I'd like to become a Japanese translator, but I don't know how to go about this. Though I'm pretty fluent in the language, would I need a degree? Would a degree get me better work? How would I find work? And around how much money could I make? I was planning to mainly focus on text translations (books, movie scripts, legal/business stuff, etc.)|||Translation work is hard to get into. I have a friend who speaks 3 languages fluently and she wanted to translate for the court systems in DC. She had a degree in her specialized language and a minor in a second one. She was also planning on attending graduate school for translation in Geneva, Switzerland to give her a competitive edge (The UN happens to also be here). I speak a few languages and the least you need is certification as a translator. This is not easy to get as the test are very rigorous. There are various Continuing Education programs at Universities that offer professional development that prepares you for the certification. Most jobs require you to be a native speaker of the language, unfortunately, because of the fluidity of language and the nuances that it may have that you cannot learn from a textbook.
Salary-wise these jobs are bleak. On average I think they pay around $40,000. The most in-demand sectors are in medicine and these tend to pay more. I had a professor of French who translated for the UN (she was native French) and she enjoyed her salary because it was completely tax exempt so that can be a possibility. Go on their website and look at the job section for the requirements on translating.
My friend also wants to translate texts but she's put off the entire thing while she works in the health field to save up enough money.
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