Japanese Translator Salaries?

[Virtual Chatot]

How much do Japanese>English/Japanese<English translators make? I may go to University for Japanese and so I was wondering.

Please and thanks

 

[Hiidoran]

Very little, actually. Last I checked it was around $28,000 to $32,000 a year. :|

The market for Japanese translators or interpreters is pretty darn small. As there aren't too many Japanese people left that don't at least know essential English, the market for Japanese to English careers is drying up pretty quick - leaving only half of your target clientele available. Not to mention you'd probably be working in imports from Japan, which are typically small companies. They won't be able to hire too many people, so the position will be very competitive.

I'm actually majoring in Japanese right now, as I had the same ambitions you did, but I plan on switching my focus to Japanese Education and backing it up with Spanish Education. If you're in America, you show know the economy is pretty much in the toilet, and it pays (literally) to be well-rounded.

Just some helpful advice from one Japanese enthusiast to the next.

 

[Ryoutarou]

You can actually major in Japanese? Last I checked into it, you could really only get degrees in East Asian Studies.

Anywho, from what I've found, you do get paid well, but the work is incredibly erratic and not something you can make a decent living off because Japanese isn't a wide-spread language outside of Japan. Though I know the reverse is true for the Spanish market since interpreters for that are a dime a dozen.

 

[Hiidoran]

You can actually major in Japanese?

Haha, you can. They usually suggest a double major with Asian Studies, however.

I guess I forgot to mention the work you could do as a contracted or independent interpretor, but as Ryoutarou said, there won't be much work to find. I was given the advice to develop more than one secondary language by a graduate student here at my university, but it really just depends on your skill level. If you're amazing at Japanese, or you think you will be, by all means go for it.

 

[Virtual Chatot]

Haha, you can. They usually suggest a double major with Asian Studies, however.

I guess I forgot to mention the work you could do as a contracted or independent interpretor, but as Ryoutarou said, there won't be much work to find. I was given the advice to develop more than one secondary language by a graduate student here at my university, but it really just depends on your skill level. If you're amazing at Japanese, or you think you will be, by all means go for it.

From what I've managed to teach myself so far using the internet and books, I'm managing to pick it up faster than Hebrew.

I'll probably switch my plans to Japanese Education like you did.

 

[Esper]

Knowing Japanese would probably be best as a skill you had in addition to some other skill, not necessarily a language though. If you knew computers, for instance, you could perhaps find work localizing programs in Japan or vice versa. It just looks better to be able to say "By the way, I also speak Japanese."

 

[Virtual Chatot]

It just looks better to be able to say "By the way, I also speak Japanese."

That sounds better in any situation :P

 

[twocows]

Practically nothing (see above posting). For comparison, I believe that most manual laborers earn around $10k, and most doctors make upward of $80k.

 

[Mika]

Actually, if you've got both a European Language and an Asian Language you can work for the UN and make 60 - 80k a year doing translation during the times when the UN is up and running if you're proficient/fluent. (b n n)b

And if you work, translation wise, for a company as a translator who accompanies people on buisness trips it's in the same area [as this is also my plan <.<!] salary wise.

With Japanese you have to take a series of exams [JLPT] and you've got to do well on them to prove competency. Level 4 and 3 are easy as heck but the difference between 3 and 2 is just phenomenal. It's required for most Japanese teachers [my teacher in high school was struggling to get a 90+ on his level 1 test] and even native speakers struggle with them [They're just that evil.]

Hope that helps? XD;