I am currently fluent in Spanish, English, and French, and though I still need to go through higher education I would like to know what job is highly recommended. I have thought about becoming a language teacher but the idea does not fulfill my deepest desires. I hope that my question isn’t too troubling. Thank you for your questions and answers.

Tags: ,
 

  • Carlos 8:01 am on March 14, 2010 Permalink |

    Read this post. "Importance of Learning a Second Language": http://babelanmicroblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/importance-of-learning-second-language.html

  • Judah 8:01 am on March 14, 2010 Permalink |

    It’s not just limited to "language teacher" or "translator," there’s all kinds of jobs that get opened up.

    My ex’s stepdad is a real estate agent, and speaks both English and German fluently (though his grammar in German is atrocious). There’s a lot of engineers and such that come to the US from Germany, Austria and other German speaking countries for work, and he helps them to find homes.

    A friend of mine is trilingual in English, Hindi and Telegu (a South Indian language), and she’s setting up a website for an Indian grocery, helping to make it easy for all kinds of different people.

    My ex’s mom, a very Russian medical technician, can explain terms to patients that the doctor may be unable to, and make sure all the concerns are addressed appropriately. Same goes for a Romanian med student friend of mine.

    A family friend speaks English and Hebrew fluently, and this helps her clients (she’s a lawyer) to explain the situation they’re in.

    My boss speaks English, German, Hindi, Gujarati and Spanish (maybe a few others, too, but these are the ones I know about). He caters parties, and these languages help him work with clients and workers, as well as suppliers, to coordinate and sell his product, so it’s a pretty good deal for him.

    Basically, if a job involves people, in any way, another language opens up a whole new client base with special needs. This is especially true for highly specialized jobs, like a doctor or a lawyer, where a simple grasp on the language just isn’t enough–there’s too many technical terms to know, and too much going on for simple sentences to suffice.

    Of course, more limited language skills are still useful. My German isn’t fluent, but while I’m waiting tables, I can ask monolingual Germans if their food is ok, and I can answer wee kids when they ask "Was ist ‘chicken?’" My (also limited) Japanese can be used in the same way, and Hindi too, from time to time. Esperanto, of course, I use for picking up chicks, mostly.

    As for outright translators, a classmate of mine translates documents for the Mexican government, and it’s a good deal for his schedule, because it doesn’t matter if it’s translated at midnight or 2 in the afternoon, just as long as it’s done before the deadline. Good gig for a student. It’s a lot less pressure than a UN translator, who has to work in real time, and have very precise translations when context clues really aren’t yet available, so you’re not really sure where they’re going with what they’re saying.

  • Mike 8:01 am on March 14, 2010 Permalink |

    Well, I’d say knowing three languages would REALLY give you an edge over the competition in tons of jobs. I’m only in high school, and I’m taking the usual spanish classes, but I have a brother who is 26, and he is teaching English to students at a college in Xi’an, China. I don’t know your personality, but for him, it’s a really awesome job. He took spanish in high school, but didn’t take it in college, and as he’s learning chinese now, he really regrets not going further with spanish. Also, being able to speak ( maybe teach) different languages gives you lots of opportunities to get the benefits of going abroad and getting a place to live. For my brother, the college gave him an appartment on campus, and he eats WELL on an average day, and spends no more than 5-10 dollars. Hope this helps some, not sure if all of this is what you need, but if you ever wanted to learn chinese.. this is what it would be like. :)

  • Rae 8:01 am on March 14, 2010 Permalink |

    You might enjoy working as a translator for the U.N. It requires quick thinking and accurate translation. It would be a very demanding, but fulfilling job. You can Google United Nations translator or interpreter for more information.

    Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia entitled "United Nations Interpretation Services":

    The interpretation system sequence

    * 1. The speaker talks to a "microphone discussion system" connected to a central system.
    * 2. The central control system distributes the signal to the audience that do not need interpretation and to the simultaneous interpreter.
    * 3. Audio consoles are placed in the interpretation booths. Interpreters receive the signal, and are still able to capture the environment of the meeting.
    * 4. The interpreter talks to his or her transmitter and the signal goes back to the central console.