Work as an interpreter?

[blackeyedsusan 29]

Has anyone ever had success working as an interpreter/translator after coming to America, maybe online or from home? My man is fluent in Haitian Creole, French, and English, so it seems like this would be a useful skill somehow. It's going to be awhile until he's here and ready to work, but I'm just thinking ahead to any job possibilities that he could start preparing for. He's done translating for mission groups, but never had steady work as a translator...of course, it's Haiti, so he's never had steady work in anything.

I know his lack of work history is going to be an obstacle, so I'm trying to think of what jobs might be good for him to pursue while he goes to college when he gets here. He literally doesn't care what kind of job he gets - he's not proud and he'll work hard at anything he does. Just seems like we should try to capitalize on the skills he has, if at all possible.

Any advice would be appreciated!

[aleful 1,905]

hi

to work as an interpreter he has to take the state exam and have a license

he can be a translator if he knows both languages grammatically correct

he can check the American Translator's Association website

www.atanet.org

Edited February 21, 2016 by aleful

[blackeyedsusan 29]

Thank you! Any idea how the job market is for interpretors? Of course it will vary regionally; just wanting to get an idea of whether it's worth it.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

It somewhat depends on the rareness of the language and the demand. French is a fairly common second language in the US so it not hard to find a lot of translators. Not sure of the demand for the Haitian Creole here.

[aleful 1,905]

hi

it depends on where you will live and if there are a lot of people

for example for interpreting, if you were to live in Miami, he would have a possibility, Creole is the second language after Spanish, everything government related and educational related is translated into Creole, Even the ballots for elections are trilingual, they are so long because every amendment is in English, Spanish and Creole

people speak Creole everywhere, there was such a great need that when I was studying at Miami-Dade College in 2007, they opened the career for Creole translators

now you can google websites for translators, one has to to bid on translations, of course, the person offering the projects will take the cheapest, but there are less good translators in Creole that know how to write grammatically correct with the accents on the vowels, than Spanish,

now to tell you the truth, he would need tons of projects to make ends meet, this is a second job, he would probably need a job aside from this,

to be a very good court interpreter takes years

[blackeyedsusan 29]

Thank you for the information. I read somewhere that a bachelor's degree is usually required, but it didn't say what field. Is there such a thing as a bachelor's degree in interpreting?

[aleful 1,905]

Thank you for the information. I read somewhere that a bachelor's degree is usually required, but it didn't say what field. Is there such a thing as a bachelor's degree in interpreting?

hi

no, there isn't a bachelor's degree

unfortunately, there is no regulation for interpreting, except for passing the exam

for translating worse, a lot of people think just because they are bilingual, they can be translators, and sometimes companies try to go the cheaper way and hire anybody and then they pay the consequences

at Miami Dade College, there is a Certificate in Translation, Certificate in Interpretation or an Associates in Translation and Interpretation

there might be a Bachelor's Degree, maybe in Linguistics, but you don't need to study that much

[KHas 0]

Curious of this myself. I know someone who speaks English, Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, and a bit of German, and who would also have a medical degree by the time she came here. The thought was that she could live and work in the US after graduating med school, being immersed in English while preparing for and taking the US Medical License Exam - her ultimate goal is to match for a residency position over here.

I worry she'd be hassled for her nationality, though (she's Syrian, but has lived and studied in Turkey for the last five years).

[aleful 1,905]

Curious of this myself. I know someone who speaks English, Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, and a bit of German, and who would also have a medical degree by the time she came here. The thought was that she could live and work in the US after graduating med school, being immersed in English while preparing for and taking the US Medical License Exam - her ultimate goal is to match for a residency position over here.

I worry she'd be hassled for her nationality, though (she's Syrian, but has lived and studied in Turkey for the last five years).

hi

she shouldn't be, at least in general, she is well prepared, multilingual and studying to be a doctor, there a hundreds of physician here in the US that come from many different countries

[Roy&Chanel 109]

Hi there, you can try airport jobs, because they always do need translators at the airport, simple questions communication like declaration forms, boarding pass, entry permit translations in verbal. Try to ask if anyone you know works in the airport at your area, and get recommendations from there. Theres no need of any educational certification requirements, as long as you are able to speak and conversate well in the languages.