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Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Energist - 2015-02-11
I'll try to keep this as brief as possible, but I doubt it's going to be short. I'm 33-years-old, going back to school this summer to (finally) finish an English degree I started working on when I was 18. I'm doing this with the intent of hopefully being able to use the degree to teach English in Japan. This, in turn, is hopefully a means to an end to one day become a Japanese -> English translator.
I'm doing this because, I'm sure like a lot of people here, anime and video games were a big part of my childhood. As I've gotten older, however, I've segued into other aspects of interest, such as the culture, history, and--thanks in large part to a Great Uncle of mine who was deeply involved with the effort--the Allies rebuilding and restructuring of the country following the end of the war. Needless to say, Japan and the Japanese culture are two points of interest I've always strove to somehow become closer to throughout most of my life, though I was always somewhat unsure of how to go about doing that.
After some experimentation with drawing and writing, I decided on the translator route when I was around 24. At the time, I had already dropped out of college, but was scheduled to go back. Some things fell through, though, and I never did. I had some health issues a few years after that which further delayed my progress in life, but now I feel like I'm finally ready to do this. For the past two years, I've been studying Japanese like a madman. I had studied it on and off before with stuff like Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone, learning the hiragana and katakana, and picking up some key words and phrases here and there, but I'd always lose interest and walk away after finishing certain books or programs and not knowing where to go afterward.
This time, however, I've stuck with it for over two straight years. To date, I've learned all of the Kanji meanings from Heisig's first book, and I know the basic kun'yomi and on'yomi for a little over 300 of those characters. I do Anki sessions for about an hour a day, am up to about 1,500 sentences, know around 2,500 words, and spend at least 20 minutes a day listening to JapanesePod101.com. I also try to get thirty minutes or more in of Japanese QVC when I can.
Now, none of that is to say I'm anywhere near fluent. Truth be told, my frustration with my ability to understand the language still--particularly the spoken the word--after roughly three hours of this kind of studying a day for over two years is part of the reason why I'm posting this topic for some encouragement and/or insights. Sometimes I hear something in a podcast and know what's said, or I'll listen to a Japanese song I haven't heard in several months and grasp a lot of the meaning. These instances truly excite and reinvigorate me. I feel like, "Hey, I'm actually getting it!" But other nights I'll listen to a podcast, have no idea what's being said in the banter between Peter and Natsuko, and think, "This is hopeless."
Ebbs and flows are normal in language learning, though, I know. My main problem, however, is, can I actually do this at my age? Say I do manage to get a teaching gig in Japan next year. What sort of timetable am I looking at for becoming fluent in the language from there? I know everyone's different, but just an estimate, perhaps? And from there, how long until I could become a competent translator?
I know all of these are tough questions to answer for anyone, all with varying answers based around competence, drive, and general intellect, but I really need some help here, folks. I'm 33-years-old. I consider doing this--going to Japan and learning the language--a real dream of mine, perhaps like others pursue wealth and fame. But I have other dreams, too. I still write, for instance. Even have a book I'd like to polish up and pursue getting published some day, perhaps. I used to write a lot more, too, until I decided to go whole-hog on the Japanese translator dream. And while I do toy with getting back into writing all the time, I can only do so much in a 24-hour day, and I just don't want to regret not going after Japan if it's still doable. My mentality was always one of, "I can pursue publication later. After I see the world, I'll be a better writer, anyway. But I have to learn Japanese now if I'm ever going to make this translator goal a reality."
All right, then. Sorry this got so long. It's just difficult for me to put into words all of my fears and frustrations over this, is all. I have good days and bad; times where I feel optimistic about this endeavor and times where I feel like too much time has already gotten away from me, and I'll never be able to catch up now. I need a definitive answer from some folks who've been there, and are going after the same or similar dream as me, to either bring me back down to reality, or reassure me that my life's ambition can still be achieved.
TL;DR: Is 33-years-old too old to become a professional Japanese translator? Should I just cut my losses now, shelve the Japanese, and pursue other, more realistic goals for someone my age?
As an aside, this is my first post here, but I'm a regular lurker, which is why I chose this board to put forth this question. With that said, I'd like to also thank everyone here for a lot of tips, tricks, and resources that I've come to use over the years in my studies. They've all been a great help to me.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - vix86 - 2015-02-11
I'm not one to tell someone they can't do something because they are too old, since I've seen many people do career changes at much later points in their life than where you are now.
It's definitely possible, but I guess my only concern is whether its really what you want to do. I don't know what your expectations are about translation, and I skimmed most of the post instead of reading it. It sounds like you've been enjoying learning Japanese, which is great; but I would caution against using this as some metric to judge whether you would enjoy translation though. As with any job there are things about the job which are great and other things which are not. I believe there are a few people on here with some experience in the field that can comment on this better than I can.
What I can say about translation is that you won't become rich doing it and it might be hard to break into in Japan without some expertise background. Freelance translating is readily available in Japan but more constant/guaranteed work might be harder to get.
Time-wise estimates though depends on what level of Japanese you are at now. If you think you can pass the N2 then you are at a good point. It goes without saying that a translator needs N1 at least. If you are near N2 but haven't passed it, I'd say you probably need 1 to 2.5 years of study to get to N1; this is if you are studying say 2-4 hours a day. After N1, I'd say it largely becomes a game of exposure in order to try and reach higher levels of understanding. Lets say 2-3 years for this maybe? Honestly, if you have N1, I'd go ahead and try my hand at translating instead of waiting beyond that. The job would give you the exposure you need to get better at the language.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Zarxrax - 2015-02-11
If you are currently nowhere near fluent, I would say you probably don't have much hope. Just being honest here. And moving to Japan and teaching English isn't going to help make you fluent. It will give you more opportunities to use and learn the language more, but that's about all.
However, with an English degree, you may certainly have more luck in editing and localization. Translating is one thing, but making it sound great is a whole different skill. Furthering your knowledge of Japanese would almost certainly help in that regard too.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Givala - 2015-02-11
I'd say go for it!
You may have to work for it a lot, and it may not be easy, but I think if you really want it, and keep on working for it, you can do it.
(Sorry I don't have any concrete advise tho.)
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - FeloniousMonk - 2015-02-11
Energist Wrote:Is 33-years-old too old to become a professional Japanese translator?No, but I think you're asking the wrong question. Really, you should be asking yourself "Do I want to go to Japan?" instead of asking yourself "Do I want to devote a sizable chunk of time to learning a profession I might very well hate?".
Do you want to go to Japan? Do you want to learn Japanese? Go to Japan. Learn Japanese.
