Seeking community advice on which language to focus my learning efforts on Thread poster: Victor Torres
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Hello fellow linguists,
I'm trying to make my mind on what language is best for to learn.
I want to maximize my opportunities within the translation industry.
What language could more easily allow me to land new gigs and have steady work?
My current language pair is ENG-SPA.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
| | | | Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 09:56
Member
English to Turkish
| Nordic, Germanic | Apr 18, 2022 |
If I were 20 years younger I'd go for Scandinavian languages. If you knew Dutch, Swedish or Danish, you'd command a lot better rates translating from those languages into Spanish than you would from English.
| | | | Peter Motte
Belgium
Local time: 08:56
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Difficult choice | Apr 18, 2022 |
Victor Torres wrote:
I'm trying to make my mind on what language is best for to learn.
First of all: I don't think that's the way to think about this.
If you do want to turn to the translation industry, I guess you already know more than one language.
Really starting from scratch? How old are you? 12 or so? Because of you're at least 18, you should already know at least two languages. If not: you don't stand a chance.
Secondly: the most in demand languages are the ones with the most competition, but the languages with the least competition are also the least in demand.
Conclusion: your question might sound good, but only superficially.
It's just not the right way to deal with the problem.
By the way: I myself know 4 languages, started off translating English-Dutch, because English was my main study subject, turned out a lof of French-Dutch because that was more in demand, and ended up doing a lot of German-Dutch because it just happened to be that way.
No career plan could ever have shown up like that.
[Edited at 2022-04-18 11:34 GMT]
| | | | Alex Ossa
Chile
Local time: 02:56
Member (2017)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Opportunities are not about how many languages you speak | Apr 18, 2022 |
It's about whether you can build expertise in a certain area, then both direct clients and LSPs will always think of you for that kind of translation. Get additional academic certificates for your specialisations in your current languages and apply both to international clients and domestic clients, whether solicited or unsolicited. Draw up a CV showing why you're an excellent choice for those fields and work constantly on improving your quality of translation. Update your CV with your experienc... See more It's about whether you can build expertise in a certain area, then both direct clients and LSPs will always think of you for that kind of translation. Get additional academic certificates for your specialisations in your current languages and apply both to international clients and domestic clients, whether solicited or unsolicited. Draw up a CV showing why you're an excellent choice for those fields and work constantly on improving your quality of translation. Update your CV with your experiences and keep applying: you'll find you have a steady stream of work and happy, returning clients in less time than it takes to master a new language well enough to be able to translate from it. ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Mandarin Chinese is the language of the foreseeable future.
普通话是可预见的未来的语言。
[Edited at 2022-04-18 14:55 GMT]
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 00:56
Dutch to English
+ ...
I looked at your profile and I think you're off to a good start. If you could add some credentials in the medical field, that would be an asset. I agree with Alex that adding another specialization is a good idea. Adding some specific job experience may also be useful Those things may be as important as learning another language.
If I may make another suggestion, I would delete that list of objectives you have at the bottom of your profile. I have seen that same list on so many prof... See more I looked at your profile and I think you're off to a good start. If you could add some credentials in the medical field, that would be an asset. I agree with Alex that adding another specialization is a good idea. Adding some specific job experience may also be useful Those things may be as important as learning another language.
If I may make another suggestion, I would delete that list of objectives you have at the bottom of your profile. I have seen that same list on so many profiles that I lost count. Be creative and think of your own 2 or 3 main objectives (learning another language could be one of them).
If you want to learn another language, it should be because you are interested in that language and culture, not because it may bring you more work - that remains to be seen. Whatever language you choose, spend some time in that country, so you can get a feel for it.
Check out Tom's suggestion. Considering how widely Mandarin Chinese is spoken and how important contact with China is now and in the future, that is a good option.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 23:56
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
| Chinese - maybe, maybe not | Apr 18, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
Mandarin Chinese is the language of the foreseeable future.
普通话是可预见的未来的语言。
[Edited at 2022-04-18 14:55 GMT]
‘Reversing Gears’: China Increasingly Rejects English, and the World
New York Times article 2021/09/09
[Edited at 2022-04-19 17:08 GMT]
| | | | Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 09:56
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
Baran Keki wrote:
If I were 20 years younger I'd go for Scandinavian languages. If you knew Dutch, Swedish or Danish, you'd command a lot better rates translating from those languages into Spanish than you would from English.
Today you're 20 years younger than what you'll be 20 years later
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| Specialization! | Apr 19, 2022 |
Alex Ossa wrote:
It's about whether you can build expertise in a certain area, then both direct clients and LSPs will always think of you for that kind of translation. Get additional academic certificates for your specialisations in your current languages and apply both to international clients and domestic clients, whether solicited or unsolicited. Draw up a CV showing why you're an excellent choice for those fields and work constantly on improving your quality of translation. Update your CV with your experiences and keep applying: you'll find you have a steady stream of work and happy, returning clients in less time than it takes to master a new language well enough to be able to translate from it.
Specialization is all that matters. Let us say NO to naysayers who say there is no future in Spanish to English/English to Spanish translation. If that were the case I would not still be working as a translator in that pair.
| | | | | | LIZ LI
China
Local time: 14:56
French to Chinese
+ ...
| True or False | Apr 19, 2022 |
Sorry but which world are we talking about?
It's a call for easing the burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring for K12 students.
They cut off maths as well.
I don't want my boy to spend most of his childhood learning something he's not interested in nor happy with.
They should have banned it earlier.
It's nothing about English. Or this reporter's Chinese sucked.
Most ZH>EN translators are actually non-native (English).
No matter how good they are in EN, it's an acquired language for them.
Some LSPs have to compromise to recruit non-natives for ad-hoc assignments.
As far as I know, language pairs like ZH>English, German, French, Spanish, Hungarian, BRPT seem to be very promising.
[Edited at 2022-04-19 08:05 GMT]
| | | | | Duolingo - The world's best way to learn a language | Apr 19, 2022 |
I'm determined to make as much progress as I can with my language learning by the end of this year. I'm considering focusing on two languages: French and Dutch. I'd love to hear from anyone who has mastered any one or both of these languages, as well as anyone who is using Duolingo as a tool for language learning.
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Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 09:56
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
At least if you would like to have technical stuff, Germany and Austria are still the leading exporters of machinery, and they still let their manuals translate from German. I don't know about Mexico and Latin America, but in the EU for every machine their must be a manual in the local language of the customer (even if the user would get along with English manual).
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