Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
Sep 12th 2016, 6:33 pm
#16
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2016
Location: North West England
Posts: 3
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
Just to back up what everyone else is saying
Study something useful at university e.g. science, management, engineering, IT etc
And at the same time improve your Spanish
Nobody needs to do a degree in Spanish. That is a waste of time and will impress nobody.
Train yourself in something useful and at the same time get your language skills. That is the best way to prepare yourself for what will be a very difficult job market in Spain or Italy
By the way, I employ recent graduates from Spanish universities, and many of them speak great English, so you need to better than they are!
Study something useful at university e.g. science, management, engineering, IT etc
And at the same time improve your Spanish
Nobody needs to do a degree in Spanish. That is a waste of time and will impress nobody.
Train yourself in something useful and at the same time get your language skills. That is the best way to prepare yourself for what will be a very difficult job market in Spain or Italy
By the way, I employ recent graduates from Spanish universities, and many of them speak great English, so you need to better than they are!
I'm not even concerned about having the best paying job out there as long as I'm comfortable and can live there, and regards impressing people that doesn't concern me either.
Last edited by LAB; Sep 12th 2016 at 6:40 pm.
Sep 12th 2016, 6:36 pm
#17
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2016
Location: North West England
Posts: 3
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
The most important question for you is whether or not you will be able to get a work permit once the UK has left the EU. For now you are still a EU citizens but once you are done with your studies who can know what then will be?
As it is the UK government declared aim to curtail the rights of EU citizens to live and work in the UK, I think that EU countries will respond in kind. So have a close look at what your government is planning for EU citizens and you likely will get a glimpse of your future.
Anyaway, I think you will have a good amount of red tape coming your way because once the UK leaves the EU you will have to deal with 27 different national immigration laws. Work immigration is (still) a national matter. So every EU member state will be making their own rules with regards to UK citizens. Maybe you will qualify for a work visa for Spain, maybe for Italy, maybe for both, maybe for none. It will make moving around the EU for work a pain in the ass. Hopefully, the countries will establish some kind of working holiday visa for young people. That would make it easier for young UK citizens to get working experience in the EU. Obviously, highly qualified people or people with qualifications in a sought after profession will probably always get a work visa but for the rest....it is really difficult to predict what will happen to the rest.
If you are interested you can have a look at the work immigration laws of Spain/Italy for citizens of non-EU and non-EEA countries. Maybe that can give you a glimpse of the future to come??
As it is the UK government declared aim to curtail the rights of EU citizens to live and work in the UK, I think that EU countries will respond in kind. So have a close look at what your government is planning for EU citizens and you likely will get a glimpse of your future.
Anyaway, I think you will have a good amount of red tape coming your way because once the UK leaves the EU you will have to deal with 27 different national immigration laws. Work immigration is (still) a national matter. So every EU member state will be making their own rules with regards to UK citizens. Maybe you will qualify for a work visa for Spain, maybe for Italy, maybe for both, maybe for none. It will make moving around the EU for work a pain in the ass. Hopefully, the countries will establish some kind of working holiday visa for young people. That would make it easier for young UK citizens to get working experience in the EU. Obviously, highly qualified people or people with qualifications in a sought after profession will probably always get a work visa but for the rest....it is really difficult to predict what will happen to the rest.
If you are interested you can have a look at the work immigration laws of Spain/Italy for citizens of non-EU and non-EEA countries. Maybe that can give you a glimpse of the future to come??
Sep 13th 2016, 7:19 am
#19
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Hérault (34)
Posts: 8,888
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
That's not what I was asking and I disagree, the thing is I'm not interested in any of those fields nor am I any good at them, my aim is to be a translator therefore my languages degree will certainly not be "useless"
I'm not even concerned about having the best paying job out there as long as I'm comfortable and can live there, and regards impressing people that doesn't concern me either.
I'm not even concerned about having the best paying job out there as long as I'm comfortable and can live there, and regards impressing people that doesn't concern me either.