Energist Wrote:I'm...going back to school this summer to (finally) finish an English degree I started working on when I was 18.Good. It's basically required for the good ALT jobs, and anything that doesn't require it probably isn't one you want to bother with. JET is what you want, if you can manage it, preferably a rural position, preferably <2 hours from a larger city. Be warned, the application process basically starts a year before they send you out, and it can be rough. It -is- completely worth jumping through the hoops, though.
Energist Wrote:Truth be told, my frustration with my ability to understand the language still--particularly the spoken the word--after roughly three hours of this kind of studying a day for over two years is part of the reason why I'm posting this topic.Get a Skype partner and an in-person language partner, if you can. Shadow the line-by-line audio on JapanesePod101. Until you actually get to Japan, being able to have a conversation is going to open a lot more doors than literacy, though that will flip once you get there, imo. Start immersion NOW. You live in the digital age, there are no excuses.
SO
I don't know how much time you have left on your degree (that's a biggie), but I think you're focusing WAY too much on things you cannot influence at this point in time. So, break your goal into smaller ones, and work on those. Show up for class, pass your class, get some conversational ability, start the application process, etc.
If you get the right teaching job in Japan, you will, in all likelihood, be awarded with -some- amount of free time during the day (don't be one of those wankers that confuses 'time to prepare lessons' with 'free time', though), and you can/should use this time to study, but there is absolutely no reason you can't translate 4-panel comics, picture books, or one of the Elementary School newspapers, like NHK Easy, at that time. DON'T CONSIDER IT STUDYING. It's not, I mean, it can be PART of your studying, if you're sentence mining, etc., but direct translation is garbage for language learning. It -is-, however, something you can start whenever. If it's a multi-lingual text, that's probably best, because you'll be able to compare what you've written to something done by a professional.
Then, once you're in Japan and better at Japanese, apply to one of the online translation companies while you're still employed as a teacher. If you can't hang, you probably won't get in, and if you get in anyway, you won't last long. But, hey! You're not unemployed, which is good, you're in Japan, which is great, you have some idea of what working as a translator is like, which is essential, and, should you -not- get canned, you'll be able to see if you can EVEN STAND IT, or have the self-discipline to make it work.
If you manage that for a while, try to get some overflow on a bigger project that's being farmed out by a 'real' translation company. Still keep your day job. See if you can still stand translation work. Take N1 if you want, although it doesn't really help anything except your self-esteem, imo.
Then, four or so years in, once you have a REAL IDEA of what the job entails, and whether you EVEN LIKE IT, you can make the leap. Or not. Maybe you get a job somewhere else, maybe you hate Japan and leave, maybe Google replaces everyone with robots. Guess what, you've done something you wanted to do (go to Japan), you've done something you can feel good about (learning a language), and (hopefully) you have a $10,000 nenkin parachute waiting for you if you book it and come home.
BUT
Translation is a job, it's not a trophy.
It can be hard, the pay can be garbage, and there's a good chance you'll find out that you don't like doing it. It can be fun, too! But yeah, it's not like hitting the jackpot and getting crowned 'anime ice-cream taster' or something. Still, if you're lucky enough to get a job w/o an NDA, seeing your name in a book is pretty neat. Probably not worth all the time you spent worrying about -just- the right way to capture 'those' onomatopoeia, but...
So, get a job, get to Japan, and just do it. It's obvious that you already want to go, so why do you need to ask a bunch of dorks online for permission?
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - vileru - 2015-02-11
No, you're not too old to become a translator. Acquiring the necessary skills is fully within your grasp. Focusing on your Japanese reading skills (i.e. reading a lot and drilling vocab/grammar) should accelerate your progress.
As others have said, try out translation first before you put everything on the line. The job isn't just figuring out how to express a text in another language. 20-40% of the job is clerical work like issuing invoices, negotiating prices, communicating with clients, reminding people to pay you, doing accounting (yikes!), and so on. I speak from experience.
Also note that, at least at first, you can't be picky about jobs. Most translation jobs are for business communications, i.e. quarterly reports, internal documents, and things of that nature. You have to be willing to trudge through these kind of jobs until you can establish your niche. If you want to translate literature, popular fiction, manga, etc., your best hope is to win a translation competition.
Anyway, I'm of the belief that it's better to follow your dreams and regret it than to not follow them and always wonder what could have been. Go for it.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - rtkrtk - 2015-02-12
Energist Wrote:I'm 33-years-old, going back to school this summer to (finally) finish an English degree I started working on when I was 18.This, to me, is the biggest warning sign. I don't know what circumstances led to the your degree taking so long to complete. Perhaps it was unavoidable. But it shows that your multi-year goal of completing the college degree was derailed by something. Was it a lack of motivation? If so, then what's to say that your multi-year goal of becoming a translator will not also be derailed?
Also, have you ever lived in a foreign country? Do you understand what kinds of difficulties you will face?
Can you do it? I think if you are single and have no personal obligations to a wife/girlfriend/child/etc., then yes, you can. All it requires is 100% dedication. If you really want to make it happen, then my advice would be to burn your bridges. Give it all up and move to Japan. Find a job. Live here and become fluent. Imagine spending the rest of your life here. Assume you will never return to your home country and fully believe that there is no turning back. Starting from zero, I guess it would take more than 5 years to achieve your goal of translator-level fluency. You already know some of the language, so shave a few months/years off of that estimate.
Did you have any second thoughts at all when reading my last paragraph? If no, then: congratulations. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. But if you did have second thoughts, then ask yourself, is becoming a translator in Japan really something you want to do?
(P.S.: I have L2->L1 translation experience in a non-Japanese language. It took about 5 years of 100% immersion to go from zero to the level where I was getting translation jobs. That language was easier than Japanese.)
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Energist - 2015-02-12
First off, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to post such honest, thoughtful replies. I also can't believe I spelled "translator" wrong in the topic title. D'oh!
vix86 Wrote:I'm not one to tell someone they can't do something because they are too old, since I've seen many people do career changes at much later points in their life than where you are now.You know, I'm so glad you brought this up right away. A couple of years ago, when I decided to go back to school to begin this journey, my mother and I had a good long talk about it. By the end of the conversation, I told her that I didn't know if I would ever become a translator or not, or if it was even for me. So the question I asked myself then was, if all I ever managed to become was an English teacher in Japan who was fluent in the language, would I be happy looking back on my life in the end having accomplished that. And my answer was yes.
It's definitely possible, but I guess my only concern is whether its really what you want to do. I don't know what your expectations are about translation, and I skimmed most of the post instead of reading it. It sounds like you've been enjoying learning Japanese, which is great; but I would caution against using this as some metric to judge whether you would enjoy translation though. As with any job there are things about the job which are great and other things which are not. I believe there are a few people on here with some experience in the field that can comment on this better than I can.
