Do I have what it takes?
Do I have what it takes to become a translator/interpreter?
I've been teaching myself spanish for 2 years, I'm 12 and am geussing I know at least 1/5 of the spanish language, I'm not learning as fast as some students because i'm teaching myself, but anyway can someone test my spanish language level or something by write a quiz? Is there anyone on here who is a real translator/interpreter? I could use some advice.
p.s. I'm planning to take spanish in high school, and maybe french if I can.
12 Answers
Shelly,
You're young so you've got plenty of time. That's great that you're teaching yourself Spanish and I hope you stick with it. If you're interested in becoming a translator, you may want to consider a language of the future....Mandarin Chinese. There is already a huge demand for people who can fluently speak Chinese and English and that demand is sure to increase dramatically in the future. Stick with the Spanish but consider learning Mandarin as well. Good luck!
I'd listen to James here.
And I would like to add that, because English and Spanish technical words are so similar, everyone who has gone to primary school and can talk to others in Spanish believes that translating is easy, and they become "translators". Since Spanish speakers are so conformist, little demanding, and (unfortunately) there are too many people without a higher education, bad translations are accepted with very little or no complaint, so those many American companies (and others from other countries) who want a translation into Spanish, often prefer to pay to whoever knocks at the door, pay almost no money, regardless of the quality of the translation. Other even use machine translators! I can't remember the last time I could read any package with a Spanish translation without a single mistake.
I am not saying that this happens everywhere, all the time, but I have seen countless examples, and it is sad.
Just for example, there may be many Spanish-English bilingual people in the U.S., but probably only a small percentage would be qualified for, say, technical scientific translation.
True, but there is relatively little material to translate from Spanish in such fields.
Just to give an example for illustrative purposes, I translate nothing but Japanese patents. Japan accounts for about 20% of all US patent filings, with about 36,000 in 2002. Mexico had 87 that year, and Spain had 340. Therefore, if I wanted to translate Spanish-language patents into English, I would be competing with a LOT of potential translators (mainly because English and Spanish are so similar) for relatively little work. This, of course, drives down rates, so I would earn less money even when I did get work.
The point of this is that you have to select a language pair and field that actually will pay the bills. The IDEA of being a translator is great, but it's only realistic if you choose wisely.
Just piggy-backing on what some others have said: one way to be very marketable is to choose a career that's in demand AND learn a foreign language (languages) well. Just for example, there may be many Spanish-English bilingual people in the U.S., but probably only a small percentage would be qualified for, say, technical scientific translation.
And they say that once you've learned a second language, the third comes easier . . . although I haven't tried this myself yet. Good luck!!
samdie said:
LadyDi said:
Thanks a lot for your advice. It's hard for me to fathom what specialization to pursue but it's really something to think about.
As James mentioned, technical fields pay better. Of course, it also makes sense to choose a field that interests you because, whatever your special area becomes it will be easier/more enjoyable (both for learning and working) if it's something that you like. So, for example, I would never choose James' field (chemistry) because I hated chemistry but I really like computers and software development. So if I were thinking of becoming a translator (which I'm not), I would aim for computer related translation.
LadyDi said:
Thanks a lot for your advice. It's hard for me to fathom what specialization to pursue but it's really something to think about.
As James mentioned, technical fields pay better. Of course, it also makes sense to choose a field that interests you because, whatever your special area becomes it will be easier/more enjoyable (both for learning and working) if it's something that you like.
Thanks a lot for your advice. It's hard for me to fathom what specialization to pursue but it's really something to think about.
I am very much interested in venturing into this field and in this language pair (Spanish-English). How long do you foresee me thriving in this career being that I'm just now starting out'
I can no more predict that than I can predict the stock market, but I wouldn't want to start my career right now. If you translated until your late forties, and then machine translation became viable, you would be in a real fix. With your language skills, you could probably find other work, but it would not pay nearly as well as translation.
But this is just my own personal opinion. Other factors may also be involved, so each person's situation is unique. My advice: Interview at least a dozen people who have been full-time Sp-En translators for at least five years, and try to find out as much as possible about the specific work they do, their income (if possible), how steady the work is, etc. You also need to find a niche, because every translator has to specialize. No one can translate everything, at least not well.
Good luck!
Hello Mr Santiago,
I couldn't help being intrigued by your assessment of the translation industry. I am very much interested in venturing into this field and in this language pair (Spanish-English). How long do you foresee me thriving in this career being that I'm just now starting out? Thanks for your input.
James Santiago said:
Shelly, I've been a full-time translator (not Spanish) for almost 20 years, and I love the work. It pays me handsomely, and I am constantly learning new things. However, if you were my daughter, I would advise you to seek another career, or at least another language pair. Here's why.1. If you are 12, and if you want to retire at age 65, that means you will need a supply of translation work until the year 2061. I believe it is entirely possible that some new breakthrough in technology may make human translators obsolete before then. Humans may still be necessary for editing and for the most important translation jobs, but machines may be doing the bulk of the work by then, which will eliminate many jobs, increase competition for the remaining jobs, and drive down rates charged by translators.2. If you do become a translator, you might want to choose another language besides Spanish. There are so many bilingual speakers of En/Sp that translation just doesn't pay very well in that language pair (in general). Furthermore, technical translation is where the big money is, and Spanish just isn't one of the top languages for technology. You would do much better to learn something like Chinese or Russian, that is, a language spoken fluently by relatively few native English speakers and one that generates lots of technical material to be translated. (While there are a billion Chinese, the general rule in translation is that you translate into your native language, so for C->E translations, native English speakers are preferred.)If you become a translator, you need more than just good language skills, you also need practical experience in the field of your specialization. Therefore, I would say that 25 would sort of be a minimum age for starting out as a full-time translator, with 30 being even better. You have to understand how the world works before you can translate well.
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Shelly, I've been a full-time translator (not Spanish) for almost 20 years, and I love the work. It pays me handsomely, and I am constantly learning new things. However, if you were my daughter, I would advise you to seek another career, or at least another language pair. Here's why.
If you are 12, and if you want to retire at age 65, that means you will need a supply of translation work until the year 2061. I believe it is entirely possible that some new breakthrough in technology may make human translators obsolete before then. Humans may still be necessary for editing and for the most important translation jobs, but machines may be doing the bulk of the work by then, which will eliminate many jobs, increase competition for the remaining jobs, and drive down rates charged by translators.
If you do become a translator, you might want to choose another language besides Spanish. There are so many bilingual speakers of En/Sp that translation just doesn't pay very well in that language pair (in general). Furthermore, technical translation is where the big money is, and Spanish just isn't one of the top languages for technology. You would do much better to learn something like Chinese or Russian, that is, a language spoken fluently by relatively few native English speakers and one that generates lots of technical material to be translated. (While there are a billion Chinese, the general rule in translation is that you translate into your native language, so for C->E translations, native English speakers are preferred.)
If you become a translator, you need more than just good language skills, you also need practical experience in the field of your specialization. Therefore, I would say that 25 would sort of be a minimum age for starting out as a full-time translator, with 30 being even better. You have to understand how the world works before you can translate well.
Here is a small quiz for you, translate what you wrote above and send it to us. Also pick any other post and translated for us, try to pick the hardest you can find.
Good luck.
I can't help you wtih a quiz- I am new to the language myself- but I do admire your efforts and your ambition! Keep it up and you will get where you want to be!
