How Do I become a translator/interpreter when I grow up?
How do I become a translator/interpreter for a business when I grow up? what should I major in? and what languages should I learn?
p.s. How much do translators/interpreters make?
p.s.s. I DON'T want to be a freelance translator.
9 Answers
violet said:
........and French, those are the 6 offficial languages of the UN
Much used, perhaps, but one would be facing a lot of competition (from others who can do French to English translations).
Ian Francis Hill said:
Hello Shelly The most important languages to learn are English Spanish Arabic Russian and Chinese
If you could do all these very well you would be exceptional and earn a fortune.
Ian
........and French, those are the 6 offficial languages of the UN
Hello Shelly
The most important languages to learn are English Spanish Arabic Russian and Chinese
If you could do all these very well you would be exceptional and earn a fortune.
Ian
Another point not mentioned so far: The overwhelming odds are that (as a translator and, to a slightly lesser extent, as an interpreter) you will be rendering something from some other language into English. For this reason, it is vitally important that your command of English be (at least) good. By "good", I don't mean that you get along with your (current) friends in school but, rather, better that that of the average college graduate. It does absolutely no good to understand what is being said in Spanish (or whatever), if you cannot accurately express the thought in English.
Shelly, if you'll search the forum, you'll see this has been discussed before. How much translators earn is going to vary greatly. (James likes to point out that if you want to be paid well, Spanish is probably not the language you should be looking at.)
We may suppose that a court interpreter in Missouri is not going to get paid nearly as much as a simultaneous interpreter employed at the UN.
Shelly said:
How much do interpreters make?
>
How much do interpreters make'
Well, first off, and interpreter and a translator are two different things, I know since I am an interpreter myslef. Therefore you need to pick which one is more for you. Translator implies written texts, in spanish or english, that you either translate to another piece of paper, or you speak it out loud. Interpreter implies oral to oral. Someone speaks in one language and then you translator for another person into the other language. Once you have decided which one is more your route then you can decide the course to take. First off, go to college. Get either a associates (2 years) or a bachelors and get a minor in Spanish (or whatever language your thinking of) then get a world languages associates in world languages and arts. From there either go to the DSHS and get your interpreters or translators certification. This means taking oral and written tests for interpreters and written tests for translators. Once you have done that you are a state certified interpreter/translator. Then you need to apply at either an interpreting agency, or you need to find a job as a interpreter/translator at either a school, government office, or hospital. (hint: there are no translator agencys, so your job is in fact your agency if you go that route) Some of the best agency's off the top of my head are Foreign Language, No Boundaries, Barreras sin Limites, and J and J interpreters. Buena Suerte!
Some of it comes down to luck. If you are the best translator in the world and live out in the middle of nowhere, there probably wouldn't be a use for you to work as a translator, especially if you don't want to be freelance.
I think that your best bet to work as a professional translator is to live in or near a large city, best in the southwest and/or Florida (if you are and want to be in the United States) and work for a marketing company, or a school.
Go to college, am currently studying to become a german, english and spanish translator.