Thank you for reminding me of that conversation. It changes the whole outlook that I've developed over time regarding my translator career choice (if I could even call it that at this point).
Zarxrax Wrote:If you are currently nowhere near fluent, I would say you probably don't have much hope. Just being honest here. And moving to Japan and teaching English isn't going to help make you fluent. It will give you more opportunities to use and learn the language more, but that's about all.I appreciate your honesty, and I absolutely love the other two options you've put forth here. Years ago, when I was trying to find a different career for myself (as I hate my current situation), I looked into ADR script-writing, but the consensus seemed to be that it was work relegated to directors and voice actors. Editing, though, was something I'd wanted to do back when I was originally perusing an English degree, and localization is an avenue I'd never even considered.
However, with an English degree, you may certainly have more luck in editing and localization. Translating is one thing, but making it sound great is a whole different skill. Furthering your knowledge of Japanese would almost certainly help in that regard too.
Thanks again. I'll be sure to keep these in mind for the years ahead.
Givala Wrote:I'd say go for it!You know, the hardest part about self-study is having to stay self-motivated. I think that's the one aspect of the college atmosphere that I miss most: good professors who would help to encourage you. So I appreciate your kind words and motivation. They do help, believe me.
You may have to work for it a lot, and it may not be easy, but I think if you really want it, and keep on working for it, you can do it.
(Sorry I don't have any concrete advise tho.)
FeloniousMonk Wrote:I'm actually toying with the idea of taking a two-week trip there next month. Prices are pretty good on airfare right now, and the exchange rate is pretty favorable to the dollar, too. You're right: I need to get my feet wet. I very much think I want to live and work in Japan. In fact, I know it. But, being honest here, some hands-on exposure is really the only way I'm going to actually know for sure. Figure going before starting back up at school is either going to light a fire under my feet to get this done, or bring me crashing back down to reality.Energist Wrote:Is 33-years-old too old to become a professional Japanese translator?No, but I think you're asking the wrong question. Really, you should be asking yourself "Do I want to go to Japan?" instead of asking yourself "Do I want to devote a sizable chunk of time to learning a profession I might very well hate?".
Do you want to go to Japan? Do you want to learn Japanese? Go to Japan. Learn Japanese.
FeloniousMonk Wrote:JET is definitely my first option in how to go about doing this, although I've read it can be a long, even difficult process. Any tips to getting in, and if I get rejected, perhaps some alternatives? I have a list around my room somewhere of other options I've found, but any additional input is always very welcome.Energist Wrote:I'm...going back to school this summer to (finally) finish an English degree I started working on when I was 18.Good. It's basically required for the good ALT jobs, and anything that doesn't require it probably isn't one you want to bother with. JET is what you want, if you can manage it, preferably a rural position, preferably <2 hours from a larger city. Be warned, the application process basically starts a year before they send you out, and it can be rough. It -is- completely worth jumping through the hoops, though.
FeloniousMonk Wrote:Yeah, I know you're right. I really need to buckle down and do the SKYPE thing already. That's the one big study tip I've neglected to actually take the plunge on thus far.Energist Wrote:Truth be told, my frustration with my ability to understand the language still--particularly the spoken the word--after roughly three hours of this kind of studying a day for over two years is part of the reason why I'm posting this topic.Get a Skype partner and an in-person language partner, if you can. Shadow the line-by-line audio on JapanesePod101. Until you actually get to Japan, being able to have a conversation is going to open a lot more doors than literacy, though that will flip once you get there, imo. Start immersion NOW. You live in the digital age, there are no excuses.
FeloniousMonk Wrote:SOI'm a "little by little, one travels far" kind of guy already. I think one necessarily has to be when learning a language, especially one with as many pitfalls as Japanese. But I nevertheless appreciate the reminder. I sometimes do get ahead of myself, and all I end up doing in the end is overwhelm myself.
I don't know how much time you have left on your degree (that's a biggie), but I think you're focusing WAY too much on things you cannot influence at this point in time. So, break your goal into smaller ones, and work on those. Show up for class, pass your class, get some conversational ability, start the application process, etc.
FeloniousMonk Wrote:Then, four or so years in, once you have a REAL IDEA of what the job entails, and whether you EVEN LIKE IT, you can make the leap. Or not. Maybe you get a job somewhere else, maybe you hate Japan and leave, maybe Google replaces everyone with robots. Guess what, you've done something you wanted to do (go to Japan), you've done something you can feel good about (learning a language), and (hopefully) you have a $10,000 nenkin parachute waiting for you if you book it and come home.Example of me getting ahead of myself. As I said, it wasn't until I started reading the responses here that I remembered my original goal when I set out on this path: getting to Japan and learning the language. I'm so, so, so glad I posted here, and that you guys have taken the time to give me such great feedback.
FeloniousMonk Wrote:BUTBelieve me, I've looked into it. Even corresponded a bit with one of my personal heroes--if I could use that word--Alexander O. Smith on the matter, and he's been very blunt about how hard translating can actually be as a career. I do still believe I want to do it, but you're right: until I actually do it, I'll never know for certain.
Translation is a job, it's not a trophy.
It can be hard, the pay can be garbage, and there's a good chance you'll find out that you don't like doing it. It can be fun, too! But yeah, it's not like hitting the jackpot and getting crowned 'anime ice-cream taster' or something. Still, if you're lucky enough to get a job w/o an NDA, seeing your name in a book is pretty neat. Probably not worth all the time you spent worrying about -just- the right way to capture 'those' onomatopoeia, but...
FeloniousMonk Wrote:So, get a job, get to Japan, and just do it. It's obvious that you already want to go, so why do you need to ask a bunch of dorks online for permission?Because you dorks are awesome!
vileru Wrote:No, you're not too old to become a translator. Acquiring the necessary skills is fully within your grasp. Focusing on your Japanese reading skills (i.e. reading a lot and drilling vocab/grammar) should accelerate your progress.Got it. Thanks for the insight.
As others have said, try out translation first before you put everything on the line. The job isn't just figuring out how to express a text in another language. 20-40% of the job is clerical work like issuing invoices, negotiating prices, communicating with clients, reminding people to pay you, doing accounting (yikes!), and so on. I speak from experience.
Also note that, at least at first, you can't be picky about jobs. Most translation jobs are for business communications, i.e. quarterly reports, internal documents, and things of that nature. You have to be willing to trudge through these kind of jobs until you can establish your niche. If you want to translate literature, popular fiction, manga, etc., your best hope is to win a translation competition.
