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Bachelor of Languages worth it for me? | ||
Tags: Usefulness | College/University | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5364 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 17 of 38 30 January 2015 at 2:17pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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Peter, I did misunderstand your situation. Sorry about that. It sounds like you have a good understanding of the situation and are thoroughly thinking through your options... that's really what matters. I think EMK offers some good insight into the objective value of the different options. Good luck.
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| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5119 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 18 of 38 30 January 2015 at 3:52pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I can offer my own experience with getting a language-related degree after having established a career in another field although my situation was a bit different so take it with a grain of salt.
I got an applied linguistics degree well into my forties through a three year distance program from an Italian university. The last 6 months I attended in person and in country, though. Honestly, the degree shouldn't have been called "Linguistics" - it should have been called "Philology", really. While the program included plenty of lower-level linguistics courses (morphology syntax, phonology, comparative and contrastive linguistics, etc.), there was a fairly heavy emphasis on cultural, geographical, and historical aspects with Italian as the reference for it all. I was already doing some translation at the time on a part-time basis, so I had it in my mind to eventually move into the field full-time. I can honestly say that the degree hasn't really provided anything extra as far as working in the field goes - it wasn't translation-specific, after all. What has helped more than anything was 1.) deciding to specialize in a specific type of translation and 2.) registering with a couple professional organizations - ATA and NAJIT, specifically. While I'm sort of ambivalent about both organizations, I have to admit that at least being listed in their respective directories has helped me professionally. If I were in your position, I suppose I'd look at a language-related degree program not as a vehicle to change careers, rather just as a way to personally grow. University wasn't always about landing a good job - it used to be about expanding one's knowledge. At my age, I suppose that's about the only way I'd ever look at it now. If translation is something you'd really like to pursue, you might want to take a look at your country's professional associations, such as AUSIT and NAATI. They're bound to have mentoring programs where you can get valuable support and feedback from established translators and interpreters. You may decide that you don't like the work involved (loneliness is a common complaint among translators, for example - not so much a problem with interpretation.) The TL;DR version of this ramble is that a Bachelor of Languages degree on its own won't really help you enter the translation field. If you look at the bottom of the degree page you've linked to, you'll notice under "Career Opportunities" that most everything listed is some sort of specialization. That's key, and your nursing career would be a good candidate for that sort of specialization. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 30 January 2015 at 4:06pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Arnaud25 Diglot Senior Member France Joined 3831 days ago 129 posts - 235 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Russian | Message 19 of 38 30 January 2015 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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@eyðimörk: I know the status of "auto-entrepreneur". If you search on Google, you'll see that it's probably not possible to work as a nurse under that status in France.
After that, I can only say: "la chance sourit aux audacieux". 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4088 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 20 of 38 30 January 2015 at 4:38pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I do not need to Google it, I'm familiar enough with the auto-entrepreneur scheme as it is. I simply did not realise (which I think should have been clear from my response) that you were speaking ONLY about starting a nursing business, given that this thread about someone who wants to change careers and is only "somewhat willing" to continue doing nursing if both moving and changing careers is too much. Heck, it wasn't clear to me that you were speaking even a LITTLE about nursing businesses, since the only job you actually mentioned was at McDo.
In that case, though, yes, I totally agree with Arnaud25. Don't move to Paris and try to start a nursing business. The prices over there are ridiculous (his sample rent is 5× my mortgage in Brittany), you probably don't have the legal qualifications, and the business taxes will break you (although the paper work in France isn't worse than in Sweden). My advice only applies to starting non-nursing businesses. Edited by eyðimörk on 30 January 2015 at 4:53pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5465 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 21 of 38 31 January 2015 at 2:12am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
Thanks James29, Yeah it's been something in the works for some time, but some fresh ideas are certainly worthwhile. Thanks again :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5465 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 22 of 38 31 January 2015 at 2:57am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
Thanks for following Arnaud and chipping into the discussion.
I absolutely do understand this. I wouldn't consider myself special, unique or even partially ahead of other immigrants. I'm well aware of the big presence the French language has in numerous countries around the world and don't ignore for a second that there would be a LOT of French immigrants from other countries, many of whom are likely to speak French just as well if not better than myself. I must've given the impression that I considered that if I had an advanced level of French it would help a lot - yes it would help but it wasn't what I was meaning to convey at all. In fact I understand that I need to at the very least be excellent at French and this is probably why i'm currently so dedicated to improving my French - it's a basic expectation that won't guarantee gaining employment even if I sound like a native.
I have had the impression, definitely, that life in France (at least for gaining employment) is not easy. Being in France yourself and telling me this from the conditions there certainly helps me focus intently on this fact - that I should not expect this to be a walk in the park by any means.
Yes I have heard this. In fact this morning I watched the JT sur France 2 and I saw somewhat ironically that they were discussing the cost of accommodation in Paris. Although it was in the context of students finding affordable accommodation and further cutbacks to come from government aide, I was able to see your point reinforced by them discussing this very fact. The price of monthly accommodation for quite average accommodation nonetheless was really expensive. To point this out Arnaud is definitely something worth pointing out and I appreciate this. I must say that, I'm not interested in living in a big city. Like many English ex-pats I am much more interested in living regionally within reach of a moderate sized town/city where I could possibly gain employment. If I went down the Geneva path I would be looking in the Annecy region. Of course I'm also well aware there is a tendency in that region for prices to be elevated due to the inflow of money coming from those who live locally but work in Switzerland. I have considered many of these things, but certainly having a French person reiterate these facts is worthhile.
