Considering Pursuing Career in Conference/Medical Interpreting

[coupdegrace]

Hi everyone,

 

This is my first post here. I haven't found any threads about interpreting programs, so I wanted to ask a few questions.

 

I graduated from Texas A&M in 2012 with a B.A. double major in International Politics and Diplomacy and French Language and Literature. I was fortunate to do two internships back to back at the U.S. Embassy in Paris last year immediately after graduating (spending three months with the State Department and four months with the Foreign Commercial Service). As much as I enjoyed and learned from the experience, I also decided that a career in the Foreign Service is not for me.

 

I have been living at home this past year, working two part-time jobs and feeling rather stuck but considering what I would like to do. I have always been enthralled by languages and all things linguistic, and I know I want to put my French-English-Spanish skills to use in my work. Thus, I have started researching graduate programs in conference interpreting.

 

It sounds like a stressful but stimulating field, perfect for someone like me who needs to work with people to an extent but who is sick of working with the public in customer service. I'm also someone who cherishes his alone time, but I know I also don't want to be completely isolated in my own office for my work. So interpreting seems like a good balance of office/administrative work mixed with human interaction.

 

I discovered that it might actually be cheaper overall for me to pursue a degree at a European institution such as the Sorbonne in Paris or the University of Geneva rather than paying the exorbitant tuition at an American university. Additionally, being based in Europe seems like it would lend itself to better job/networking opportunities for that field than remaining in the United States.

 

My dilemma is this:

 

1) I am reading conflicting information concerning my skills. On the one hand, the translating and interpreting industry is expected to grow more quickly in the next ten years than other fields, so it sounds like there will be a demand for multilingual people with this training. On the other hand, it sounds like conference organisers are cutting costs where they can and dispensing with expensive interpreting services, and my language combination of English (A) French ( and Spanish (B/C) is hardly marketable because there is no shortage of people with these "easy" languages.

 

2) I would be financing this education entirely myself, and like everyone, I am trying to avoid getting into heaps of debt. The tuition at the Sorbonne/UoG looks like about 630 euros/500 Swiss francs per semester, but then I'd have to factor in the living expenses of residing in Paris or Geneva for two years. The American universities I've looked at (besides the astronomical $50,000/year Monterrey Institute of Translating and Interpreting) still run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Does anyone know any affordable options for programs?

 

3) It also appears that nearly all interpreters start out as freelancers rather than staff. The freelancing life appeals to me because of its flexibility, but it also terrifies me because of its lack of security, especially if one is considering the need to pay off student loans (fortunately, I don't have any debt from my undergrad). Can any freelancers in this field give me some insight into the market right now?

 

In short, the idea of this kind of work interests me, but I'm not sure if it's worth it to pursue the degree. I don't regret learning French since it's so widely spoken and could function as a useful relay language, but I do sometimes wish I had spent time when I was in school focusing on Arabic, Farsi, or Chinese. The EU is apparently suffering a shortage of people with odd language combinations like Finnish-Croatian or Serbian-Danish, but honestly, when you've got 500+ language combinations to cover, is it any surprise? I just don't see any viability in trying to learn a "new" European language.

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts you have! Thanks in advance.

 

Ed

[Aymeric]

Hi Ed,

 

I'm a French conference interpreter, I graduated 5 years ago from the University of Westminster (but their interpreting program no longer exists). It looks like you have already done quite a bit of research on the issue, so I am not sure how much you still need to know.

 

If you would enjoy living in Europe, then I would definitely recommend ESIT in Paris of FTI (formerly ETI) in Geneva, with a preference for the latter because of its very close ties with the UN system, and the fact that evening or late-afternoon classes leave you enough time to have a 'petit boulot' on the side. Of course most of your free time should be spent honing your languages and interpreting skills, but many students also do translations or odd jobs in local restaurants/language schools, give private tuition etc. to pay their bills.

 

Of course most people start out as freelancers, and contracts may be few and far between the first year or two (or not, depending on your luck, skills and language combination) but as you establish yourself your workload becomes more stable with time (and a lot of patience).

 

If you are serious about pursuing this, then my best advice would be to learn Russian, as it is THE language in very high demand at the UN which will garantee you a stable amount of work (provided that you are good enough on the job).

You could also activate your Spanish, but the advantage it would give you would not be as significant as having Russian.

 

That said, you don't need to wait until you have mastered Russian before starting your project. The earlier you leave the US, the better. Remember that your working languages can never be too strong, so you should try to spend as much time as possible in French and Spanish-speaking countries. Be especially prepared to deal with Latin American accents which are heard much more often than the Spanish peninsular accent.

 

I would not recommend Monterey, for all sorts of reasons.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Aymeric

[zisabella]

Consecutive interpreting is often known as classic interpretation since the discourse is interpreted in the required language as the speaker has concluded. Consecutive interpretation is sometimes concluded at the end of the passage within the speech but is always essentially consecutively interpreted. In consecutive interpreting service, a complex system of symbols and abbreviations are used in order to take the detailed notes as the speaker delivers the speech. The system was developed over the years through experience and training. There are a very large number of systems that exist today for taking notes. Translationtoday.com