| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Getting started as a young linguist. Thread poster: Simon Dean
|
|---|
Simon Dean 
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Claire has a point... | Jan 8, 2010 |
This word may begin to bore you lot soon, haha, but thanks Claire!
Wow... A* in A-level?! Your son must be mighty good at languages! Give him all the best from me! And thanks - I'm going to need all the luck I can get. I am targeted Bs, but I have been getting As lately. I've been revising since October/November! Been trying so hard so I can get good results, I hope it all pays off.
I haven't had much advice from my school on what types of courses to take. My horrible ... See more This word may begin to bore you lot soon, haha, but thanks Claire!
Wow... A* in A-level?! Your son must be mighty good at languages! Give him all the best from me! And thanks - I'm going to need all the luck I can get. I am targeted Bs, but I have been getting As lately. I've been revising since October/November! Been trying so hard so I can get good results, I hope it all pays off.
I haven't had much advice from my school on what types of courses to take. My horrible head of year still hasn't sent off my application to University yet, and I only have until Friday! I had completed everything weeks before christmas, but she didn't send for my references until the day before the Christmas holidays, and now with School being closed I can't pressurise her. I have a feeling that I won't get my UCAS application in on time, because my head of year is very vindictive. I can't get help anywhere! Long story short, I didn't know that one had to specialise to become a translator.
Simon. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Flemish to English
+ ...
| If I were you. | Jan 8, 2010 |
Because I got a bit personal and dared to indicate mistakes of "colleagues", my postings are "vetted". That is why it takes longer for them to appear.
-*-*-
If I were you, I would specialise in physics.
With languages the chances that you apply at CERN-Geneva in now and 10 years are scant, with a PhD in physics obtained at a reputable British university, you stand a chance to get in.
You will also get attractive offers from corporations. People with analytical sk... See more Because I got a bit personal and dared to indicate mistakes of "colleagues", my postings are "vetted". That is why it takes longer for them to appear.
-*-*-
If I were you, I would specialise in physics.
With languages the chances that you apply at CERN-Geneva in now and 10 years are scant, with a PhD in physics obtained at a reputable British university, you stand a chance to get in.
You will also get attractive offers from corporations. People with analytical skills (math, physics) are welcomed with open arms.
Love is not enough and well French and Spanish are just normal languages.
English, French and Spanish are "common" languages.
In the real world, experience in translation will get you nowhere, but sitting behind a pc-screen for the rest of your life and raising eyebrows when you apply for a normal starting position at company.
"It is something you do, because you are not capable of doing some better".
Everybody who knows a foreign language can translate. That is the view of the public.
They forget to have a look at the coe.int website, levels of language.
[Edited at 2010-01-08 19:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Welcome on board! | Jan 8, 2010 |
We really need enthusiastic people who love languages and the idea of translation as a way to make a better world. We all --I mean we the oldies-- have had those feelings at some stage and still have them, covered by a big pile of customer contracts, invoices, purchase orders, manuals about translation tools, and bank statements.
Let's dust the ideal about our profession being special and worth learning. And Simon, I encourage you to take this first impulse you have as the fulcrum t... See more We really need enthusiastic people who love languages and the idea of translation as a way to make a better world. We all --I mean we the oldies-- have had those feelings at some stage and still have them, covered by a big pile of customer contracts, invoices, purchase orders, manuals about translation tools, and bank statements.
Let's dust the ideal about our profession being special and worth learning. And Simon, I encourage you to take this first impulse you have as the fulcrum to increase your education, develop your skills, and eventually compete fiercely side by side with the rest of us! At your age, you have the great chance of exploring your options with universities around your area, ITI, IOL, etc. I would also definitely recommend some exposure living abroad, via Erasmus exchanges or similar options, as well as reading a lot and watching as much multimedia stuff in any languages you believe you could be using in the long run in your work.
Good luck and keep us posted about your developments! It will certainly be interesting reading.
Greetings from Spain! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Simon Dean
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Greetings Tomás! | Jan 8, 2010 |
Hi Tomás!
Thank you very much for the support! I already tune in to TF1 and TV5 now and again. I listen to Spanish music every day so as to not put my ear out of tune so-to-speak. I also have several old Spanish magazines that I read through now and again to pick up new vocabulary.
I've taken your advice, and saved that link there into my favourites for later viewing.
Many thanks!