And again, I do know, although only tangentially so, how much work translating can be, which is why I've been having doubts about the ability to reach my goal weighted against my age. But, also again, I greatly appreciate your candor.
vileru Wrote:Anyway, I'm of the belief that it's better to follow your dreams and regret it than to not follow them and always wonder what could have been. Go for it.It took me about 30 years to realize this myself, unfortunately, which is why I'm tackling this later rather than sooner. I totally agree with your sentiment now, however.
rtkrtk Wrote:I would be going back as a Junior on the cusp of becoming a Senior. I figure I can get my BA in about a year of hard study. Not too worried about it, actually. In fact, I may even try minoring in Asian Studies (all they offer that's even related to Japan at the college I'm planning to attend).Energist Wrote:I'm 33-years-old, going back to school this summer to (finally) finish an English degree I started working on when I was 18.This, to me, is the biggest warning sign. I don't know what circumstances led to the your degree taking so long to complete. Perhaps it was unavoidable. But it shows that your multi-year goal of completing the college degree was derailed by something. Was it a lack of motivation? If so, then what's to say that your multi-year goal of becoming a translator will not also be derailed?
I dropped out at 22 because I honestly felt like I was wasting my money and time. At the time, I wanted to become a writer, but realized after having some long talks with a few of my professors that all an English degree really ensured for me was a teaching gig. I wasn't at all sure if that was for me.
It wasn't until I was around 25 that I decided to pursue learning Japanese, although even at that time I wasn't quite sure how I was going to put that to use in a professional setting. The college I got into, however, was about 500 miles away, and some moving complications put a kibosh on the whole thing. Needless to say, things fell through, I got depressed, then had about two years worth of health issues I had to deal with hot on the heals of that.
So it wasn't so much a lack of motivation that stymied me as it was a lack of direction and purpose. I feel I have those back now, but encouragement--particularly from outside sources--is something I'm in desperate need of. Which is why I've come here. And rightly so, too, apparently.
rtkrtk Wrote:Also, have you ever lived in a foreign country? Do you understand what kinds of difficulties you will face?No to the foreign country question, but yes (to an extent) to some of the difficulties I will face. My mother lived in Brazil for a time, having no experience with the Portuguese language. She tells me all the time how frightening it was at first, but how it ended up being some of the best years of her life in the end. I know it'll be tough, but I think it'll be worth it. By the way, my mother became near-fluent in Portuguese (although she's lost most of it now) before coming back to live in the States.
Can you do it? I think if you are single and have no personal obligations to a wife/girlfriend/child/etc., then yes, you can. All it requires is 100% dedication. If you really want to make it happen, then my advice would be to burn your bridges. Give it all up and move to Japan. Find a job. Live here and become fluent. Imagine spending the rest of your life here. Assume you will never return to your home country and fully believe that there is no turning back. Starting from zero, I guess it would take more than 5 years to achieve your goal of translator-level fluency. You already know some of the language, so shave a few months/years off of that estimate.
To your second point, I hate where I live and what I do currently, and I have very little tying me down. I have some close friends, a brother, and my parents, all of whom I'm sure I'll miss dearly. But with so many cheap and easy methods for communicating nowadays, I won't have to leave them completely behind. I've weighed these sacrifices many times, as have the people they'll impact most, and we've all reached the conclusion that it's worth it if that's what it takes to make this dream of mine a reality.
rtkrtk Wrote:Did you have any second thoughts at all when reading my last paragraph? If no, then: congratulations. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. But if you did have second thoughts, then ask yourself, is becoming a translator in Japan really something you want to do?So good news for me, then, I guess.
rtkrtk Wrote:(P.S.: I have L2->L1 translation experience in a non-Japanese language. It took about 5 years of 100% immersion to go from zero to the level where I was getting translation jobs. That language was easier than Japanese.)Thanks for the reality-check.
And thanks again to everyone. I'm in a much better place mentality than I have been in quite some time thanks to all of your advice and insight. I've realized what my original goal was--getting to Japan and learning Japanese--and I now know that I need to pursue that dream before attempting to realize another.
I still hope to become a translator someday, but one of the benefits of becoming older is knowing that with different experiences, dreams tend to evolve. For all I know, I'll get to Japan and find a new dream, or perhaps even realize that being an English teacher over there is the dream. Regardless, though, I absolutely know now that I'm on the right path, and I need to keep trudging along no matter difficulties involved!
Thanks again, everyone!
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - rtkrtk - 2015-02-13
Energist Wrote:So the question I asked myself then was, if all I ever managed to become was an English teacher in Japan who was fluent in the language, would I be happy looking back on my life in the end having accomplished that. And my answer was yes.Congratulations.
[...]
I have some close friends, a brother, and my parents, all of whom I'm sure I'll miss dearly. But with so many cheap and easy methods for communicating nowadays, I won't have to leave them completely behind. I've weighed these sacrifices many times, as have the people they'll impact most, and we've all reached the conclusion that it's worth it if that's what it takes to make this dream of mine a reality.
[...]
rtkrtk Wrote:Did you have any second thoughts at all when reading my last paragraph? If no, then: congratulations. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. But if you did have second thoughts, then ask yourself, is becoming a translator in Japan really something you want to do?So good news for me, then, I guess.
In all honesty, I didn't expect the kind of answers you gave above. But reading what you wrote, it sounds like you might have what it takes. You really do need to be prepared to leave your current life behind, and be mentally prepared to spend the rest of your life in a foreign country -- which you might learn to love.
Just as a note on my background: I uprooted myself and moved to a new country twice, each time not knowing the language, and each time thinking I would spend the rest of my life there. For me, it wasn't a big deal, not being tied down by personal/family relationships (in fact, wanting to escape them). The first time I moved to a foreign country, I expected I would live there until retirement, so I invested in the pension system, started a business, and so forth. Then after the better part of a decade, the opportunity to come to Japan arose, and I again threw it all away and moved to Japan. Now, having married and also having invested in the pension system here, there is no going back for me.
Why do I mention this? Because you are 33 years old. You need to think about your long-term future, retirement, etc., and have some plan in place. If you really dedicate yourself to learning Japanese (which means not only the language but also includes learning the culture here and integrating yourself and adapting yourself into the society here), that will take several years. Maybe you'll find a girlfriend, get married, have kids here. If you didn't plan ahead on how you were going to survive here, in the long term, you might be in trouble. Hell, even people who did plan ahead might be in trouble, given the Japanese economy, politics, environmental situation, etc.
