don't know if this is for me...... (1 Viewer)

[ParagonAZN]

i'm thinking of taking a uni course in interpreting and translating (japanese). i'm one of those ppl who are unsure of what career paths they should take. i'm very interested in the japanese language and culture so thats probably why this course appeals to me. does anyone here take on this course? is a careers as a tranlator a successful career with many jobs on offer?

 

[Toodulu]

are you interested in studying other things? maybe you should take a broader degree just to see what you like. i was one of the many people who had an "ideal careerpath" all laid out and then rocked up to uni and realised that it wasn't at all what i expected it to be like.

 

[ParagonAZN]

are you interested in studying other things? maybe you should take a broader degree just to see what you like. i was one of the many people who had an "ideal careerpath" all laid out and then rocked up to uni and realised that it wasn't at all what i expected it to be like.

a broader degree? u mean like asian studies or something??? i'm not sure what that course is about.

 

[babydoll_]

Yeah, Toodulu's got it right.... think of another field you're interested in, e.g. Law, Science, Commerce, Engineering etc, and see if you can get a combined degree, cos if there's anything to be learnt, it's that uni never turns out as you expect.

I didn't even want to do Japanese in the first place and now I'm gonna major in it.

There is a BA in Interpreting at UWS, but I'm not too sure about that.

I have heard that there's a wee bit too many Japanese translators around, since it's one of the most popular and useful languages. So as mentioned before, you should diversify yourself by combining your Arts degree with another one.

a broader degree? u mean like asian studies or something??? i'm not sure what that course is about.

once again, a very general degree, which is best when combined with another degree.

 

[Lexicographer]

It's always said that the specialised degrees make it hard to find a job because there aren't many around, and the generalised degrees make it hard to find a job because too many people have such accreditations (almost like having none at all). Thus it's best to strike a balance, either by taking a balanced course (a degree with a strong major and diversity in minors) or a double degree.

The double degree option, I should think, is the more popular of the two because you can combine a specialised, highly employable yet often boring degree (eg Science) with a more general, stimulating degree (eg Arts). This way you can define a career path for when you're done whilst keeping your time at university interesting, as well as widening your range of job options (I am such a pamphlet).

 

[Toodulu]

i personally wouldn't go for a combined degree simply because you're going to be buried in textbooks for another ~5 years. B.arts get the rep for being the broadest degree.. it seems radsome and you get to meet some pretty cool kids and rock up to piss ups. you can study language and culture/society within the arts degree. i'm studying japanese at usyd (good arts faculty).. basically a major in japanese means you study it for 3 years and you learn to recognise kanji's and build up vocabulary, learn grammar and stuff like that. on top of that you take units in japanese culture or society.
there is also a major in the arts faculty called asian studies, you can learn stuff like the displacement of power in japanese society in the last century or something wanky like that lol.. and there are also units in the government discipline of the eco&bus faculty such as asian markets (it's sort of like the social side of economics)
you can also consider doing the B. International Studies at unsw. you learn the language, go overseas, and you can also take electives from other faculties.

personally i would do a 3 year broad degree like arts first, and then go on to a more specialised postgrad degree after you sus out what you want to do.