To be or not to be a Chinese Translator

[OneEye]

I'm not saying that they don't speak Chinese in Taiwan.

 

I knew what you were saying. That was just my way of pointing out that an aspiring interpreter might want to be more careful with the way he uses language.

 

Living in a place during a degree program is different than living there to work. To take an analogy from something I'm more familiar with, Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I did my undergrad degree, is one of the best contemporary music schools in the world, if not the best. Not many people stay in Boston after that, though. They move to New York, Chicago, LA, or other places to work. Boston's music scene is decent, but nothing like those other cities. But it is the best place to learn how to play nonetheless. I'm not saying NTNU is better than the other other schools mentioned here (as I said earlier, I don't know much about this stuff), but I am saying that it's a reputable program to my knowledge, and it's worth looking into. Whether Taiwan is a good place for an interpreter to live or not is another question.

[roddy]

If you'd just said 'I don't know anything at all about the Guangwai course, but it isn't so well regarded within China and I don't like the weather' we could have all saved a lot of typing. 

[brucehuang]

@ simplet

I guess lucky you. The MTI degree at SISU isn't recognized in the US. Actually, from what I've learned, SISU isn't even considered an accredited school in the US, nor is BLCU or BFSU...AND MTI isn't even a recognized degree in the US. So... sucks to be American on at least this matter.

But, I'm glad that you're French and this could work out perfectly for you. But still take my advise and call BLCU AND AS WELL AS their partner French school to ask for detailed information.

[陳德聰]

Do we have anyone else who can speak to angeia's claims that the students at SISU have flawless English? So far I'm not convinced.

[brucehuang]

@ Mr. Chan

Unless I'm turning in my thesis...I'm not gonna bother to write all fancy and check everything before I hit the enter botton...I believe that's just a waste of my time.

@ OneEye
Yes, you are correct. Market dosen't say anything about a school. But since there are only handful of high profile schools in this filed. With the exception of a few, most of them tend to be around highly demand areas because the candidates NEED to be in a convient place where they can pratice and gain hands on experience.
This isn't a filed where you study for two years and do some research paper and turn in your thesis at the end and everybody's happy. We need to pratice in real world. So having a good school in the middle of the farm fileds in the Midwest US isn't gonna do you any good if you'll constatnly have to run to NYC on a weekly schdule.

 

[brucehuang]

@

roddy

Good suggestion. affirmative srgt.

[roddy]

Your posts here are going to be read way more often than any thesis you ever write, and everyone else is taking the time to spellcheck....oooh, spellcheck isn't a word yet...

[Lu]

 

The MTI degree at SISU isn't recognized in the US. Actually, from what I've learned, SISU isn't even considered an accredited school in the US, nor is BLCU or BFSU...AND MTI isn't even a recognized degree in the US. So... sucks to be American on at least this matter.

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but why would one need to go to an accredited university to work as a translator? If you're planning to get a PhD, of course you need a master's from an accredited uni; if you're hoping to get a scholarship from your own country, also; but as I understand the OP, his end goal is to become a three-way interpreter, simultaneous as well as consecutive. There are a number of ways to become one, but as long as you know your stuff, who is going to ask for a diploma? Isn't that skill rare enough that people will be glad you exist in the first place?

 

The longer I read this thread the more I wonder if my experience, or perhaps the Dutch situation, is a really weird outlier. Here, for Chinese at least, people are generally just thrown into the conversation and asked to start interpreting. A friend of mine just finished a simultaneous interpretation assignment after never having had any formal training. She practiced with Youtube films for a few weeks and they were overjoyed that she could come at all, and she wasn't even the most inexperienced translator there. The only things I know you need formal qualifications for here are court interpreting and diploma translating.

[gato]

Lu, I thought you lived in Beijing?

[Lu]

I was living in Beijing, I came back to Holland this April. Now working as freelance translator and interpreter.

[brucehuang]

@ roddy

I understand what you're saying. I'm just too lazy. My goals is to only get the message across and I'm certain that people who's reading this stuff will get the basic structure. That's pretty much all there is to basic communication. I got the message across right? I know, I know, it doesn't look "professional". But really, just because everyone's having dumpling for dinner, it doesn't mean I have to join them. I like fried rice......At the end of the day, as long as everybody's full, that's all there is to feasting. Don't you think?

@ Lu

You are right, ability and experience says way more than a piece of paper. That's kinda true for a lot of fields. But here's what I can't get over with....after 2 and years worth of investment, wouldn't you like your paper to count for something at least? I mean, I want to be a freelancer for now or maybe even for the next 5 years. But have you got your mind set about your entire life as a interpreter? What if you wanna do something else in the future? Say you got tired of this and you wanted to be a professor, or a nice government position that enhances less stress? What if that guy with an "accredited" degree took your job? All this "what-if" might just be we're thinking too much, but I'd like to know that I've at least done the best I could do, to ensure that I have a plan A-Z instead of just plan A. My favorite thing to say, "plan A should always come before plan B, but plan B is always necessary, in case of an emergency." (FYI, that's not suppose to be funny, if you know what I mean ... look up plan B if you didn't get that part)
 

[roddy]

True, and there's no need to be worried about the fact that potential clients may Google "bruce huang chinese translator" and...oh, look what's top of the list...

[brucehuang]

@ roddy

actually, that would be bad, but how you know I'm Bruce ? Or, will I be Bruce?
yeah, I'm not worried about that.

PS, and if clients are looking for dumpling from me, I would say, "sorry, we only serve fried rice"...Dumpling customers? Nah, I don't want to do their business anyways, I believe there are enough people out there who enjoys fried rice just as much as I do and I would do fine only marketing in fried rice.
 

[Lu]

 

actually, that would be bad, but how you know I'm Bruce ? Or, will I be Bruce?

You have your facebook and email address on page two of this thread. Less than a minute of searching tells me your Chinese name, English name (you are Bruce alright), photo, hometown, everything. If I were you, I'd pick anonymity and not caring what people think, OR putting your real name and address on here and paying attention to what you write.

 

Anyway. That's rather off-topic. I suppose you have a point that if you want to get into academia eventually, you need a degree from an accredited uni. Better to keep as many options open as possible, it's true.

[brucehuang]

@ Lu

I know what your saying about anonymity, as a matter of fact, most of them so-called quote "high end" interpreters tend to hide, I suppose they probably have their reason because reputation means too much in this field. But that's just something I absolutely don't care about. If potential clients are picky about what I write and bothers to track what I'm saying on social network, blogs and stuff. I wouldn't wanna do business with them anyway, because they simply have too much time and I'm sure that kind of people won't be able to afford nor appreciate what I have to offer. And if they truly read everything, and they understand what I'm saying, then I would suppose that they would agree with me. And if they don't, that's not the kind of customer I would want to serve anyway. The LAST thing you want is to have your "client" or "boss" to be running their nose at you thinking that they know everything ... in Chinese this is called “半壶水响叮当”, that is just especially annoying and I wouldn't wanna do business with them no matter how much they pay me.

And to be honest, being an interpreter is just something I intend to do on a side while I have other things going on...So really, I couldn't careless of how people judge me. Connection is everything in this business anyways. ESPECIALLY in China. If your dad is “Li Gang”, or you have some "Li Gang"s in your family tree around here, you really don't need that piece of paper or any strong skills and experience to have a full schedule on your calender anyway. That's just how things work around in China.
 

[imron]

I'm glad that you have so many clients to choose from, and that your dad is Li Gang.

[brucehuang]

Perhaps I'm implying the wrong logic? Or, that you're receiving wrong. All I'm saying is that I am not intending to make it my "career". So why bother to care so much? 

PS. If my dad's Li Gang, THAT WOULD MAKE ME CARE ABOUT ANONYMITY. I guess it is not a "spelling" issue if someone wants to think that "apple" is "orange"

So....clearly not.....

[陳德聰]

Phew. I'm glad you won't be making it your career.

If competition is so fierce in the industry, which I imagine it is in China but not so much elsewhere, then that just puts us all one rung higher on the ladder, I suppose.

[brucehuang]

@ Mr. Chan

 

Yes, competition in China is high. But you have to understand something about the market here. There's only two types of market here, one is the so-called "higher end" market, and the other one is the so-called "lower end" market.

If you compete in the "lower end" market, then I suppose if you are willing to work for a sweatshop wage, you will do fine. And reputation really doesn't matter, it's a farmers market to begin with. Just about any college student can take your job for one penny less.
If, however, you want to compete in the "higher end" market, then reputation matters. And competition isn't that high in that end.
And there's no "somewhere in between"...It's this or that.

But my intend isn't at either to begin with. I couldn't careless of how market goes in China, my intentions are to use Chinese market as my "experiment". I am intending to return to the US market after sometime, and that's almost an entirely different world. But as far as other fields go, China is great. Some "white guy" from Russia, claiming that he is from the US, could be teaching English and making more than the "higher end" interpreters...AS LONG AS THEY DON'T LOOK ASIAN

 

It all depend on what you're aiming at. If you're aiming at money, then this filed isn't that great.

[Lu]

 

It all depend on what you're aiming at. If you're aiming at money, then this filed isn't that great.

Well, that I agree with. It's not a business to get rich in.

 

I'm not sure about the high-end/low-end thing though. Of course, to interpret for Hu Jintao you have to be both kick-ass good and have good guanxi, and if you end up translating for the freshly minted CEO of some half-thought-through startup, you'll have a hard time not starving, but I'm pretty sure there is a place in between. Conferences, foreign companies, provincial governments, etc. In my past job I've met a number of translators who were neither working at top government level nor starving. Some foreigners, even. If you want a serious wage, you need to find some good clients and you need to be good, but I do think that you can keep yourself alive.