Simon.
| | |
|
|
|
Simon Dean
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Replying to recently-approved posts | Jan 8, 2010 |
Diana;
Wow, I cannot actually believe that I used so many things incorrectly! Please do nit-pick, otherwise I'll never learn! However, thanks for your suggestion. I might just translate my Extended Project and send it off to France! What a brilliant idea!
Williamson;
Thank you for the heads-up. I have, however, diminshed my ability to take a physics-centered degree (unless I combine it with one of my Languages. If that is the case you're referring to, I am ... See more Diana;
Wow, I cannot actually believe that I used so many things incorrectly! Please do nit-pick, otherwise I'll never learn! However, thanks for your suggestion. I might just translate my Extended Project and send it off to France! What a brilliant idea!
Williamson;
Thank you for the heads-up. I have, however, diminshed my ability to take a physics-centered degree (unless I combine it with one of my Languages. If that is the case you're referring to, I am sorry!) as I haven't studied maths in nearly two years. There's actually no University (I've reseached nearly all of them!) in the UK that offers physics without maths.
But your point about the 'common' languages does have merit. French and Spanish are the only languages available for me to study right now, though. If I get into University for the course I want, I could study Quecha or Catalan as a mini-module!
I know a bit of Farsi though, as almost five years ago I taught my classmate English, who came over from Iran and didn't speak a word of it. I'd have to study that to become proficient, though.
Thanks all!
Simon. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Flemish to English
+ ...
| A language-career... | Jan 9, 2010 |
Simon,
With regard to language jobs : There is the "freelance jungle" in which you must find your own way, some UK-government institutions and the international institutions.
These are the only ones where you will be able to make a career. Starting at a linguistic grade and going up to a high linguistic grade and high salary.
Broadly speaking there is the E.U. which will have a shortage of native English interpreters due to retirement of the ones in place today.
A... See more Simon,
With regard to language jobs : There is the "freelance jungle" in which you must find your own way, some UK-government institutions and the international institutions.
These are the only ones where you will be able to make a career. Starting at a linguistic grade and going up to a high linguistic grade and high salary.
Broadly speaking there is the E.U. which will have a shortage of native English interpreters due to retirement of the ones in place today.
Adding an Eastern European language to your language skills or languages of accession countries will give you an distinct advantage.
In the UK and almost anywhere else in Europe where English is offered as A-language (ESIT, ISIT,ETI) interpreting is offered at post-graduate level : the basic requirements to get in, is a university degree and pass the admission tests.
The "mother" of all schools for translators and intepreters "ETI-Geneva" has an acceptance rate of 1%-1.8% on an average. That means if 120 candidates participate in the admission tests 12-18 succeed. ETI is the court supplier of the UN, the other important career-possibility. When I visited Westminster, there were 30 people going for their EMCI. In Paris, the number of people in the first year was far less.
The UN has 6 official languages: English,French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese. For the latter two languages, they don't seem to have enough people either, because Arabic and Chinese are first interpreted into English and then into the other four languages. This is called "liaison interpreting" and is a resort when there are no interpreters available to interpret directly from say Arabic-Spanish or Lithouanian>French (E.U.)
There are fewer interpreters than there are translators, both on the freelance market and on the official market. Whereas everybody (with/out) a degree can "annoint" oneself "translator", this is not the case with conference interpreting.
No adequate training and you risk to go flat on your face and loose your reputation.
This has its repercussion on the freelance market. No haggling over "best" rates and CAT-tools reductions. No invoice chasing, sometimes payment after a fortnight, but mostly earlier.
Compared with the other careers, the language-career market is "very" narrow.
Ah, math on which I have been going flat on my face for the past three years.
But in this world, you can't do without it. Math and stat are the basis of business studies, engineering studies, ....
Instead of jumping on the freelance translation market, you could go for the best of both worlds. Physics or business whilst reading a newspaper every day (El País, Le Monde, the International Herald Tribune, a weekly and a monthly). Compare articles about a topic in different languages and write down words you do not know as well as idioms. Make lists of those and learn them by heart. If you do this for 5 years, you uppen your chances of being one of those 1%.
To consult a style-guide might help too.
With regard to levels of languages : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages
Ask yourself how can I get to level C2.
