posted 15 March 2005 13:15            

first of all, I`d like to thank all of you for sharing your knowledge and giving so much advice. Browsing through this forum and reading all the posts has alredy given me many answers to what its like to be a translator and how one becomes one. Like many of you, I`d like to become a professional translator, knowing that this requires a lot of dedication, work, knowledge and time.
Before asking my specific question, I need to describe my situation, trying to keep it short.
After my A-levels and having spent a year in the U.S. as an au-pair, I started to study English at a German university. For a couple of reasons, i dropped it after 4 years, which I know consider the biggest mistake of my life. I then lived and worked in Spain for a year, before moving back to Germany in order to obtain a degree at a private training college (bilingual secretary and translator/ Englisch, Spanish),which by no means canīt be compared with a univerity degree.
Considering my formal education, is it even worth trying to start off as a professional freelance translator? I think, it was Apollo, who pointed out, that a university degree is a minimum requirement ( a discouraging statement, althoug it might be realistic)for working successfully in this profession and be able to convince agencies and direct clients to work with you. On the other hand, there are people ensuring that the quality of the translation is all that eventually counts, no matter what kind of formation one has to offer.
Is there any chance to succeed in this business without a degree (in my case, translation from English and Spanish into my mother tongue German)? Or should I rather consider to study again to make it really work in the long term?
I am really grateful for all kind of advices and opinions on that matter.

Greetings, blue_cat

posted 21 March 2005 15:56            

thanks a lot for your answer. Itīs very encouraging to know that there are successful translators without an official degree.
I guess, I will try to convince potential clients of my potential and at the same time develop my knowledge.