Here's an article from another "lifer" here in Japan, Debito Ardou. You've probably heard of him (if not, you should do some research into him). He has raised several important social issues about foreigners living long-term in Japan. Recently he has become rather jaded and negative, but he still offers an important and realistic perspective about living permanently in Japan. Here's the article: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/12/03/issues/time-burst-bubble-face-reality/#.VN2SUbCUe5I . Be sure to read the follow-up comments here: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/12/21/voices/bubble-bubble-toil-trouble-gaijins-lot-japan/ .
But don't worry too much. If you are comfortable with yourself wherever you are, if you can adapt yourself to any new society, if your ego can handle the stress of being (at first) functionally illiterate in society, if you can brush off occasional racism or rudeness, then you can make it.
Good luck.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - mutley - 2015-02-13
It's certainly not uncommon to become a translator at an older age, especially a freelance one, but that is usually because the person can offer experience in a particular field that a fresh graduate, no matter how good their Japanese, is unlikely to have.
So that could be something working against you unless you spin your extra 10 years of life experience in a positive light. Having an English degree will certainly help to show that you have a reasonable competence when writing in English, but I wonder if actual real world writing/publishing experience might look even more impressive.
That's something to also think about now as it'll be much easier to get that sort of experience while you're in your home country rather than once you've moved to Japan.
Having realistic expectations about the job is also important. Translation work is generally not that well paid unless you can translate documents in a particular specialist field such as science or finance. A lot of anime, manga, and literature translation is done for free or for low pay by people who enjoy doing it as a hobby or for a bit of extra income on top of their normal job. Therefore, although there is plenty of demand for translation in those fields, it'll be harder to find full-time work that pays sufficiently well. The low wages may not seem like a big deal now, but how about in the future? Do you plan to have a family at some point? Will you want to be able to regularly visit your own country? There is a massive range in how much translators are paid, so a blanket statement that translators don't make good money is clearly wrong, but generally I think the pay off relative to the amount of time one needs to invest in studying is pretty poor.
You should also ask yourself whether you'd be happy to spend most of your time translating thousands of pages of boring company annual reports with the possibility of maybe spending a small amount of time translating things that you're actually interested in as a hobby or for a bit of extra cash.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Energist - 2015-02-14
rtkrtk Wrote:Just as a note on my background: I uprooted myself and moved to a new country twice, each time not knowing the language, and each time thinking I would spend the rest of my life there. For me, it wasn't a big deal, not being tied down by personal/family relationships (in fact, wanting to escape them). The first time I moved to a foreign country, I expected I would live there until retirement, so I invested in the pension system, started a business, and so forth. Then after the better part of a decade, the opportunity to come to Japan arose, and I again threw it all away and moved to Japan. Now, having married and also having invested in the pension system here, there is no going back for me.Thank you for the personal insights. Just out curiosity, how did you go about learning the languages of your two adopted home countries? I've read that day schools for adults in Japan are a good avenue to go about doing this, and was planning on looking into that more as I neared graduation.
rtkrtk Wrote:Why do I mention this? Because you are 33 years old. You need to think about your long-term future, retirement, etc., and have some plan in place. If you really dedicate yourself to learning Japanese (which means not only the language but also includes learning the culture here and integrating yourself and adapting yourself into the society here), that will take several years. Maybe you'll find a girlfriend, get married, have kids here. If you didn't plan ahead on how you were going to survive here, in the long term, you might be in trouble. Hell, even people who did plan ahead might be in trouble, given the Japanese economy, politics, environmental situation, etc.I honestly have no plans of ever raising a family at this point in my life, but you're right: plans and priorities can change. Thanks for offering me all of these other aspects to consider.
rtkrtk Wrote:Here's an article from another "lifer" here in Japan, Debito Ardou. You've probably heard of him (if not, you should do some research into him). He has raised several important social issues about foreigners living long-term in Japan. Recently he has become rather jaded and negative, but he still offers an important and realistic perspective about living permanently in Japan. Here's the article: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/12/03/issues/time-burst-bubble-face-reality/#.VN2SUbCUe5I . Be sure to read the follow-up comments here: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/12/21/voices/bubble-bubble-toil-trouble-gaijins-lot-japan/ .Going to read these as soon as I'm done with post. Thank you again.
rtkrtk Wrote:But don't worry too much. If you are comfortable with yourself wherever you are, if you can adapt yourself to any new society, if your ego can handle the stress of being (at first) functionally illiterate in society, if you can brush off occasional racism or rudeness, then you can make it.I used to be terrible at blending in, but with age--along with some of the other tribulations I've had to face in the last five years or so of my life--I'm much better at just saying, "Screw it. Let's do this." While I am admittedly nervous at the thought of going to a foreign country, I'm also confident that I'll learn to adapt after a period of awkwardness and even fear. But being the outsider is something that I know will be a big obstacle to overcome.
Good luck.
mutley Wrote:Having realistic expectations about the job is also important. Translation work is generally not that well paid unless you can translate documents in a particular specialist field such as science or finance. A lot of anime, manga, and literature translation is done for free or for low pay by people who enjoy doing it as a hobby or for a bit of extra income on top of their normal job. Therefore, although there is plenty of demand for translation in those fields, it'll be harder to find full-time work that pays sufficiently well. The low wages may not seem like a big deal now, but how about in the future? Do you plan to have a family at some point? Will you want to be able to regularly visit your own country? There is a massive range in how much translators are paid, so a blanket statement that translators don't make good money is clearly wrong, but generally I think the pay off relative to the amount of time one needs to invest in studying is pretty poor.You guys have really given me a lot to consider about becoming a translator. I like the way you're really dressing it down, too, actually, because it makes me think that even if I don't ever manage to make it, I'll be perfectly happy doing something else. And perhaps even happier.
You should also ask yourself whether you'd be happy to spend most of your time translating thousands of pages of boring company annual reports with the possibility of maybe spending a small amount of time translating things that you're actually interested in as a hobby or for a bit of extra cash.
On that note, though, aside from the obvious answer--ie, English teacher--what are some other jobs that a foreigner might be adept at filling in Japan? If I may, what do you folks who live over there do?
And frankly, translator or not, I've never abandoned my dream of someday becoming an author. My priorities have merely switched, however, to focusing on a more concrete plan: that being getting a degree, getting a job over in Japan, and proceeding to learn the language in hopes of acquiring another marketable skill. In other words, a career path that's a bit more structured than just wanna-be-writer. I think I mentioned this in my original post, but my mindset on the matter was always that I could get published at any age, and that, indeed, traveling abroad and experiencing another culture would no doubt be a great boon to my writing.
