual people who would like to interpret in the judicial system, a test created by the National Center for State Courts. If the next step in your interpreting career is a court certification or license, you can expect to pay about $100 for the actual test. It's entirely in English, 135 multiple-choice questions, and takes up to 2 hours 15 minutes. If you pass, you'll proceed to a spoken (or signed) test of your practical skills. Before investing in the actual written test, it makes sense to take a realistic, full-length practice and get some actionable feedback on what you should still be studying.
How this works: after you make your payment online with a credit or debit card by clicking on the "Enroll in Course" button, you'll proceed to some on-screen instructions. Then you'll download a PDF of the 20-page practice test and print it (without peeking). When you're ready to take it under realistic conditions, you'll do it with pencil on paper, and a timer running. Then you'll come back to the website to enter your results. Once you click submit, the form will show you a report with your overall score and your breakdown by section and question. For example, you may find that your idioms and ethics are well above passing, but your synonyms and antonyms are low; this will help focus your efforts as you prepare for the real exam.
Disclaimer: I cannot guarantee that the level of difficulty of this exam will mirror that of the real thing. I have made every effort, and incorporated feedback from people who have taken both, but the NCSC exam is updated regularly and is beyond my control. I do not work for the NCSC -- I'm just their biggest fan.
Your Instructor
Marco is a federally certified and state licensed Spanish court interpreter, and is one of the authors of the book Firearms and Other Handheld Weapons. He has twenty-three years of experience in translation and interpretation, a Master of Arts degree in Spanish, and is a frequent conference speaker on language access topics at legal conferences. He is also an American Translators Association certified Spanish to English translator. He sometimes teaches court interpreting at the University of Texas and legal translation at Austin Community College. Marco is past president of the Austin Area Translators and Interpreters Association and the Texas Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, and was the state's first Language Access Coordinator.