Have you earned a degree to become an ASL translator?

Question

My son uses ASL and I've been playing with the idea of going back to school to become a translator. What is the program like? How long did it take to complete it?

Answer 1

One of my best friends is majoring in ASL. I'm not sure if that gives you qualifications to be a full translator, but I would think that a 4 year BA in ASL would suffice to be a translator. I know alot of them study for longer than that, especially if they go for MA or PhDs. One of her PROFESSORS just had a BA; he didn't even have a Masters (which is REALLY rare at college...to be a professor and not have at least a Masters). There could be some potential for career advancement for you.

Where WE go to college, which is a state university, you go through two years of the required classes. Most of these are pretty easy; they are courses everyone has to take, like English 1...or something similar. Then you generally spend two years working within your ASL major to complete your BA. That's how it works here anyways. My friend is in her senior year as a Psych major and recently added on the ASL major. She has taken four or 5 ASL courses and can apparently communicate quite well.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

She is right. Research nad.org, it has great info and since they are a deaf org they are the best people to research on how they would like their interpreters to be. Besides being fluent in the language, there are etiquette rules that need to be followed and respected.