So, with any luck, maybe someday I'll be an accomplished author living in Japan. Now that would be the ultimate dream come true.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - vix86 - 2015-02-14
Energist Wrote:On that note, though, aside from the obvious answer--ie, English teacher--what are some other jobs that a foreigner might be adept at filling in Japan? If I may, what do you folks who live over there do?Finance, Management, and IT; are the biggest sectors for foreigners in Japan after Teaching. Some require more experience than the other. IT might be the easiest to break into of all of them since it just requires skills that you could easily train yourself in.
I'll be doing software development when I go back in a few years.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - rtkrtk - 2015-02-14
Energist Wrote:Just out curiosity, how did you go about learning the languages of your two adopted home countries?In the first country with a western language:
1. Daily self-study using the American Field Service Institute materials. I think they may even be freely available, though I bought an audio+book set from a book store.
2. A complete and utter lack of any friends or colleagues who would speak English to me in the foreign country. In other words, truly 100%, sink-or-swim immersion. Looking back, it's rather remarkable that I managed to land a job (conducted 100% in the foreign language) under such circumstances. I had a very understanding boss who is still a friend today.
3. (maybe relevant) I had had 4 years of a different foreign language in high school and had done quite well and enjoyed it, so I knew how to learn a language.
In Japan:
1. Half-hearted self-study with an audio+book set from a book store. I noticed the going was a lot slower than with my other self-study language.
2. Weekly Japanese language courses (once or twice per week, 1-hour sessions) offered by my company.
3. Finding a Japanese girlfriend, getting married, conducting at-home conversations in 100% Japanese.
4. Doing RTK for a year, but then forgetting most of it. Meaning to pick it up again at some point.
5. Changing jobs into an all-Japanese work environment.
I still don't consider myself as good in Japanese as I was in my other self-taught foreign language, which is a source of frustration. Job stress makes me want to chill out during my free time instead of doing serious language study. I recently bought a denshi-jisho though to try to encourage self-study whenever I hear a new word on the nightly news.
Energist Wrote:I've read that day schools for adults in Japan are a good avenue to go about doing this, and was planning on looking into that more as I neared graduation.Sounds reasonable and more motivating than self-study. I have no experience with day schools for adults though.
Energist Wrote:But being the outsider is something that I know will be a big obstacle to overcome.You may never fully overcome it, due to the societal attitudes towards foreigners here. But you may learn to live with it. Again, if you're comfortable with yourself, no worries.
I heard a quote on TV once by a well-known Japanese cook. Her Freudian slip of the tongue beautifully captured a prevailing Japanese mentality (or perhaps I should say undercurrent) when it comes to foreigners. The cook was saying how her dish was loved by people around the world. The phrase she used for "people around the world" was, "世界中の外国人". Isn't that a ridiculously funny phrase? "Foreigners throughout the world?" Couldn't she have just said "people" throughout the world? But no: everyone outside of Japan is a "外国人", not a just a "人". This is another うち vs. そと distinction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchi-soto).
See why I said that learning the language well enough to translate requires learning the culture as well?
Energist Wrote:And frankly, translator or not, I've never abandoned my dream of someday becoming an author. My priorities have merely switched, however, to focusing on a more concrete plan: that being getting a degree, getting a job over in Japan, and proceeding to learn the language in hopes of acquiring another marketable skill. In other words, a career path that's a bit more structured than just wanna-be-writer.That sounds good.
Energist Wrote:So, with any luck, maybe someday I'll be an accomplished author living in Japan. Now that would be the ultimate dream come true.What is it you want to write?
The Internet and WWW are changing the value of the printed word, so keep that in mind. I published some technical books a long time ago and even back then it was a hard search to find a publisher (I kept the stack of rejection letters as a keepsake, knowing that I would finally find a publisher that would accept me). It's probably harder now, in the technical field, due to the availability of good technical information on the WWW.
I assume you are aiming towards some non-technical writing. I can't offer any specific advice there. But perhaps this general advice may be of use: find a publisher that needs you as much as you need them. In other words, a smaller niche publisher, where your writing can complement their line-up, may be better than a huge publisher where your book is one of many and may get canned because they already have many similar books.
Of course, these days self-publishing is also possible. Depends on what you want to achieve: acceptance by a publisher? Fame? Wealth? All of the above?
Like translation, "being published" is one of those things that may sound glamorous from the outside, but in the end (for me anyway) it was still hard work. What was it Edison said about inventive work? 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Danchan - 2015-02-15
Hi there. I currently work as a translator/interpreter in Tokyo, so guess I have a few things I can add.
First off, I think it's great to be motivated to learn something and take on a challenge. There's no statue of limitations on gaining new skills. I actually didn't really get any good at Japanese until I was 27, seven years after I first started! Now I'm 32 and learning Mandarin. I'm busy with other things so progress has been slow, but so what? Enjoy yourself and believe that you can do it if you keep working.
That said, Mutley is right about translation/interpretation not paying very well as a rule. If you work hard to build your qualifications and maybe study some specialist areas you could do OK, but the ratio of effort to reward is pretty skewed. You also mention coming to Japan to teach-study-work. I can't personally recommend this in most cases. I think young people coming for a year or two to teach can have some fun and then go home. If you have good qualifications that are in high demand, or are coming in as an executive to do some managerial work for a while, you might also enjoy things well enough. So either you need to be young enough to not care about living in a shoe box and making no money, or well-employed/employable enough that you have an income so high you can actually live reasonably. The middle-zone is not a very good place to be. The economy here is not very good, and especially in a big place like Tokyo nobody will be particularly welcoming too you, or happy to see you. Everybody is working too hard to keep a little something stable for themselves.
The long term prospects here are also not so good, due to demographics, etc. Ultimately you would likely be wanting to go back home in the end, in which case you would need to be starting all over again, except at the age of 40 or something... That could be pretty rough I think. It depends on how much you care about comforts I guess. As we get older I think we generally want more of them. Myself I am leaving as soon as I can save a bit more. I can't find any justification to keep on earning such low wages combined with the overall quality of life/work environment. Same goes for my Chinese partner, who works here for a well known foreign company. From a Japanese perspective we're both doing pretty well considering the situation. But then I remember how much better life was back home and it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry.
Going the other way though, a good thing about translating/interpreting is that if you keep at it you can do it back home as well, for business or government (immigration services for example). Part time work online is also possible if you build up a good stable of clients. This can be a decent option if you need some flexible hours to work around child-care or doing something which is also temp-ish like contract-based university teaching or your own personal projects.