I bought a cheap saucer disk at Lidl, installed the thing myself and am able to capture: TVE,24 Horas, France24 in French and simultaneously in English, Ard and Zdf (German stations), Sfr (Swiss television), a couple of channels which transmit in German and English alternately,
After all French, German, Spanish, English and Dutch are my active languages.
Romania1 (a language of interest, which I understand, but can not speak), Rai1 (a language of interest, which I understand, but can not speak), RTP (a language of interest, which I can understand), RTR (Russian tv: a language of interest which I understand a little, but can not speak), CCTV (Chinese channel in English) and NHK (Japanese tv in English, where you can hear Japanese in the background). I tried to make sense of Hungarian tv, but that is language is too difficult.
Whatever you choose, good luck.
[Edited at 2010-01-09 10:16 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 18:40
Italian to English
In memoriam | Doing the math | Jan 9, 2010 |
Williamson wrote:
The "mother" of all schools for translators and intepreters "ETI-Geneva" has an acceptance rate of 1%-1.8% on an average. That means if 120 candidates participate in the admission tests 12-18 succeed.
...
Ah, math on which I have been going flat on my face for the past three years.
Can't fault your self-assessment
But thanks for the informative post.
G.
| | | | Simon Dean
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Sobering statistics | Jan 9, 2010 |
Wow, those numbers really do put things into perspective. Although, I am not one to be put off by percentages! I like your idea about the television, though. I might have to do that too!
I have been contacted by someone offering a little voluntary translation! How good's that?! What I'm really trying to say is that I don't want to be a Freelancer right away. I'm looking for tips, C.V or other, and some experience before I try to follow that career path. You're all giving me very go... See more Wow, those numbers really do put things into perspective. Although, I am not one to be put off by percentages! I like your idea about the television, though. I might have to do that too!
I have been contacted by someone offering a little voluntary translation! How good's that?! What I'm really trying to say is that I don't want to be a Freelancer right away. I'm looking for tips, C.V or other, and some experience before I try to follow that career path. You're all giving me very good advice!
Thanks! Especially for that TV tip, Williamson.
Simon.
[Edited at 2010-01-09 11:42 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Flemish to English
+ ...
| Con algo hay que empezar... | Jan 9, 2010 |
To make an anology : To get a foot in the door of the I.T.-World one of my acquiantances (just earned his degree of "civil engineer in IT") started teaching Windows 95 to charities for free. This was followed by Office95. He did this for a month or three. Three months later he applied to small software-teaching agencies and asked a small fee £25/ day. After a month or two at those offices, he applied at a medium-sized office and asked £100 per day. After a year, he went to the biggest office o... See more To make an anology : To get a foot in the door of the I.T.-World one of my acquiantances (just earned his degree of "civil engineer in IT") started teaching Windows 95 to charities for free. This was followed by Office95. He did this for a month or three. Three months later he applied to small software-teaching agencies and asked a small fee £25/ day. After a month or two at those offices, he applied at a medium-sized office and asked £100 per day. After a year, he went to the biggest office of them all and asked £300 per day.
The other side of the scale of the Office-suite is tailor-made freelance programming in Visual Basic for Excel and Access. Through a placement agency, he managed to get in as a freelancer at a big bank on a three years' countract. When this had to be renewed, the in-between was eliminated and he got his freelance contract at £450 directly from a bank. In all, he staid there for five years until he paid back the mortgage on his to the bank where he was working. However, because he was only skilled in programming and had scant notions of business, he failed to get a foot between the doors of the City at £650 per day.
If I give a lot of answers: I was 17 once, did not know what or where on the labour-market. Had a French-speaking girl-friend, whose father was a captain-of-industry (1 villa, one country-house, a Jag, a Mercedes 500 SEL before their country house and a golf-course behind it).
I was naïve and did not know what to choose. I thought everybody was that wealthy.
Looking back on it, I should have asked their advice. They knew that there was such a thing as commercial engineer, followed by "insead.edu".
I realised that my passion was in aviation when I was sitting in the cockpit behind the captain of that DC10 flying over Alaska and the North-pole and landing in the sea in Hong-Kong. However, "Oxford Aviation" comes with a £70000 price-tag and given my knowledge of maths, let alone physics.... In that company somebody with a business education (M.B.A.-preferred, could go far upon the career ladder).
What I mean to say : don't make choices you'll regret later, because you don't like this or that or you "love" (withers) this or that.
When you are 17-18 you will make choices which determine how the rest of your life and the financial picture will look. The older you get the more difficult it is to change.
