intrepreter and translator career?

Question

I decided to look into the career of becoming a foriegn language intrepreter/translator. does anybody know the basics of the job and what languages should I learn. (I speak two languages and a dilect already). any suggestions?? colleges?? employment sector??

Answer 1

I myself have been working as a technical translator for the past 25 years. For languages, I would suggest you learn Arabic, Chinese, or Japanese. I myself translate Japanese into English at a semiconductor company.

The first thing you need to do is pick a target language (see suggestions above). The next thing you need to do is pick a university. A 4-year university will have a full program that teaches you not just the language, but the culture and history as well.

When studying the target language, you need to immerse yourself in the language as much as possible. Hang out with people that speak the language. If you're lucky, you'll be able to help each other with your homework! Also, watch TV programs and listen to music/radio in that language. At first this will seem like a futile exercise, but if you keep at it, you will find that when you do become able to speak the language, your pronunication will be surprisingly good. Also, at parties you'll be able to pick up new words here and there.

While studying the language, brush up on your English grammar. Unless you have excellent English writing skills, you will never become a good translator.

Regarding the employment sector, you should pick a field that you have an aptitude for WHILE YOU ARE STUDYING THE LANGUAGE. If you are interested in insurance/re-insurance, patents, law, physics, electronics, semiconductors, then you're in luck! There's plenty of work for you out there. When you feel you are becoming proficient at the language, start reading magazines or books on your favorite field in the target language. When you are comfortable with the material in the target language, congratulations! You are then ready to venture out into the world translation.

Once there, you can choose to work for a translation agency or work full-time at a company like I do. Most people prefer the freedom of being a freelancer, but I myself prefer the stability and benefits of working for a company.

If you would like to know more, please click on my user ID and send me a message. I will be glad to answer your questions offline.

Answer 2

Hi,

A lot depends on where you are based and how well you speak the languages and in particular how good your business vocabulary is in that language.

High demand languages include Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Portugeuse.

Low demand languages will include Welsh and Cornish.

Specialise in one or two languages only - go to University and get a degree in those languages preferably a degree that includes a year in industry in one of the countries you are learning the language of.

Then start applying for work, it's well paid and tends to come with a lot of travel but is also often freelance rather than permanent work.

Good luck,

Answer 3

See the link below to the Occupational Outlook Handbook entry for "Interpreters and Translators" (published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Labor)

Answer 4

how on earth are you going to become a translator if you can't translate into any language? I think actually knowing a foreign language and being able to translator to/from it is kind of the point with that job.. alltså ibland fattar jag inte hur människor tänker. detta är antagligen den trögaste frågan jag har sett idag, och den här sidan är ju ändå amerikansk så det säger inte lite heller..

Answer 5

If you speak spanish and live in the south, you should be all good.