Please just be sure to look after yourself and do your research. Have a back-up plan and don't put all your eggs in one basket. The other day I saw a worn-out foreigner in his 30s on the train here in Tokyo drinking beer from a plastic bag. You don't want to end up like that but it's easy enough when your getting chewed up by the economy in a foreign land without the benefits of youth/young friends.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Robik - 2015-02-15
rtkrtk Wrote:This is another うち vs. そと distinction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchi-soto).Thank you for the link, that was quite an eye opener. I knew about existence of casual / polite speech in general, but i thought that it is much more static, while it is, according to the article, quite dynamic thing, depending on a lot of circumstances.
See why I said that learning the language well enough to translate requires learning the culture as well?
I especially liked the examples. Differences when you are speaking to your boss / to outsider about your boss or speaking to your parents / to someone else about your parents.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - vix86 - 2015-02-15
Danchan Wrote:The other day I saw a worn-out foreigner in his 30s on the train here in Tokyo drinking beer from a plastic bag. You don't want to end up like that but it's easy enough when your getting chewed up by the economy in a foreign land without the benefits of youth/young friends.For Energist's sake I just want to point out that these are what many of us teachers called the "bitter old gaijin." These kind of folks, almost exclusively men, probably exist in every industry but they exist heavily in the ones where the pay never seems to go up and the conditions are crap. The ones I saw were all teachers in their 50's who had been doing the job for 20-30 years and just hated their life. It seemed like the only reason why they were in Japan in the first place is because they had no other skills that would let them work elsewhere and they were too old to consider a career change. Take all that and add on the fact that they lived in a foreign country; it turns into a mess.
Back up plans cannot be stressed enough. Make sure you have a skill you can leverage beyond translating and your native language. If/when you get tired of Japan, you want to be able to bail and return home with something that you can use to find a job. It's probably also worth thinking about how this move will affect your retirement down the road. I assume you don't want to be working till you are 70 or 75.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - vix86 - 2015-02-15
Robik Wrote:Thank you for the link, that was quite an eye opener. I knew about existence of casual / polite speech in general, but i thought that it is much more static, while it is, according to the article, quite dynamic thing, depending on a lot of circumstances.This is particularly why I don't believe foreigners will ever make as good interpreters (translation is always an interpreting job) as native Japanese, especially X->Japanese. The Japanese might have bad English but there's a lot of things that Japanese think about and consider in a situation that is just difficult to learn without having lived in Japan.
I especially liked the examples. Differences when you are speaking to your boss / to outsider about your boss or speaking to your parents / to someone else about your parents.
It's one thing to know the basic ideas between regular, polite, and humble Japanese; but it's an entirely different thing to know the right degree to which to use things. Natives pick this up by just living every day in the culture and already understanding the language itself without having to struggle with the same kind of things that a second language learner is.
Consider a graduating Japanese high schooler who has a 'mere' 18 years on the planet. They've spent years having watched their parents, other adults, people in TV shows and movies, etc. using the language in 1000s of different situations; this doesn't even include the discipline they received from the parents and the school which help teach them the right way to do things either.
Take all of that and compare it against a language like English which lacks the overt "meta-encoding" of politeness in interactions, and that's why I think its hard for most people to cut it as interpreters in Japanese.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - john555 - 2015-02-15
DELETED.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Energist - 2015-02-15
rtkrtk Wrote:What is it you want to write?Fiction, naturally.
I've got a bunch of stuff written already, though, some of it for practice, some of it for personal enjoyment, and some of it--namely a full-length fantasy novel--with in the hopes of being published someday.
And you're right: getting published is very tough. I have a friend in the editing industry who loves my manuscript and keeps telling me to self-publish. Which I'm open to, but I would like to get it out to as many agents and publishers first before "throwing in the towel," so to speak.
I'm not really after fame or wealth, either. I mean, that would be nice, but I'd be perfectly happy with just being a workhorse writer in the publishing industry. One writer who's somewhat of a role model for me is Chuck Dixon, who falls under this category. He writes a bunch of fiction, from comics, to short stories, to novels, and he's not all that famous or rich, but he loves what he does and makes more than enough doing it to get by. I'd be a-okay living that lifestyle, too.
As an aside, my passion for writing is often a point of inner-conflict for me when it comes to my Japanese studies these days, and indeed part of the reason why I started this topic in the first place. Time was that the majority of the free time I now spend on Japanese used to be devoted to honing my writing skills. I've really had to put that on the back-burner, however, as I've pursued the language learning whole-hog these past few years.
rtkrtk Wrote:Like translation, "being published" is one of those things that may sound glamorous from the outside, but in the end (for me anyway) it was still hard work. What was it Edison said about inventive work? 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.I can say from experience that writing--and even more so, self-editing--is one of the biggest chores on the planet. I earned so much more respect for professional authors after I finished getting my manuscript in an acceptably "submittable" form. It definitely is a job, and I haven't even gotten paid for it (yet).
Danchan Wrote:Please just be sure to look after yourself and do your research. Have a back-up plan and don't put all your eggs in one basket. The other day I saw a worn-out foreigner in his 30s on the train here in Tokyo drinking beer from a plastic bag. You don't want to end up like that but it's easy enough when your getting chewed up by the economy in a foreign land without the benefits of youth/young friends.Thank you so much for sharing all of your firsthand experience. Again, you guys definitely don't mince any words when it comes to the translation business, and I'm very happy to be hearing about all these shortfalls in advance. Gives me a lot to think about as I move forward.
For what it's worth--and this is to rtkrtk, too, as I think he also expressed a similar sentiment--I'm currently in the personal fitness profession. I hate it, however, which is why I'm trying to pursue a different career closer to my heart. While the pay is good, working odd hours all year long, with dude-bros for colleagues and clients who get mad at you for not seeing any progress--despite the fact that they don't do what you tell them to do after parting ways each session--can be a very frustrating, unrewarding profession, unfortunately.
But I've paid my dues, and should I hate what I end up getting myself into in Japan, I can always fall back on it, I'm sure. I have to get out, though, and try something else.
I'd also like to say how grateful I am for all of the feedback you guys have given me already. I expected maybe four or five short responses at best. That so many of you have taken the time to post just insightful, thoughtful replies means a lot, so thank you all again.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Gaijinme - 2015-06-21
rtkrtk Wrote:Here's an article from another "lifer" here in Japan, Debito Ardou. You've probably heard of him (if not, you should do some research into him). He has raised several important social issues about foreigners living long-term in Japan. Recently he has become rather jaded and negative, but he still offers an important and realistic perspective about living permanently in Japan. Here's the article: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/12/03/issues/time-burst-bubble-face-reality/#.VN2SUbCUe5I . Be sure to read the follow-up comments here: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/12/21/voices/bubble-bubble-toil-trouble-gaijins-lot-japan/ .Nice link. Is there any topic about it on this forum?