Without specialised knowledge, what would you hope to translate (into English, of course) when you get your Degree and are looking for work on the Continent? Possibly Spanish or Italian novels into English, but then the Continental publishers would send them to an Anglo-Saxon country for translation. And you'd have to compete against linquists with Diplomas in English Literature for any work going....
As mentioned above, Continental European graduates have English in their baggage and there's less translation work into English, anyway, whatever the subject. Someone mentioned hotel work, but that isn't translating. An English/Italian-speaking Spaniard with a diploma in hotel management would be given priority.... The trend may have changed by the time you graduate, but at present the economic situation in southern Europe is dire and the unemployment rates are considerably higher than in the UK....
Sorry to insist, but a purely academic diploma in languages won't be "useful", in the practical sense, unless you want to teach the languages. (You could train to teach after your Degree, and translate in your spare time....)
(Btw, if I sound like a prophet of doom, I'm a retired translator who has observed the declining situation of the profession over several decades).
Sep 13th 2016, 8:02 am
#20
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 7,749
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
The rest are unemployed or work in shops etc.
English Spanish translations are barely needed these days. And if they are needed, there are translators in Latin America and the Philippines who will work for 1c per word
Sep 13th 2016, 8:30 am
#21
Retired and loving it!
Joined: Sep 2007
Location: Ontinyent - Valencia region (campo)
Posts: 5,159
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
My wife is also a translator. And is the only one out of her languages degree class at university who could find any translation work
The rest are unemployed or work in shops etc.
English Spanish translations are barely needed these days. And if they are needed, there are translators in Latin America and the Philippines who will work for 1c per word
The rest are unemployed or work in shops etc.
English Spanish translations are barely needed these days. And if they are needed, there are translators in Latin America and the Philippines who will work for 1c per word
When I managed one of the largest localisation (translation) companies in UK, we needed many, many translators. We always used local translators - Latin America, Spain etc. (and these are so different for the majority of work we did).
There is still a big need for good (technical) translators or localisation experts.
Sep 13th 2016, 9:04 am
#22
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Hérault (34)
Posts: 8,888
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
I have to disagree.
When I managed one of the largest localisation (translation) companies in UK, we needed many, many translators. We always used local translators - Latin America, Spain etc. (and these are so different for the majority of work we did).
There is still a big need for good (technical) translators or localisation experts.
When I managed one of the largest localisation (translation) companies in UK, we needed many, many translators. We always used local translators - Latin America, Spain etc. (and these are so different for the majority of work we did).
There is still a big need for good (technical) translators or localisation experts.
(And a reminder that the OP wouldn't expect to translate into Spanish or Italian, only into his mother tongue)
Last edited by dmu; Sep 13th 2016 at 9:07 am.
Sep 13th 2016, 9:26 am
#23
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
Back to the OP. Being a translator/interpeter is an option and there will always be some demand - but consider specialising in one particular field. the convention is still to translate into his/her native language. Cold you handle a legal or tenicl text and translate from Spanish into Engish ?
Do some digging to find where there is an effective demand, and work on your abilities in that area.
Do some digging to find where there is an effective demand, and work on your abilities in that area.
Sep 13th 2016, 9:40 am
#24
MODERATOR
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Costa Valencia
Posts: 14,800
Re: Concerns about moving to Europe post-brexit
Back to the OP. Being a translator/interpeter is an option and there will always be some demand - but consider specialising in one particular field. the convention is still to translate into his/her native language. Cold you handle a legal or tenicl text and translate from Spanish into Engish ?
Do some digging to find where there is an effective demand, and work on your abilities in that area.
Do some digging to find where there is an effective demand, and work on your abilities in that area.
An example of an interpreters lack of knowledge of a subject is when I employed one to go with me for a medical appointment because I did not want to make any errors. Big mistake, she was very well qualified and came with good references but lacked the important ability to translate the medics findings. Later I went to see the specialist again with a friend who was there to support me not to interpret and this time instead of leaving it to an "expert" I dealt with it myself. The interpreter had misinformed me totally. The doctor spent some time with me to ensure that I fully understood what she was saying and even apologised for the errors made by the interpreter who was nothing to do with the medical system.
Rosemary
