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Your mandarin is good enough to translate between languages?
Well I only do Chinese-English. My chinese is not that good, but I think translation itself is not that difficult to do. You just need to get a good base in the source language and then dive in and start doing it. I think the most important thing in translating is being able to write well in the target language, esp being familiar with specialized terms used in different fields.
I was complaining to a Chinese friend last year about how much I hate teaching. He asked me if I wanted to try translating. His company had a big group of projects to finish and not enough in-house people. I told him, you can't be serious, my Chinese is horrible, how can I do that? I said I would try, but don't be surprised if the quality is bad. They ended up giving very positive feedback which gave me the confidence to look around for more freelance work. The really hard part for me is speed... I think you can work through anything if you have enough time, but if you are in-house you need to be able to work under tight deadlines.
I enjoy this type of work a lot and I would love to do it full-time. I just worry that the money is not so great and the long term career prospects are not so good.
Yup, specialized language is the hardest. I can speak Mandarin okay but when I was called upon to help translate for an engineering meeting with one of our suppliers from Taiwan (I'm a software dev, not a translator) I definitely struggled with the technical terms despite attempting to cram radio engineering words for a couple hours. They had English speakers who were fine so I never really understood the point.
Like you said given time anything is possible, but on the phone real time it is certainly a challenge.
I graduated in May '09 from a state university with a bachelor's in finance and had a very hard time finding a job anywhere in the USA. After several months I decided to go to china to teach english. My goal in doing this was to work, experience living abroad for a year or two, and learn the language well at the same time.
I have now lived in China for almost a year and a half. I live in a smaller city where there are few westerners and not much to do for fun. I am teaching english at a private school and continuing to take Mandarin classes in the morning. In the evening I will usually go home and study chinese or apply for jobs. The pay is low and my lifestyle is very simple, though I am able to save around $1000 a month. I have enjoyed this past year immensely, but I feel like I have achieved my goal with respect to learning chinese and that I would be wasting time by spending more time in this small city in the middle of nowhere.
What can I do now? I hear that the job market in the USA is picking up a bit but is still in very bad shape. I am considering graduate school, but maybe graduate school right now is a waste of time...wouldn't I just be delaying looking for a job? Translating is something I really enjoy, and I have also considered moving to a bigger city in China and working as some type of translator, but the wages would likely be even lower than teaching english and I don't think the future prospects of a job like that are so good.
I wish I knew what I was doing with my life but I dont! At this point I just want to find a job that can lead to some kind of career that someday could pay enough to support a middle class lifestyle. Right now low pay is ok, long hours are ok, and I can move anywhere in the world. Can anyone give me suggestions?
Hey there Harbindreams, I feel you on your situation, its almost identical to my own. I graduated in 2009 with a MA International Relations, but spent a year unemployed, sending out resumes and nary an interview. Very demoralizing. So, I joined my fiance in her home city of Sao Paulo, Brazil instead of bring her to the States, as was our original plan. I knew I would be able to teach ESL right-off the bat. Brazil is nice, but Sao Paulo is 18million people, hot, graffiti, polluted, dangerous and a LONG way from the beautiful beaches of Brazil. I'm pretty darn tired of it myself. I have been teaching business English to executives of hedge funds and multinationals in one-on-one tutoring sessions. I like my students, but teaching is mentally draining, as well as spending alot of time on uncomfortable public transport. I'd like to return to the US at this point, and the market seems to be improving, but I share your apprehension- what the hell can I do with my experience here? My Portuguese is somewhat advanced, but not a high "in-demand" language outside of Brazil. What does our teaching qualify us for? What can we apply for on job boards back home? It is indeed a daunting question and I also worry that employers will just see my time here (although I am actually working in the financial capital of Latin America) as just that of some flake who spent his time kicking back at the beach with a cocktail in his hand. I'm actually busting my hump every day and earning a 3rd world currency! Best of luck to you
The ESL market in the US is rotten, even for qualified, credentialed candidates. Only a few institutes will even look at your resume if you don't have a Master's degree + university teaching experience. Here are a couple, just for kicks:
* ELS | Careers
* Work at LADO
You'll notice that even if you get full-time work (and most places are offering part-time), you will barely make enough to get by.
I know you two aren't into teaching, I'm just throwing that out there and one option.
Another is international education in the US: working or a university, non-profit, English-language institute (like ELS or Lado I posted above) as an advisor, administrator, assistant, etc. Those are positions that value international experience and skill with communicating with non-native speakers, but don't put you in the classroom (unless you want to).
That field is competitive, too: I remember seeing an entry-level position with a small university in Ohio that received over 100 applicants, with the eventual hire having an advanced degree and years of experience (again, for an entry-level job). But, there are jobs out there, and if you like working somewhere in the US that still has an international feel, that's one route.
Honestly the job situation in the USA is not much better since 2009, its not like college grads are finding work all of a sudden, on the contrary all of us are applying for that opening at Blockbuster-lol...
I would not return to the USA unless
1) Are willing to work minimum wage if the hunt for "real work" does not pan out
2)To become a real, certified teacher, there are many 2 year programs
3) Grad school, 2nd degree
But yes the job situation in the USA is still pretty bad
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Feel your pain...