Do you want to sit behind a computer screen your entire adult life translating texts, haggling over rates and CAT-reductions, asking yourself what the equivalent of that one word is, sitting in a room alone chasing invoices?
If this is what you seek, do become a translator.
What was that Microsoft slogan again: "Where do you want to go today"? Just think about it.
As with everything: you have to start somewhere.
--
@Gilles: The %-age come from the results on the website of ETI from 2007-2009, one year 12 got in (divided over the 6 languages of the institute), the other year 18.
Falling on my face : Calculation of doube derivatives is not my piece of cake.
[Edited at 2010-01-09 19:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Simon Dean
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Lo comprendo pero... | Jan 9, 2010 |
Hi Williamson!
You make some really good points, and albeit I am looking at Translation through rose-tinted glasses, but I have been interested in Translation for some time now. I will struggle through the ups and downs! Chasing invoices, sitting infront of a Computer Screen and haggling might not sound appealing, but invoices are part of working life. Many people sit infront of computer screens for their jobs, and haggling is an aquired skill!
In other words, I am prep... See more Hi Williamson!
You make some really good points, and albeit I am looking at Translation through rose-tinted glasses, but I have been interested in Translation for some time now. I will struggle through the ups and downs! Chasing invoices, sitting infront of a Computer Screen and haggling might not sound appealing, but invoices are part of working life. Many people sit infront of computer screens for their jobs, and haggling is an aquired skill!
In other words, I am prepared to try anything when it comes to translation, but it is what I want to do as a profession. It's not just a job to me.
Thanks!
Simon. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It's been fun talking to you, Simon! | Jan 9, 2010 |
Dear Simon,
You have been getting lots of feedback from translators who sound a bit jaundiced - or should I say realistic - about whether translating as a career is the dream job they presumably thought when they started. All this information is no reason to get discouraged, just a way to help you find out where you really stand.
In my opinion one thing which Williamson says is really important. The choices you take NOW are going to influence the rest of your life. So I was... See more Dear Simon,
You have been getting lots of feedback from translators who sound a bit jaundiced - or should I say realistic - about whether translating as a career is the dream job they presumably thought when they started. All this information is no reason to get discouraged, just a way to help you find out where you really stand.
In my opinion one thing which Williamson says is really important. The choices you take NOW are going to influence the rest of your life. So I was a bit worried when you said you did not know if your teacher would even get your UCAS application off in time. If this is true and it really doesn't get off in time, you have two courses of action:
a)Lodge an official complaint and kick up a big fuss, involve the media etc etc. and insist on your application being processed as it was not your fault - or
b) take a year out and reapply in 2011. For this "gap year" you should go to a Spanish or French speaking country and get a job or become a language assistant or whatever - the main thing is for you to find out if your love for languages is great enough to maintain your enthusiasm for the rest of your life and of course to become fluent.
One thing I told my sons when they were thinking about their choices for Uni: Do what you are keenest on, not what other people recommend just because there aren't enough people applying for a certain career right now. What you are keenest on is going to be what you are best at or at least what you put your heart into, and that is the most important thing. And for you it is languages, that's great!
About "rare" and "common" languages - You are never going to be as proficient in, say, Farsi as a Native Speaker of this language is. Just imagine - that friend you helped to learn English is always going to be better at Farsi than you as it is his native tongue, isn't he? However, this boy is going to acquire an almost Native Speaker command of English in addition, as he has lived in England from the age of 12 (I assume) and has done his schooling in English. This is the sort of person who might well become a translator, because this sort of person is bilingual.
A good translator is usually what we call ambilingual. This term is used to describe a person who has complete mastery of two languages, i.e. he or she speaks each of two languages as well as a monolingual native speaker would speak each one. This is what you must aim at!
I started out like you doing two languages at A-level. In my gap year I taught in a school in Germany. I then studied my languages at Uni. Later on I went to live permanently in Germany. Now that I have lived here for over 30 years, I consider myself on the way to becoming ambilingual. I'm a translator although I never did any special studies for it, thanbks to the many years' immersion in the language. But you could follow the other route and take a degree specifically in translating and interpreting, you'd get there more quickly.
It's been fun taking to you, Simon, and all the best!
Diana ▲ Collapse
| | | | Cecelia Murphy
United States
Local time: 11:40
German to English
+ ...
