> jf wrote:
> > I'd say I have an intermediate ability in Japanese.  I'm just about
> > to go on the JET program and I plan to get that ability as fluent as
> > possible (if at all possible) and then come back to the US and
> > utilize that ability in a job.

As to getting fluent in Japanese, I would say that it is a simple matter of
a tiny bit of ability and a big ole heap of perseverance. There is no magic
point where you just "get it," more a kind of slow and arduous approach to
an unattainable ideal (unless you give up along the way and say "to hell
with it, this is good enough"). As with counting to infinity, it's not speed
that will get you there, but persistence...

Good luck!

"Kevin Gowen" <kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> wrote in message
news:becqk8$3hmr5$1@ID-105084.news.dfncis.de...
> Translation would be much easier than being an interpreter. Interpreters
are
> extremely well-qualified individuals, and simply having native-speaker
> proficiency in two languages is not enough to be a competent interpreter.


I think maybe you are thinking of simultaneous interpreters here, who
certainly are highly trained and skilled. Consecutive interpreting is
another story, however. In this field, you've got your plums along with your
pines, just like in the translation field.

I have heard that the going rate for top-class simultaneous interpreters is
100,000 to 200,000 yen/day, plus expenses. Consecutive interpreters
generally make half that or less, and of course there are probably some poor
saps at the bottom of the barrel working for a man or two a day.

When I was living on the mainland, I did about two interpreting gigs a year.
I didn't find them all that difficult per se, but they were very tiring and
stressful. Twice a year was about all I would want to do work like that,
although doing it once in a while was interesting, and gave me some
opportunities to experience different things. On interpreting jobs I
traveled around Japan, ate at some awesome restaurants, and got to meet the
presidents/CEOs of DoCoMo, Ericsson Japan, Nokia Japan, and others (I still
have their business cards as souvenirs). Plus it was about the only time I
ever got to wear a suit.

Money-wise, I would make a bit less interpreting full time than what I make
now as a translator, and probably earn myself an ulcer in the bargain.

Now that I'm down here in Okinawa, however, I doubt I'll be getting many
more interpreting gigs, which is not altogether a bad thing.

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom