I want to be a translator what should I major in

Well, aren't there any translation programs at the universities you're interested in? I know mine has one.

 

It depends on what you want to translate. The best translators are experts in the topics they deal with, for example, someone who translates philosophy books usually has a masters degree in philosophy, someone who translates physics books has a degree in physics etc. If you want to translate fiction, then I guess you should study literature, and if you can - specifically literature of the country that speaks the language from which you want to translate.

Simply studying a language won't make you a good translator.

 

I am currently taking a degree in languages, translation focused, my languages of work are french and german if that matters. You can major after in economics, politics, etc, there are several areas you can take. Hit me back if you have any questions

 

^ What Nikidion said. Rarely is exclusive translation a career path. Many times, translators are needed in diplomatic relations, but those examples are very rare.

More often that not, learning another language is just a "flavoring" prospect for an employer. Not a necessary part of a job, nor one they desperately need. But there are always exceptions.

To illustrate another example of what Nikidion said, having a degree in English literature but knowing how to translate it into another language is quite impressive. Furthermore, there are many math or science majors who, with a minor in another language, are able to teach younger students abroad. I think the more developed a nation is, the less need for another language there is (since, with developing nations comes multiple other people who can challenge your talents).

 

If your school allows double majoring, doing one major in the language you want to translate into or out of and one major in the subject you want to work with would be ideal. I actually recommend double majoring in general to anyone for any career path.

 

If you want to be a translator, you could try to go to school for linguistics (I'm not sure if you can major in it).

---------- Post added 23rd Jan 2014 at 07:19 PM ----------

If you're open to maybe being a teacher, you could go to school for linguistics and teach English as a second language (ESL).

 

Is that like international studies cause that's what one of my friends is doing. I'm not sure though but I think she has to learn a language in it.

 

That's so nice, you're on your way to becoming what you want to be.

 

Yeah I understand the feeling of wanting the next stage to happen, but would it be so bad to enjoy the time getting to that next stage, like during high school I was all like I can't wait for this to finish but now that it has I keep looking back on it fondly. Also you seem determined so I'm sure you'll accomplish what you want.

 

If you are planning to get into translating text, then I would at least pick up a minor in English as well. Translators often have to do a lot of ad-libbing to reimplement the the tone and natural flow that is lost through the process of translation.

I would get in contact with a couple of the companies that specialize in translating graphic and text based novels because they could probably give you some specifics as to what they look for in applicants.