For some reason, a lot of people around here are incredibly protective of this profession. They get awfully defensive, as you may have been able to tell, about newcomers. They like to gnash their teeth at the new guard. The questioning can get pretty nasty, especially these comparisons to brain surgery and aviation.
Seems some are both bitter about their own choice to pursue translation and hell-bent on keeping everyone else out of the profession.
This is what I wish s... See more For some reason, a lot of people around here are incredibly protective of this profession. They get awfully defensive, as you may have been able to tell, about newcomers. They like to gnash their teeth at the new guard. The questioning can get pretty nasty, especially these comparisons to brain surgery and aviation.
Seems some are both bitter about their own choice to pursue translation and hell-bent on keeping everyone else out of the profession.
This is what I wish someone had said to me back when I started just a few years ago:
Please don't be daunted by these "statistics" and gruesome anecdotes. As with everything else, it's a matter of perspective, and there is plenty of reason for optimism.
Yes, there is a certain Darwinian logic over freelance work. Unlike being an employee at a company, you have to fight for your own work, bid on projects until you start getting repeat clients, and when the repeat clients fold or shift focus or find someone who does what you do for cheaper, you have to bid and apply again. This is why I recommend getting established while you have another job, some kind of part- or full-time work.
There is no "employee of the month," no benefits, no company picnics.
But you know what else is missing?
Nobody owns you! The fact is, translating is a wonderful thing to do if you value freedom and not being chained to a desk. If you work freelance (and I don't recommend doing it any other way) you can be your own boss while everyone else slaves away for the man - it's fantastic. I make plenty of money working about 10-15 hours a week (no joke). This is because translation is compact work: you get it done or you don't, there is no busywork, there is no twiddling your thumbs or playing busy for the boss.
If I wanted to make more money, and eventually I do, I have options. I can work a weekly schedule that would more resemble a typical office workweek. BUT even if I had to work 40 hours a week, I can choose WHEN to work, stopping to fit in a workout/social event/dog walk/errand. And I can choose WHERE: anywhere with an Internet connection. At home, in bed, at the kitchen table, at a coffee shop around the corner - hell, at a coffee shop in Reykjavik! Or Costa Rica!
And even if you make a more modest income doing it than you would, say, selling widgets at a managerial level (which may or may not even be the case), you still get YOUR LIFE TO LIVE, and not just on weekends. What's that worth to you?
It is definitely good to think strategically and to make sure you end up on the upper end of the salary scale. I think it's obvious that you intend to do what it takes to make it, and it's fabulous you're starting out early. No matter what anyone tells you, translation is a skill that can be developed, and it sounds like you're well on your way already. At the rate you're going, I think you'll be ahead of us all.
It seems you've received some really warm and encouraging responses, and some that were, well, less so. I really hope you'll focus on the former. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
B D Finch
France
Local time: 18:40
French to English
+ ...
| When should you get started? | Jan 9, 2010 |
I agree absolutely with the comments by British Diana. It is not essential to have either a degree in your source language or a recognised translation qualification. However, it is necessary to have a level of competence equivalent to those who have those qualifications, and the best way of both acquiring that competence and proving that you have it is to get the qualifications. There are plenty of translators out there who have neither competence nor qualifications. They are generally worki... See more I agree absolutely with the comments by British Diana. It is not essential to have either a degree in your source language or a recognised translation qualification. However, it is necessary to have a level of competence equivalent to those who have those qualifications, and the best way of both acquiring that competence and proving that you have it is to get the qualifications. There are plenty of translators out there who have neither competence nor qualifications. They are generally working for peanuts, for unscrupulous agencies, and/or for clients who don't (yet) know what rubbish they are paying for.
A few years' experience working in the subject area you want to specialise in, before you start translating professionally, would not come amiss either. In order to understand the style and jargon used in a particular linguistic community, it helps to be part of that community for a while. Many translators start off (and often continue), doing pro bono work for charities; but ask yourself whether you should be proposing anything less than professional standard work to your chosen charity.
Look on the bright side: by the time you are ready to work as a translator, the economic situation might have picked up.
[Edited at 2010-01-09 17:29 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | translation courses | Jan 9, 2010 |
Perhaps you should contact the ITI here in England.
You mentioned agencies. To be honest, I am working as Company Secretary for such an agency and I am the one dealing with applications from translators.