But don't worry too much. If you are comfortable with yourself wherever you are, if you can adapt yourself to any new society, if your ego can handle the stress of being (at first) functionally illiterate in society, if you can brush off occasional racism or rudeness, then you can make it.
Good luck.
Its funny I own a book from Debito and didnt know (about immigrants). He did massive work in japan.
Yeah, I see some people I know leaving Japan. But I also know Jake Adelstein was respected somehow.
But I was glad to read some different opinions even some people go way out of line
http://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/2u8k66/why_is_debito_arudou_so_angry_all_the_time/
http://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/hydru/to_people_in_rjapanespecially_the_gaijins_what_do/
http://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/2ofo8w/debito_arudou_to_foreign_japan_residents_you_are/
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Jawful - 2015-06-21
Interesting thread with lots of interesting choices. I say go for it. If you want to shake things up and try something new, why not?
I will say that I thought I wanted to translate once upon a time, and then I tried it, and it wasn't for me at all. I was bored out of my mind. Teaching (specifically children) was much more fun so I decided to make as much money doing that as I could, which meant working for myself. There aren't a lot of opportunities for advancement in this country as a foreigner, so you have to make your own way. I know a few translators who do well for themselves freelancing, and I know people who run their own schools and do well for themselves that way too. Anyone doing other jobs have other skills related to those jobs, such as programming or working as a lawyer.
But if you do want to translate, my advice now is to start reading Japanese. Keep reading it every day. You will need very good reading comprehension skills so you're going to want to start building those skills up now. I'm not much of a reader in English let alone Japanese so this is another reason why translating didn't work out for me.
Japan can be a very rewarding and fun place to live. And if you have the "bug" then just make it happen. You won't regret it. You *will* regret never trying if you don't, however. Good luck.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - Energist - 2015-06-22
Thanks, Jawful. Glad to have advice and comments still coming in.
I'm still plugging away at the Japanese every day, and I am definitely a reader by nature. One of the things I've worked into my daily routine is indeed reading native material and trying to translate it into English. Better if I can find stuff already translated so as to compare my attempts, but right now I'm not so much focused on nuance as I am on getting the general meaning correct. Once I have the latter worked out, the former will become my primary focus.
And on that subject, my dilemma now has shifted to my concentration in college. I've settled on English as a major, as that was my major in college way back when, so I already have a lot of credits accumulated towards it. But I'm torn between Creative Writing and Technical Communication. CW was what I was planning on, but seeing as how a lot of translation work seems to be in mechanical and technical areas, not to mention I stand a better chance of landing a domestic job with a TC concentration should this whole teaching/translating gig not work out, I'm beginning to lean towards TC now.
That's just me venting, though. In any event, I'm glad to have the replies in this thread to come back to every so often when I'm feeling a little burnt out in my Japanese studies. They help keep me focused on my end-game goal, so thanks again, everyone.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - kraemder - 2015-06-23
I would say find a different goal from being a professional translator. I won't say it's impossible but the amount of skill you need to attain is just absurd. If you grew up bilingual or close to it then that would be one thing, but going at it after you're an adult is another. You're not too old. You could spend 6-8 years studying and still have a lot of time left for a career before you retire. But actually being a translator. From what I've heard, the pay is really not too good and from my own experience studying the heck out of languages as a hobby, I'm convinced it would take me 10-15 years of studying Japanese to be at a level where I could professionally translate. That's me. Other people learn faster. And that's studying part time because I can't just stop earning a living to focus 100% on language learning. Although I would love to. Even if you're in Japan teaching English, well, you're teaching English and not studying Japanese 8 hours a day and you're kinda tired after that.
I started Japanese at 34 and I'm 38 now. I guess it's been four years although I've been telling people 3 years that I've been studying. I'm close to N2 and I study almost every day at least something. No, I probably don't have the best organized efficient way to study but I study every day and watch anime a lot.
I love studying Japanese. I knew what to expect going in and it's been a lot of what i expected (I've studied German/Spanish/French as a big hobby in the past). I can now have a casual conversation with someone in Japanese and I can read a lot of text although I can't expect to just pick a book up and be able to understand it. It's hit and miss and often miss.
I'm seriously thinking of quitting my job to go teach English in Japan too. I would love to be there and experience a different culture. I have every expectation that my Japanese will improve because I will make every effort to improve it but I don't think after 2 years I'll be so proficient that I would be able to make a living as a translator. If I tried to, I would be in over my head I think. I do not think that passing the JLPT N1 qualifies one to be a translator, well maybe if you passed it with close to a perfect score but who does that? If I translated written material I'm sure I'd do it too slowly to make a living. Translating oral Japanese on the fly.. hmm I think I might be able to go from English to Japanese if they weren't too picky about me making grammar mistakes.
When I was around 25 I remember I seriously considered trying to become a translator - Spanish/German or something. I ultimately decided it wasn't such a good idea because I had too much to learn and the pay was poor per what I had heard and I needed a job soon not in 6 years. And I honestly didn't know if I would ever achieve a level of proficiency where I -could- do a professional job not matter how much I studied, which is a scary thought. I think I was totally right in my assessment based on the improvement in my language skills since then. I've gotten better but no way enough to be a translator.
So I say figure out some other goals for Japanese instead of professional translator. Not to put down one's dreams but I see too many people saying they want to be a translator but they never do. I guess dreaming to be able to have a normal conversation with someone in Japanese isn't quite as impressive or to read a book in Japanese. They're both very hard to do though. It takes a certain type of person to be a translator. You need to be stupid smart and stupid obsessed with languages. I know a girl from our Japanese class who (in my opinion) is smart enough but just isn't obsessed enough to do it. Most people are neither. I think I could get there eventually, and probably will eventually, in another 8-10 years or so. I'm obsessed but not really really smart - just normal. My goal is really just to understand anime better every day - I watch it every day anyway so why not. I might do well to make some more specific concrete goals but I think if I aimed to be a translator I would become too self critical and I don't want that.
Just my honest opinion. Good luck no matter what you decide.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - PMotte - 2015-06-24
Pay is not very good. True.
Need some honest insight: Too old to become a tranlator? - PMotte - 2015-06-24
Being brought up bilingual doesn't make any difference in your ability to be a translator. Forget about those people who think they can do it, because their parents spoke different languages. They have a small advantage at the beginning, but they loose it if they don't work to improve their language skills and their knowledge of the fields their translating for. Most of the time those so called "bilinguals" differ from "monolinguals" because they make the mistake twice which "monolinguals" only make once: thinking they know their mothertongue good enough to be a translator (or another type of language worker, for that matter).