Just to recap: The first step is to learn and become fluent in ASL. To do that you must develop a passion for ASL, take classes, and interact with the Deaf community and other ASL users.
Now for the second step. Taking the written test. You need to pass the written test in order to take the performance test. I live in Utah so I will address both the Utah and the NIC test.
The written test really isn't that hard. You don't need to know much ASL, and if you study you'll do fine.
The books:
So You Want to be an Interpreter? by Humphries and Alcorn
This book explains the basic fundamentals of interpreting. It is really simply written and gets to the point. It explains the different models of interpreting, and how to apply the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) to real life. Make sure you get the latest edition. Mine was a little outdated and didn't have the new CPC. I was able to read it in just under a week with frequent breaks for highlighting, note taking, and re reading.
Reading Between the Signs by Mindess
This was my favorite book on ASL interpreting. It discusses the differences between mainstream American Culture and Deaf Culture. Deaf culture is High Context which means they share a lot of information that Americans just don't include. It tells you how you should handle the differences and discusses the issue of cultural adjustments. She argues that the only way to convey the "spirit and intent" of the speaker is to include adjustments so that the other culture can understand. I took a class where this was the text book, so I read it over the course of a semester.
Those two books were the most important in helping me prepare for the test. A lot of questions came from them, and they were both helpful in building the foundation for my interpreting.
The classes:
ASL 3050: Interpreting 1
This was my very first class I took at UVU. I had an... interesting... teacher. It was sometimes hard to understand his signing, and I don't believe he organized his class very well. Don't get me wrong, he is a great person and a good interpreter, but not the best teacher. Most people at UVU know exactly who I am talking about, so I'm not going to slander his name online. I really do enjoy talking to the man outside of class. This class helped me understand the models I read about in more detail. It helped me memorize important dates, and get an introduction to the CPC.
ASL 3360: Cross Cultural Communications
This is the class that goes along with Mindess's book. It was very interesting, and I got a lot of insight from people who were already working interpreters. We applied cultural adjustments to real world situations and discussed what "spirit and intent" meant.
This is the second time I've mentioned "spirit and intent." That phrase comes from the CPC. It is something that a lot of interpreters fall back on when they are faced with a tough situation. The premise of it is that we are not to interject our own words into an interpretation. We must convey the spirit and intent of the speaker who said it. That means sometimes we must expand or compress a culturally laden topic to get at what the speaker was meaning.
CPC:
The Code of Professional Conduct is the most important thing to study. You don't need to have it memorized... yet. Make sure you understand the basic meaning and have the main tenants and guiding principles memorized.
Linguistics:
You need to understand basic ASL and English grammar. You don't need all the intricacies of directional pronouns found in ASL, but you need to know word order, and the types of verbs found in ASL. The tests don't cover the newest findings in ASL linguistics (which was frustrating for me because I love linguistics and so I like to study the new stuff). I mean they still call depicting verbs classifiers! *shakes head sadly* Even though they call them the wrong thing, you still need to know how to use and describe them.
Other things:
I invested in the NIC written practice exam. It is a selection of questions from the old test. A lot of the questions are still on the new one. Also take the Utah Practice test online. Just go to the rid.org and aslterpsutah.org for a more complete list of what to study.
So these are the things that helped me. I recommend taking both the NIC and Utah written exams in the same weekend because a lot of the information overlaps.
The biggest tip I can give about the Utah test is to ask Mitch. The Utah written exam is not very well written and there are a few questions where there are two right answers but they only want one of them. Mitch will tell you which one they want.
Like I said the tests weren't that hard. Just go in there prepared and you will do fine. I passed both on my first try with flying colors.
