双语 | 你不愿做翻译？来看看美国口笔译员的“钱景”和“前景”
今年是我国MTI（翻译硕士，Master of Translation and Interpreting，缩写MTI）设立10周年，对外经济贸易大学国际语言服务与管理研究所副所长、硕士研究生导师，中国翻译协会本地化服务委员会副主任崔启亮从去年6月份开始，在全国范围内牵头发起了一项“MTI教育与就业调查”，并于今年7月正式推出《全国翻译硕士专业学位研究生教育与就业调查报告》。报告通过大量一手数据，展现了一个真实的MTI教育与就业情况。
调研数据显示，在MTI毕业生的就业去向与翻译相关性上，40%的毕业生工作与翻译有点相关；30%工作与翻译不相关；29%与翻译相关；1%不确定。在没有找翻译相关工作的受访者中，32%的毕业生找工作的时候，没有看到合适的翻译相关工作；21%表示翻译行业混乱，大部分翻译公司规模小、待遇差；16%认为，自己的翻译能力达不到职业翻译的技能要求；16%的受访者认为，从长远考虑，专职译员职业发展有局限性；11%认为专职译员工作枯燥，不喜欢；4%因为其他原因没有选择毕业后从事翻译相关工作。
为什么很多人没有成为译员？目前来看，人们对国内口笔译员的“钱景”和“前景”的看法都不太明朗，应该是一个很重要的原因。甚至一直有人担心，随着技术的发展，有朝一日，译员的工作会被机器代替。真的是这样吗？今天，Yee君就带大家来了解一下美国口笔译员的“钱景”和“前景”。
Pay
薪资水平
The median annual wage for interpreters and translators was $46,120 in May 2016. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $25,370, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $83,010.
2016年5月，译员年薪的中位数是46120美元（约合人民币30.2万元）。薪资中位数指从事某个职业的员工有半数人的薪资超过该水平，另外一半的薪资则低于该水平。薪资排在后10%的译员年薪不到25370美元（约合人民币16.7万元），排在前10%的年薪至少为83010美元（约合人民币54.5万元）。
In May 2016, the median annual wages for interpreters and translators in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:
2016年5月，从事以下行业的译员年薪中位数排名较靠前：
Professional, scientific, and technical services 专业性、科技服务 | $52,060 |
Government 政府 | $50,880 |
Educational services; state, local, and private 州、地方及私人教育服务 | $43,380 |
Healthcare and social assistance 医疗及社会救助 | $42,630 |
Wages depend on the language, specialty, skill, experience, education, and certification of the interpreter or translator, as well as on the type of employer. Wages of interpreters and translators vary widely. Interpreters and translators who know languages that are in high demand or that relatively few people can translate often earn higher wages. Those who perform services requiring a high level of skill, such as conference interpreters, also receive higher pay.
决定译员薪资的因素包括语种、专长、技能、经验、教育背景、译员资格证书和雇主类型。不同译员的薪资也各不相同。如果某语种的翻译需求量高，或是极少有人能够翻译的，那么这种情况下译员的薪资一般会更高。如会议口译员这种对翻译水平有较高要求的译员也会得到更高的报酬。
Self-employed interpreters usually charge per hour. Half-day or full-day rates are also common.
自由译员通常按小时计费，按半天或全天收费的情况也很普遍。
Self-employed interpreters and translators often have variable work schedules, which may include periods of limited work and periods of additional, irregular hours. Most interpreters and translators work full time during regular business hours.
自由译员的工作日程一般灵活多变，其中可能包括有限工作时段和额外的不定时工作时段。大多数译员是在正常工作时间内全职工作。
Job Prospects
就业前景
Employment of interpreters and translators is projected to grow 29 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. Employment growth reflects increasing globalization and a more diverse U.S. population, which is expected to require more interpreters and translators.
