If you live in the uk what qualifications do you need to be a translator / interpreter?

Question

if you live in the uk what qualifications do you need to be a translator / interpreter .....

From A - Level onwards what are the qualifications you need.

Do you need to retake the languages you did for alevels?

do you need to take a seperate course for translation /interpretion?

what universities are good for learning languages?

Are translaters and or interpreters paid well?

Answer 1

You don't really need any formal qualifications, but you do need an extremely good educational basis, as no errors of spelling, syntax or punctuation are tolerated in translation. (At the moment spelling doesn't seem to be your strong point!) Typically people study modern languages to degree level and then take a postgraduate course to train them in the techniques of translation and interpreting, but people have come to the profession by many other paths. If you don't have university qualifications as a linguist, you can make up for this by taking the examinations of bodies such as the Institute of Linguists. You might like to look at their booklet to give you some idea of how to set about it. http://www.iol.org.uk/qualifications/IoL...

Translation and interpreting are two different disciplines and while some people manage to do both, most people gravitate towards one or the other. With translation, you can pace yourself and check your work before submitting it; with interpreting you only have one chance to get it right. There are various forms of interpreting: conference interpreting, where you sit in a booth and simply turn the words over; and consecutive interpreting, where you listen to the words of the person speaking and render them into another language.It can be quite nerve racking, especially if you have a mental block and everyone's waiting for the next word!  The golden rule is always to work into your mother tongue, but often with consecutive interpreting you are obliged to break this rule as you switch from one language to the other.

Some translators and interpreters are very well paid and can look forward to generous pensions when they retire. On the whole, though, it is not a well paid profession, particularly if you are working on a self-employed basis. Rates of pay for freelance linguists seem to have frozen over at least the last decade, despite the rising cost of living. One worrying trend is the way in which translation work is finding its way to the third world, where people are willing and able to work for much lower rates of pay. If you look at the first page of this link, you will see how dramatic the differences are. http://www.translationdirectory.com/tran...

Being a translator can be a very solitary life, although interpreting enables you to get about and meet people. Some of the work is interesting, but a great deal of it can be stultifyingly dull. Before you commit yourself to following this path for the rest of your life, you should give it some careful thought.  I think that a person who is qualified both in another profession and in translating/interpreting has an advantage over someone who has studied only languages in being able to offer a specialised knowledge of his subject area.