How Many Languages Should A Translator Know?
To succeed in a translation career it is sometimes helpful to get certified and accredited to start building up
your professional reputation and gain experience. In reality, you cannot really think about having a translation career as a once in a while type of job that can just be done to earn some extra money, if you’re thinking about getting into the translation business you must be serious about it and be persistent about your translation career goals.Many different people from all over the world have the capability to translate multiple languages. However, to become a professional translator takes discipline and will power to be involved and dedicated to the translation industry. You have to be able to manage your own personal projects as well as your clients. The difference between a good and bad translator is that a good translator pursues an ongoing mission of gathering knowledge in the language he or she is working with.
From our perspective we see some of the most popular languages to learn as Spanish, German, French, Chinese, and Portuguese. That said it can truly take 10-15 years to be able to fluently translate both ways into and from a language perfectly and if you continue to specialize your abilities you can spend your whole career trying to master a single language pair. Many translators would be much better off becoming very specialized and proficient within a single language and specialization rather than trying to translate between 3 or 4 languages for generic projects. We would also recommend you to learn at least one of the most required languages such as English, which would not only increase your chances of getting more translation jobs but also gives you more tools of trade to offer your potential clients.
Knowing a variety of languages isn’t the best thing to do. The best thing to do would be to get to know the languages you’re familiar with very well and make an investment in learning, researching and becoming proficient. Remember you can only translate one language at a time so, do your best at each time. Source
By Vanessa Greenway, CTP Associate
Additional Related Resources:
1. Translator Certification
2. Online Translator Training
3. Translator Designation
4. Translation Certificate
Tags: Translator Training,Training to Become a Certified Translator , How Many Languages Should A Translator Know? Translation Career, Most Demanding Languages.