预计2014年-2024年，译员就业率将增长29%，远高于其他行业的平均值。译员就业率的上涨反映了全球化的加速以及美国人种更富多样化的趋势，由此对译员的需求量增加。
Demand will likely remain strong for translators of frequently translated languages, such as French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Demand also should be strong for translators of Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages and for the principal Asian languages: Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and Korean.
对于法语、德语、葡萄牙语、俄语、西班牙语等常见翻译语种的译员来说，市场需求可能会保持强劲势头。阿拉伯语和其他中东语言以及中文、日语、印度语、韩语等主要亚洲语言译员的市场需求也会很大。
Demand for American Sign Language interpreters is expected to grow rapidly, driven by the increasing use of video relay services, which allow people to conduct online video calls and use a sign language interpreter.
由于视频中继服务使用量的增加，预计美国手语译员的需求量将会大增。视频中继服务可以帮助人们进行在线视频通话，还可以利用手语译员进行在线翻译。
In addition, growing international trade and broadening global ties should require more interpreters and translators. The ongoing need for military and national security interpreters and translators should result in more jobs as well. Emerging markets in Asia and Africa are expected to increase the need for translation and interpreting in languages spoken on those continents.
此外，国际贸易的发展以及全球交流范围的扩大也需要更多的译员。市场对于军事与国家安全领域译员的不断需求也将催生出许多新岗位。亚洲与非洲新兴市场也将扩大对本地所需语种译员的需求。
Computers have made the work of translators and localization specialists more efficient. However, these jobs cannot be entirely automated, because computers cannot yet produce work comparable to the work that human translators do in most cases.
计算机促使译员和本地化专家的工作更为高效。然而，这些工作并不能完全实现自动化，因为多数情况下，在翻译质量方面计算机还无法与译员相媲美。
Job prospects should be best for those who have at least a bachelor’s degree and for those who have professional certification. Those with a master’s degree in interpreting and/or translation also should have an advantage.
学位在本科及以上，或拥有专业证书的人群就业前景最好。已获得口译及/或笔译硕士学位的人群也同样具有优势。
In addition, urban areas—especially Washington, DC; New York; San Francisco; and Los Angeles—should continue to provide the largest numbers of jobs, especially for interpreters.
此外，华盛顿特区、纽约、旧金山、洛杉矶等城市地区的就业机会最多，特别是对口译员而言。
Job prospects for interpreters and translators should also vary by specialty and language. For example, interpreters and translators of Spanish should have good job prospects because of expected increases in the population of Spanish speakers in the United States. Similarly, job opportunities should be plentiful for interpreters and translators specializing in healthcare and law, because of the critical need for all parties to fully understand the information communicated in those fields.
译员的就业前景也因专业和语言而异。比如，西班牙语译员的就业前景良好，因为预计美国的西班牙语人士将不断增加。同样，专业从事医疗和法律领域的译员将拥有充足的就业机会，因为社会各界都迫切需要充分了解这些领域所交流的信息。
In addition, there should be many job opportunities for specialists in localization, driven by the globalization of business and the expansion of the Internet.
此外，随着商业的全球化和互联网的普及，本地化专家也会有很多的就业机会。
Interpreters for the deaf will continue to have favorable employment prospects because there are relatively few people with the needed skills.
以失聪人士为服务对象的口译员仍将面对良好的就业前景，因为掌握此种技能的人数相对较少。
Employment projections data for interpreters and translators, 2014-24
2014年-2024年译员就业情况预测
Occupational Title 职业名称 | SOC Code 标准职业代码 | Employment, 2014 2014年从业人数 | Projected Employment, 2024 预计2024年从业人数 | Change, 2014-24 2014年-2024年变化趋势 | |
Percent 百分比 | Numeric 数值 | ||||
Interpreters and translators 口笔译员 | 27-3091 | 61,000 | 78,500 | 29 | 17,500 |
（数据来源：美国劳工统计局）
来源：美国劳工统计局官网
编译：阿狸、Janet、朝朝
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