What are the steps you take to become an interpreter?

Question

What exactly(or as best you can describe) are the steps it takes to become an interpreter? For example:

Step one - Take a language class that interests you in high school and study hard.

Step two: Spend timeabroadd in the country whose language you want to learn.

So far, I've done step one and two. I'm a high school senior. Today was my first day back at school. I'm having a super reality check. Still have to take the SAT....something came up the day I was supposed to take it in June. Also still havn't decided where to apply to. Anyway, I stated fixing those problems today. So since I want to be an interpreter please help me. What should I do now? For example what should I major in during college? Where/How do I get jobs after I get my degree. Do I even need a degree? Just post all the steps it took you please and any helpful advice is apreciated.

Answer 1

You would major in the language in college, and probably something else as well such as area studies (If you studied Spanish, then Latin American studies).  It also depends in what area you want to be a translator--if you want to work for the government, then government studies or human services would be good, for instance.  If you want to work somewhere like the United Nations, you need more than just French and English--they generally hire people with 3-4 languages, but they do offer a certification translator course to all.