How to become a translator/interpreter in Australia?
Thread poster: ejr17
ejr17
ejr17
Australia
Local time: 03:57
Apr 20, 2016

Hi, I am interested in becoming a freelance translator/interpreter and I just have a few questions:

1. I really want to do German to English, but because I live in Australia (and later I want to move to the USA) and I fear that there many not be many jobs available so I was also considering Chinese (mandarin) to English. What do you think??

2. Would a bachelor of arts degree majoring in germanic studies be significant enough to become a translator/interpreter?
... See more
Hi, I am interested in becoming a freelance translator/interpreter and I just have a few questions:

1. I really want to do German to English, but because I live in Australia (and later I want to move to the USA) and I fear that there many not be many jobs available so I was also considering Chinese (mandarin) to English. What do you think??

2. Would a bachelor of arts degree majoring in germanic studies be significant enough to become a translator/interpreter?

3. Would a bachelor of arts degree majoring in germanic studies be NAATI approved?

Thank you!


[Edited at 2016-04-20 09:50 GMT]
Collapse


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Only into Apr 20, 2016

ejr17 wrote:

Hi, I am interested in becoming a freelance translator/interpreter and I just have a few questions:

1. I really want to do English to German, but because I live in Australia (and later I want to move to the USA) and I fear that there many not be many jobs available so I was also considering English to Chinese (mandarin). What do you think??


What I think: you should only ever translate out of another language into your own native language.


 
Woodstock (X)
Woodstock (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:57
German to English
+ ...
This may help Apr 21, 2016

Proz has a lot of resources available to those who take the time to explore the site. One of them is an extensive list of translator organizations by country, which is here:

http://www.proz.com/translator_associations/

Any of those listed under "Australia" should be able to provide the information you seek.

Good luck!

PS. Here's an unsolicit
... See more
Proz has a lot of resources available to those who take the time to explore the site. One of them is an extensive list of translator organizations by country, which is here:

http://www.proz.com/translator_associations/

Any of those listed under "Australia" should be able to provide the information you seek.

Good luck!

PS. Here's an unsolicited piece of advice from a long-time professional translator: doing research is a very important part of our profession and a good skill to start developing as early as possible.
Collapse


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:57
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Is it worth the effort? Apr 21, 2016

ejr17 wrote:
Hi, I am interested in becoming a freelance translator/interpreter and I just have a few questions:

Do you speak or read any foreign languages at this point? If so what are they and what is your level of competence?

Dan


 
Patricia Will
Patricia Will  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 00:57
Member (2004)
German to English
How to become a translator/interpreter in Australia? Apr 21, 2016

I am assuming your native language is German? Anyway, you are right about one thing and that is the limited opportunities into and out of German in Australia. Cannot say what the situation would be in the USA. But I can tell you that I live in Australia and do DE-EN and the majority of my work comes from Europe. If you are determined to become a translator or interpreter (again, minimal demand for interpreting into or out of German in Australia) then I agree with Tom that it is preferable to tr... See more
I am assuming your native language is German? Anyway, you are right about one thing and that is the limited opportunities into and out of German in Australia. Cannot say what the situation would be in the USA. But I can tell you that I live in Australia and do DE-EN and the majority of my work comes from Europe. If you are determined to become a translator or interpreter (again, minimal demand for interpreting into or out of German in Australia) then I agree with Tom that it is preferable to translate into your mother tongue and I wouldn't just do a degree in German language and literature, you would be better off doing a degree in translation and interpreting at least. And NAATI is unlikely to recognise just a degree in languages it would need to be in T&I. And they are very specific. It doesn't even recognise all T&I degrees in Australia. And there are not that many universities that offer them. But don't worry too much about getting NAATI accredited unless you want to work exclusively in the public sector, e.g. translating documents needed by government departments like the immigration department. A lot of agencies in Australia prefer NAATI-accredited translators but usually as a minimum standard. I think you need to do a bit more research about the opportunities before deciding to undertake an expensive degree like that. And as for tackling Chinese, if it is not your native language and you have not lived there for years I think that would be a very hard slog to reach the kind of native-speaker competency you would need to be a successful translator and/or interpreter. Other colleagues may disagree.

Hope this helps
Collapse


 
XIAOBO ZHU
XIAOBO ZHU
Australia
Translating study in Australia Jun 9, 2022

If you want to become a certified translator in Australia, I recommend seeking professional studies. You can choose to find a school with translation majors to learn translation. Professional training in such schools is very helpful for obtaining an Australian-accredited translation qualification certificate. They are specially designed for exams. You can not only learn theoretical knowledge, but also learn from the work experience shared by teachers, plus the usual translation training, I belie... See more
If you want to become a certified translator in Australia, I recommend seeking professional studies. You can choose to find a school with translation majors to learn translation. Professional training in such schools is very helpful for obtaining an Australian-accredited translation qualification certificate. They are specially designed for exams. You can not only learn theoretical knowledge, but also learn from the work experience shared by teachers, plus the usual translation training, I believe you can become a qualified translator.Collapse


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Anna Herbst[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

How to become a translator/interpreter in Australia?






Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »
Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »