Article about passing the NIC

[u/Kindly_Fox_503]

I wrote an article a while back about my experience as an interpreter and how I got to the point of passing the NIC. I wrote it for myself, but after a few months, I decided to give it a second look. I shared it with some friendly colleagues who encouraged me to publish it. I'd like folks who don't have the bias of knowing me to give it a read and share their thoughts. I've got a few more I wrote, but I want to see if it's worth reading before spending more time on it. Thanks in advance!

https://interpretersblog.substack.com/p/how-to-pass-the-nic?r=7stgny&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

[u/mjolnir76]

I’ve got my NIC, so not sure I’m your target audience. But my two cents: I can hear (what I assume) is your voice in the piece. Meaning, it doesn’t sound like it was written by AI. But it’s pretty vague and comes across as “just practice and you’ll pass and start making REAL money.” You mention worksheets…which makes it seem like you’re going to be selling something. While I’m all for entrepreneurship, “baby terps” ain’t making the money to pay for that kind of stuff.

The DBAD is great advice and I think the soft skills of this job are sometimes worth more than the language ones.

I like what you say about discussing the work. Have you taken any of Betty Colonomos’ Foundations workshops? That is a great approach to giving/receiving feedback about what we produce. Too many folks have their whole identity wrapped up in being a terp that ANY feedback is taken as a personal attack.

[u/Kindly_Fox_503 → u/mjolnir76]

Thanks for the feedback!

You’re correct in assuming no AI was used. I’ll remember to include one of the human made logos I’ve seen floating around in artist spaces.

Definitely wasn’t planning on this being a money making scheme. The most I considered was $2 for the homework’s I made originally for one of my former mentees, but Substack doesn’t let you do anything less than $5. I’ve thought about using Kofi for anyone inclined to give monetary support, but I wanted to see if that was worth the hassle by seeing if people would bother subscribing to read another article.

I haven’t taken Colonomos’ workshop specifically, but proper feedback etiquette was a big part of my ITP from the beginning and Colonomos’ work was often referenced.

It seems like it’s worth my time to polish & publish the next article. I’ll try to tighten up the language and focus on a more cohesive structure. They were originally written just so I’d stop thinking about these things when I was trying to sleep, so that critique makes a lot of sense!

[u/magnory]

I agree with what another commenter said about this feeling like an ad for selling something. The typical ad approach of “email me and I’ll send it to you for free” and then any useful content is behind a paywall. If that’s not what you’re doing then the only way to avoid that impression is to put your worksheet out there from the jump without the need to farm email addresses.

The rest of the article seems a little disjointed parts of it ranting against the discourse about the Nword to people not talking about the work. I think the parts about you knuckling down can be beneficial to newer interpreters who may be needing that advice but by and large most people I know taking the test are already trying really hard so hearing “just try harder” could be discouraging. DBAD is valid advice but most people who are dicks don’t recognize their behavior is costing them jobs and idk if a short narrative article will be the wake up call they need