My experiece is: we never consider a candidate for our agency if he/she hasn't got any law degree or has working experience as a legal secretary or paralegal.
But we are running a specialised agency for legal translations and we need highly qualified translators. Otherwise the ... See more Perhaps you should contact the ITI here in England.
You mentioned agencies. To be honest, I am working as Company Secretary for such an agency and I am the one dealing with applications from translators.
My experiece is: we never consider a candidate for our agency if he/she hasn't got any law degree or has working experience as a legal secretary or paralegal.
But we are running a specialised agency for legal translations and we need highly qualified translators. Otherwise the risk of being liable to clients would be much too high and redrafting a translation during the process of proofreading is making me mad. For us, legal translation means to transport the exact meaning of a text into a foreign language without missing any legal or background information. This means that you need to know the law very well. No reaonable agency would run the risk of hiring you without any qualifications either as a linguist or a graduate from another subject.
This is the same for a journalist: you can work as a journalist even without any special education and with gaining professional experience you will be as qualified as an examined translator. But first of all you need experience and expertise in a field. And you really need more education of some kind.
I started translating by accident when I was working for an organisation linked to a federal ministry in Bonn, Germany whilst studying law. I found it disgusting but was forced to do it otherwise I would have been fired. I simply had no knowledge about translation at all. I had learnt some translation techniques in my courses in French and English for the equivalent of the A-levels. But this really meant nothing.
And I was happy to stop translating when I quit my job after two years.
Later as a trainee at the courts I had to interpret and translate again and suddenly I found it a wonderful but very badly paid job! You know why? I had gained a lot of legal knowledge, was a legal professional, had studied law in England and had gained working experience at the courts in London as well.
Studying a MA in legal translation is really more a hobby and my addiction to law and the languages. And admitted: to earn more money.
The higher you are qualified as a translator, the better and the more you can earn.
If I wouldn't have been fed up with the slavery you experience as a legal professional I still would be a practitioner of law. But to go to bed at a time before 2am is a wonderful experience. And suddenly I have got weekends from time to time.
Some of the others had a very good point I forgot to mention yesterday: Go and live in the countries and live in the languages you want to translate. It is really very helpful knowing the mentality, the legal system and the cultural and political background. Knowledge from books can be sufficient but trying to think in a foreign language menas having survived sometimes odd situations. And believe me: all foreigners have situations they really would have preferred to miss. And the experience of such situations make you think more on how to express, argue and behave in a foreign language and its culture.
You asked mje for school projects: talk to your teachers about it and ask them for ideas on how to participate in translation contests. I know that some organisations such as the ITI run such contests and it is always a good idea to make yourself a name by participating and hopefully winning.
When I thought of taking an exam as a translator I found an organisation in Ireland on the internet. They run long distance courses with exams and this would be a real good start. You have to pay for it but they are helpful with their knowledge and advice. And as they run an agency themselves you might be able to get a foot in the door.
I haven't got the address any longer but they are situated in Dublin. Make some research and you will find them.
Another possibility would be to get information on the courses for the different Cambridge Certificates. They are not only useful for foreigners. Again you have to apply but if you are really comitted you will have to pay the price of cash for your ambitions. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 17:40
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| 2 ways to start, IMO | Jan 9, 2010 |
Either:
you are young, therefore inexperienced but with good qualifications (i.e. degree level minimum in something plus, if appropriate, post-grad studies in translating),
or:
you are older, with a great deal of experience in your specialisations (eg physics in your case), good writing skills and a demonstrable command of your language pair(s), but not necessarily a great deal in the way of paper qualifications.
Personally, I left school in the mid-70s when it was... See more Either:
you are young, therefore inexperienced but with good qualifications (i.e. degree level minimum in something plus, if appropriate, post-grad studies in translating),
or:
you are older, with a great deal of experience in your specialisations (eg physics in your case), good writing skills and a demonstrable command of your language pair(s), but not necessarily a great deal in the way of paper qualifications.
Personally, I left school in the mid-70s when it wasn't normal practice for everyone to go into further education. At 53 I have many years of experience behind me but even then I'm sometimes automatically excluded from jobs I would like and could do, simply because I don't have the right slip of paper. It's frustrating, but I've only got a few years to go and I have plenty of work.
Since you can't possibly aspire to the second, I think you'd be best going for the first. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Getting started as a young linguist. | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
