| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Why are translation qualifications practically nonexistent in the US? Thread poster: Kelly Efird
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OG Pete 
United States
Russian to English
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| What price is viable? | Feb 4, 2013 |
Daina Jauntirans wrote:
The price issue is definitely a problem, but mostly, I think, because people don't think they can monetize a language or translation degree and turn it into a viable career, when they actually can.
| | | | | Good question! | Feb 4, 2013 |
Good question, and one I don't really have an answer to except to say that I was able to pay back my master's in less than 5 years (I did have a partial scholarship) and have been working as a professional translator since I graduated 15 years ago. It is doable.
[Edited at 2013-02-04 20:33 GMT]
| | | | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 00:42
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
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| Schools don't teach entrepreneurship | Feb 4, 2013 |
Daina Jauntirans wrote:
The price issue is definitely a problem, but mostly, I think, because people don't think they can monetize a language or translation degree and turn it into a viable career, when they actually can.
Of course it's doable. But: 1) it takes time (say, 2-4 years), and 2) besides academia or government/military (both relatively limited opportunities), you must be an entrepreneur and assume the risks that go along with that. However, that's not the way most people are conditioned to think about an investment in education (graduate programs in particular). They want the biggest, fastest return possible on their investment. Educational programs (in general) sell themselves on career placement percentages and graduates' starting salaries, not the fantastic opportunity to spend a few years effectively holding down two full-time jobs to support yourself until your freelance business is self-sustaining.
| | | | OG Pete
United States
Russian to English
+ ...
I have a great idea: make a list of any and all translator qualifications in the US and price them out.
If I can find the time maybe I'll do it myself and blog about it
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| Depends on the school | Feb 5, 2013 |
Rudolf, Monterey Institute, where I got my translation degree, did in fact teach some entrepreneurship whether in class or through extra speakers brought to the campus. In at least one class, we were required to do our assignments as if we were freelancers, down to writing mock invoices for our work. We were also taught CAT tools, and this was the late 1990s.
I did work as an employee for a few years before going freelance, but once I did, I did it "cold," i.e., without holding down... See more Rudolf, Monterey Institute, where I got my translation degree, did in fact teach some entrepreneurship whether in class or through extra speakers brought to the campus. In at least one class, we were required to do our assignments as if we were freelancers, down to writing mock invoices for our work. We were also taught CAT tools, and this was the late 1990s.
I did work as an employee for a few years before going freelance, but once I did, I did it "cold," i.e., without holding down a day job. I was up and running within a few months, not two years. I credit that to both my degree and my prior work experience.
I'm still thinking through the issues you both have brought up. I am glad I did not look at return on investment when obtaining my BA (German language and literature major, heavy on the literature), but very pleased I did with my master's. In a few years when my own daughter is thinking about university, we will definitely be looking at ROI - I think the game has changed even since I attended college and grad school in the 1990s.
[Edited at 2013-02-05 17:19 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-02-05 17:19 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-02-05 17:20 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I would like to see that! | Feb 5, 2013 |
Питер wrote: I have a great idea: make a list of any and all translator qualifications in the US and price them out. If I can find the time maybe I'll do it myself and blog about it
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:42
French to English
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| I would define it as a "core" skill | Feb 6, 2013 |
Kelly Efird wrote:
With a language degree, as with most liberal arts/humanities degrees, the job options are all over the map. And another example, there are degree programs in general mathematics but there are also degree programs in accounting and finance: why can't it be like this with languages and translating/interpreting?
I appreciate this argument, and degrees that are overly focussed on a specific area of work at the specific time that you happen to be studying are also a bad idea.
*But*, I would still say that being able to take some text written in the language studied and render it in a lingua franca or in the native language of the student is a "basic" enough language skill that I would expect it to be covered to some level... and that by the time you reach the stage of studying for a university degree, the "basic" level of study should give you some vague level of usefulness and competence in that skill.
I would agree that areas such as simultaneous interpreting, computer modelling of language, certain specific language teaching techniques, maaaaaybe some specific translation-related skills such as database lookup, and very specific types of translation-- i.e. cases where there is some very specific training process or specific body of knowledge essentially unrelated to the language to be learnt-- lie outside the "core".
But to me, some general level of translation is much more of a core skill: as I say, I'm not entirely sure what the raison d'être is of a language degree that doesn't aim to equip you with some basic translation skills.
Incidentally, I think your accounting example (and even some engineering applications) are slightly different: in accounting what you are essentially learning is a social/legal framework along with the application of some basic high school maths. Maybe for financial theory you're looking more at 1st year of a maths degree course.
OTOH, by my argument, I probably *would* ideally expect any "business" or "politics" degree to include some basic accounting and finance.
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