From courtrooms to boardrooms, interpreters help people who speak different languages understand each other. They work in a range of situations, from business meetings to criminal trials to medical emergencies. Those who know American Sign Language interpret spoken language to sign language and vice versa. Since interpreters work on the spot and can’t go back to correct any mistakes they make, they need intense concentration.

Interpreters help individuals or groups communicate with each other by orally translating from one language to another.

Did You Know?

• Not every language that interpreters translate is “foreign.” Some interpreters translate Native American languages such as Navajo into English, or vice versa.

Are You Ready To...?

• Interpret testimony from a witness to a crime
• Listen through headphones to a speech and translate it at the same time
• Interpret a doctor’s diagnosis to a patient
• Translate a poetry reading in front of an audience
• Possibly work as a contractor, one project at a time, and not as a full-time employee

It Helps to Be...

Able to concentrate and tune out distractions, since you will be working “live” in places like busy courtrooms or hospitals.

Make High School Count

• Read a wide range of books in your second language to increase your fluency.
• Volunteer at your local community center to help teach non-native speakers English or peer tutor fellow students for whom English is a second language.
• Spend a summer or even a year in another country and learn how to speak the language.
• Pay attention in all of your classes. You’ll need a large vocabulary for the wide variety of topics you’ll encounter while interpreting.
• Sign up for advanced foreign language classes.

Did You Know?

• Interpreters either interpret after someone has finished speaking, known as consecutive interpretation, or they interpret as someone is speaking, known as simultaneous interpretation.

Outlook

Government economists expect job growth for interpreters to be much faster than the average for all careers through 2016. Laws require doctors and hospitals to provide language services to non-English speakers and the hearing impaired. This should lead to an increase in demand for interpreters for the deaf and other interpreters in health services. Growth should be limited for conference interpreters, however.

Portuguese, French, Italian, German, and Spanish will continue to be in demand. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean will also be sought after. And the demand for Arabic has increased dramatically in recent years in response to concerns about homeland security.

Compensation

The earnings of interpreters depend on many factors, such as the languages they interpret and the type of employer they work for. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, interpreters and translators earned an estimated average yearly salary of $41,690 in 2007. However, highly skilled professionals could earn as much as $100,000.