<p>So I'm a current sophomore in college majoring in linguistics, but I find that, while I really like linguistics, my main passion lies in learning languages, rather than about language. I really want to become a translator and am therefore considering spending my final two years of college working as hard as I can on the languages I've already been learning (German, Hebrew, Arabic) and starting a new language (French). I understand that you need quite advanced knowledge of a language (if not fluency) to translate it, and I'm willing to work as hard as I can to get all the languages I'm interested in up to speed. But something seems to be holding me back from doing this. Will this be detrimental to me at all, either in the translation industry or in any career industry in general?</p>
<p>I appreciate any input. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hello! </p>
<p>My kid is going through pretty much the same right now. She started an inhouse interpreting job, mostly for the pay at the beggining, but fell inlove in the process. Now, besides her public policy/intl relations path, she wants to become more involved in interpreting (spoken) and translating (written). It is very well payed, and in the arabic -which you mention-, there are great opportunities. The BLS has high regards for both these fields, and if you specialize in medical o law interpretation/translation, you might be earning more. And teaching has also caught her eye, so you might want to look at this closely. It is not for everyone, but if it is for you…skies seem pretty clear.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>OP, if you’re currently a sophomore, are you considering studying abroad next year? For fluency in any of your languages, there’s really no substitute for living in a place where they’re spoken (unless, you’re a native speaker of any of them).</p>
<p>sweetchildofmine, thank you for the encouragement. I really appreciate it :)</p>
<p>zapfino, I would study abroad, but my university has its own campuses for that and teaches all the courses in English and is actually pretty gated from the rest of the cities where its sites are. Plus they don’t offer any electives that are useful to me there. If I were to try to do an exchange program at a foreign university, my university would not provide me with financial aid and would still expect me to pay tuition (around $25k per semester). Also, credits would only transfer at my university’s discretion. You really have to fight for it. If going abroad is something I will do, then I’ll probably wait until after I graduate and maybe get a master’s or something. Thanks for the suggestion, though!</p>
<p>My son is majoring in Spanish and has gone on several mission trips to Hispanic countries. He found that he has a real passion for Spanish. I think what will help him most regarding fluency, however is that he will be spending the whole summer at a Christian orphanage in Honduras.</p>
<p>He’ll also do a study-abroad sometime as part of his scholarship, but this Honduras thing will be very interesting. Just thought I’d share another way to learn the language you’re interested in becoming fluent.</p>