I live in London am studying to become an interpreter at the moment and would like to freelance one day after gaining some experience in the public sector.
I would love to hear from my fellow guppies what they did when they wanted to become an interpreter? What qualifications did you complete? Did you become a volunteer straight after qualifying? How did you enter the working force in regards to interpreting? How much did you start earning?
Is there alot of scope in interpreting or am i wasting my time?
Thanking you.
Re: Anyone here and interpreter/Translator?
I worked as an interpretor during grad school. This was thru an agency, they called me for court cases where there were indians or pakistanis involved and their english was not great. I also served as an interpretor for INS cases for deportation.
Not sure about professional interpretors, the agency had some, but they were used for larger and more critical items than the things I was assigned.
Re: Anyone here and interpreter/Translator?
i did if for wat was INS during the deportation period after 9-11
and now do it for a legal firm. both settings were/are voluntary. i loved helping people and it forced me to take courses in urdu varying from writing, reading to speaking skills.
as far as qualifications are concerned, i normally just write my "formal" years of study in the given language. the legal profession has scope in this.
try a volunteer position first. get your feet wet and then decide wat to do from there. best of luck :)
Re: Anyone here and interpreter/Translator?
You must have some crazy stories. Share some.
Re: Anyone here and interpreter/Translator?
frontier charm,
unless it is some non for profit type of entity they should be paying you something, atleast a per diem. I did translations over ten years ago and the going rate was $20/hour + T&E and with a 3 hour minimum.
Re: Anyone here and interpreter/Translator?
TDW- crazzzy stories are in the legal cases. imagine, desis and their biznish skills slapped together with the sue happy american phenomenon. that’s one crazy legal tikka masala:mudhosh:
Mr.Fraudia- i took this up as a project for a class. ur rite about getting paid, and the fee is much higher now. at least in california. funny all the silly jobs we undertake while we haul out of grad school. let’s pray i dont end up a “volunteer” at hooters and finish up soon!
Re: Anyone here and interpreter/Translator?
heheh funny side jobs, tell me about them man
Re: Anyone here and interpreter/Translator?
Thanks for the advice guys!
I am in the process of finding voluntary work experience in local community. As someone said, this will give me some idea what to expect. I have heard that the pay is good for professionals so as I reside in UK, you can earn more if you are recognized with good qualifications and if you are registered on the National Register of Linguists!
But please share your experiences with me. The kind of people you met, the meetings with the clients, attitude, was it hard? After your voluntary work (if you did any) did you get into interpreting on a professional level? Would appreciate as much details as possible!