With the many road blocks i've come across (probably some/many even due to self imposed limitations) in attempting to relocate to France some day in the future I am becoming more and more convinced that this is a steady long-term project that may not even come to fruition until I retire in Australia from employment and relocate to France. I hope it happens sooner of course. Also your comments remind me of when my wife and I attempted to relocate to the Netherlands. We failed in that respect because our language level was not up to par (we weren't able to pas a B2 level Dutch exam). We have drawn from that experience of course and resolved to not relocate overseas again without better preparation. Thus my language skills at least will definitely be sufficient by the time we attempt this. How your comments bring back memories is that some Dutch people said to us " Why did you want to move here? (looking it us like we were crazy) Why didn't you go to France or Spain or Italy? Somewhere warmer?" Now yourself are almost saying to me "Don't even bother, life is too hard here, stay in Australia". Were I to ask a Spaniard what they thought of me moving to Spain they would call me a nutcase given the high unemployment rate (and that's why I've avoided it in part). Arnaud you do have insight into life in France since you live there and I value this feedback. However you're not likely to stop me. I'd sooner attempt this (with preparation) and fail as opposed to reaching the end my life and be extremely upset with myself that I had not attempted this because I felt the situation as too difficult. Numerous people have relocated to your country, albeit 99 times out of 100 (guessing) most likely their situation was improved. Relocating to another country is not always about economics, it's about the experience of it too. France to you is just France. To me it's exotic - I'm not seeing this simply through rose- coloured glasses either. I appreciate your feedback and realise that the reality of the situation is not all skipping through the fields with smiles on our faces. I can't relocate with a baby and a wife without being prepared and realistic. So I must prepare ourselves as best as can be and take all into consideration, so thanks again for your input on this discussion. Perhaps I will use the next 5 to 10 years here working to build a more than solid financial foundation that will enable life in France to go rather smoothly than it would were I to attempt to relocate sooner. Who knows what the future holds, but i'm certainly not about to give up given your pessimistic presentation of life in France even if it is for the most part reality. PM 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5465 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 23 of 38 31 January 2015 at 3:09am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
Hi hrhenry, This is certainly useful information. Thanks for sharing. It does seem that doing a language or linguistics degree on it's own would only provide self satisficaiton in most cases. If I want to teach I'd need to have teaching qualifications, if I want to translate/interpret, along with accepting the strong competition, then for me medical translation is probably best. However given how many French people speak English nowadays and how little French people there are in my country, this would probably prove rather limited as well. Imagine being in a French hospital in which someone spoke English and not French, there'd be a good number of people around i'd imagine that could translate - family, other patients, nurses, doctors, other foreigners that have also learned English. In all my time here nursing in Australia I have NEVER translated for someone that speaks French, I have NEVER translated for someone that speaks Dutch. I have held conversations with patients in French twice from recollection and one wasn't even French- probably about the same amount as Dutch. I HAVE translated for Spanish to a doctor once (an Argentinian patient) and I also translated for another Spanish speaking patient on another occasion. Australia is a melting pot that could somewhat represent conditions in other countries in general. Okay perhaps that's a poor correlation to France, but still I can't see much scope for medical translation, and too much competition. I'm not interested in teaching English, I mean what the hell am I going to France for? To experience French culture, not spread my own. Besides the English teaching market in France is apparently saturated. hrhenry relating your experience to my situation has certainly been helpful and the more responses I get on here the more I realise this degree is a waste of time and money. It's merely my ego that wants it, but that is not logical. However we do do things in life for enjoyment too, Mind you given my goals it's still not worthwhile it seems. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5465 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 24 of 38 31 January 2015 at 3:19am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
Starting my own business has crossed my mind, but I have always shied away from that kind of endeavour. It takes a lot of time and consumes your life. I worked in a family business for a few years and saw what I suspected. The enticement of owning one's own business is not worth the committment when it's actually put into practise. However SOMETIMES running one's own business can work, but sometimes is far too risky for me. But you never know if I end up a lot richer in the coming years maybe i'll change my take on that. The only business that I thought might be a possibility is some kind of rental property set up. B&B, gîte (less work than B&B), a holiday rental set up (which would most likely mean i'd have to visit France in the low season). Just a thought, hadn't considered it too seriously. The market could be saturated too. An area I thought would do well in the country would be Provence in relatively close proximity to Alpe d'Huez. This way you cover the beautiful region of Provence as well as taking in some Tour de France tourists who usually gravitate towards the larger more famous climbs of the Tour. I even thought maybe I could run cycling tours as I cycle a lot. I also kayak, maybe i could do tours for both.... Anyway a lot of maybe's I know and a lot of what ifs and dreaming. I can dream, but I am determined to make something work . My strongest sentiment lately seems to be one i'm returning to quite often. Build up a real estate portfolio in Australia then relocate to France. This is rather fanciful, however real estate has made countless ppl rather wealthy in this country. It's getting harder but it is possible, problem is how to go about it. Thus, i've resolved to read a lot on the subject and see if it's achievable for my family. I know I know, crazy ideas. Maybe I am just a dreamer, but like I said I'll keep aiming, just got to find the right rifle that has the highest likelihod of hitting that target. Peace up 1 person has voted this message useful |
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