HELP... what jobs can a polylinguist get

hello to all ... i am trying to figur out what im going to do after college ... i am a native english speaker ... but formally ive had 4 years of spanish, 4 years of french, 2 1/2 years of arabic and hebrew(will continue until 4 years) and just started my 1st year of kurdish and russian ... still have about 6 semesters left until i get my degree in middle eastern studies ... now that in mind i know the logical answer would be work for a government agency BUT i would prefer to work in a civilian enviroment .... im not ruling out agency work just yet tho ... so if anyone has any experience or good links to look through in regards to my situation all replies are greatly appreciated ... so please help a fellow atser out ... ohh and i privately dabble in latin and greek ... thanks

reply to post by 42sadhu

Maybe a language teacher in another country would be cool, enabling you to teach and travel a bit.

Best wishes,
spec

Consider a United Nations agency, or a global corporation. Perhaps even a newspaper or other international media outlets.

Although you have x number of "years" the real question is what your comprehension level is. The military uses the DLPT5 which rates you on a scale of 1-3 for listening, speaking, and reading. If you get a "3" you're doing pretty good. I believe the state department uses the same sort of test. The NSA could use more Arabic and Farsi linguists.

as an aside im not the most focused individual wit regards to plans and the future if you know what i mean ... as of now my plan is to be the personal translator for some rich arab or jew ... i know thats a hard gig to land but eh ... ive thought of the teaching bc i do love to travel especially in the middle east .... if anyone knows of any good links that would be greatly appreciated ... eventually tough i want to get in a position to where i can get my hnd on some juicy ancient texts to decipher and interpret

reply to post by schuyler


i actually took a sort of practice assessment in arabic and hebrew that the state department sends out to professors looking for embassy workers ... i scored a 4.35 out of 5 on arabic and a 4.80 out of 5 on hebrew ... theyre not official theyre more for the professors to see who has potential and who to give recommendations for ... my arabic teacher says after next semester once i get 6 whole semesters that i could actually start working at one without finishing my full degree but again i am EXTREMELY hesitant to work for any government related entity

reply to post by schuyler


i actually took a sort of practice assessment in arabic and hebrew that the state department sends out to professors looking for embassy workers ... i scored a 4.35 out of 5 on arabic and a 4.80 out of 5 on hebrew ... theyre not official theyre more for the professors to see who has potential and who to give recommendations for ... my arabic teacher says after next semester once i get 6 whole semesters that i could actually start working at one without finishing my full degree but again i am EXTREMELY hesitant to work for any government related entity

They often need language interpreters in courtrooms, law offices, airports, hospitals, etc. I think a lot of that type of work is to be on call for when they need you.

I admire that you've picked up on languages so well, I wish I had learned a second language.
Maybe someday.....

reply to post by snowspirit


pick a language and start tomorrow and dedicate yourself to it ... im 22 years old and when i was 15 and started french and spanish i never imagined i would ever get through those but here i am 7 years later and can speak 7 different languages and can read and write 9 ... so literally as the winged goddess of victory would say ... JUST DO IT

Originally posted by 42sadhu
reply to post by schuyler

 

i actually took a sort of practice assessment in arabic and hebrew that the state department sends out to professors looking for embassy workers ... i scored a 4.35 out of 5 on arabic and a 4.80 out of 5 on hebrew ... theyre not official theyre more for the professors to see who has potential and who to give recommendations for ... my arabic teacher says after next semester once i get 6 whole semesters that i could actually start working at one without finishing my full degree but again i am EXTREMELY hesitant to work for any government related entity

Sure. I understand, and good luck to you. A friend was an Arabic Linguist in the US Navy. he went to the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California. That's where the action is. He saved lives. It might be a possibility to be a personal translator for "some Arab or Jew" but understand they both know English and each other's languages very well. Though you are an exception in the native English speaking world by knowing several languages, in the rest of the world that is not nearly so exceptional. Your goal sounds very much like a fantasy, but you'll figure that out eventually. If you cut out government, you've cut out the majority of the jobs. On the other hand, if you've got a problem with it, I wouldn't want you there either. Once again, good luck to you.

reply to post by 42sadhu


Start with websites like this...

www.languagejobs.org...

www.toplanguagejobs.ca...

You can see what's out there for someone that speaks multiple languages that isn't in the government sphere. You are cutting out a large swath of opportunities excluding that career path but like schuyler said, if you don't ant to be there, I wouldn't want you there.

Good luck whatever you decide.

haha well yes dont take my hopes and dreams as my practical objectives ... but as i said im not opposed to working for government agencies but thats one of those thing where when you're in YOU ARE IN ... so thats why i say im hesitant ... i just imagine there are plenty of israelis that need an interpreter for their business dealings with russians or perhaps mexicans ... like i said dreams right? ... but thanks for those links im looking through them .... any links to some great NGOs would be awesome ... ive scanned the major ones though so any lesser known foreign ones would be great

reply to post by 42sadhu


Depending on your access to various places, you can leave your name with convention centres, airports, Red Cross type of agency, etc., immigration community centers. I have done simultaneous translation for visiting foreign dignitaries and translated documents for seniors groups. I was called to hospital ERs, and the list goes on, but I was never paid for it . What it did though was provide me with a variety of experiences to test the waters.

I was paid by a language school to teach English and French as second languages while I was attending university. In Canada, the government contracts with language schools, and the jobs are always part-time. Heck you can even work for an airline for a change of pace or an advertising agency doing contract work, for instance..

Be sure to network a lot with other translators. They will often pass a gig onto you if you are interested. You will need your certification beforehand though.

If you combine linguistics with something else, such as human rights (a summer school Uni certificate) , that will open a different type of door for you. (Amnesty Int'l for instance or even earthquake relief agencies) From what you've indicated so far the potential opportunities are almost mind-blowing.

I hope this helps.

reply to post by aboutface


thats actually not a bad idea at all ... i have always wanted to be involved with amnesty international but hadnt even thought of how i could use those skills to get in with them ... i would say working with the red cross in somewhere like north africa would be amazing

reply to post by 42sadhu


Happy to have helped with an idea. In my work experience, people have always looked for additional skills or qualifications. So with that in mind, might I suggest you contact them and ask what exact qualifications they require or would lead them to hire you.

I studied latin for eight years. I didn't have any choice, but you dabble in it by choice?
Reminds me of what we used to write in our notebooks:
Latin is a dead dead language
As dead as dead can be
It killed the Roman noblemen
And now it's killing me.