Forgive me if this topic sounds a bit depressing, but it's real worry that's been on my mind for a while. My history as a language learner started when I was in High School. My first foreign language was German. After my first 2 years of learning German I started trying to communicate with people over the internet using my German skills. I started forming bonds with many different types of people and this soon became my drive for learning foreign languages in the first place; to get to know more people and learn about cultures around the world. I was a terribly shy person as a kid, but the world of language learning opened me up and filled my life with richer experiences.
When I entered the University I continued my language pursuits by studying German more intensively and also adding on Japanese. After 7 long years and 2 study abroad experiences under my belt, I finally graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in German and Japanese in my University. Many people always commented on my degree choice saying that it's a rather unusual degree combination. Most language learners in my faculty always combined their language majors with a secondary field related to science, education, business, etc. With the exception of education, most of those secondary fields didn't really interest me. I've thought about what I will eventually do with my career and how I can use my language skills. Everytime I look into the possibilities, I always find references to jobs in business or management of some sort, but none of that interests me in the least. It makes me think, "Is that all that is available these days?"
I still haven't decided what I want to do with my future, but I am leaning towards gaining a M.A. and/or a PhD. in a language related field in order to become a professor, translator, or something related to those job types. However, this seems to limit my options quite a lot. Currently, I am working a temporary teaching job as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) in Japan. My experience here shows that I'd have potential in teaching if I decide to pursue it later, but I think I'd enjoy teaching adults more, so perhaps a university setting would be better. I like teaching kids too, but there are some topics that I like to discuss as a teacher that are impossible to discuss with children at a basic English level.
I feel like I'm rambling now, but my basic concerns are that I won't be able to find a job that I can enjoy due to the lower demand for people in my position and preference for those with business or management knowledge (which I know zero about). Perhaps I am just not looking in the right places, but any search in google or other websites usually turns up with all the jobs that I would never be happy with. I feel like learning and teaching languages is the ONLY thing I'm good at, but that by itself seems limiting.
Sorry for the long rant, but does anyone else have similar feelings or are you pursuing a career that is purely language related? Might you have any suggestions for someone like me? Anything would be greatly appreciated. Now that I got all of this off my chest, I'll try to be a bit more positive in my search, but it will perhaps be quite a challenge.
@Nico I am less concerned about the pay I would receive (as long as I can pay my bills and save enough to maintain stability, I'll be fine) and more concerned about the quality of life I can have; whether or not I will be happy in my future job. For this reason, I have considered pursuing other fields such as philanthropy, gender studies, or international relations (among other options). Which of these options would be best for me is something I will need to take the time to consider.
As far as my language "mastery" goes, the level that I show on this site is based on my own feeling of where I am at. I don't really struggle at all in a conversation or have much trouble understanding what I read in my two major foreign languages, but I still struggle understanding higher academic/business language, which I am working on privately to improve. Until I test myself and receive certification that states my true level, my level will continue to seem perhaps lower than it is. Also, given that I speak English most of time in my job, I feel my language skills have stagnated a bit.
In any case, I appreciate your realistic input. However, perhaps I am misinterpreting since this is simply text, but I feel you are taking a bit of condescending tone with me, which I do not appreciate. My decision to take on my English teaching job wasn't a default decision by any means. I wanted to have more experience in Japan because of my interest in the language and culture. I had made the decision to take on this sort of job as my first job out of the Uni even before I started my academic career. It's been a dream of mine and one that I am glad I was able to have the opportunity to achieve. As I work here, I am doing my best to develope my professional skills as well as my linguistic ones.
I knew a guy that wanted to travel to different countries and teach English... but you are now a teacher in Japan...
There are also classes for adults in the language institutes.(here there are many of them)
Pursuing Phd and teach in university is a good option as you said it yourself.
Lee, if languages are what you like, then go for it. It is completely understandable that you are feeling that way. We all fell a bit lost sometimes. The language field is really vast so you have lots of opportunities. Keep studying and qualifying yourself professionally and you will certainly find what is right for you and if, for some reason, you have to do something you don't enjoy doing to pursue what you like, do it. We all have to do things we don't like in order to get what we like. Also be patient: as Solomon once said, everything has a right time to happen under the heaven, so walk step by step. Anyway, since you mentioned international relations, I think it is a good choice. Also, since you would like to teach adults languages, why don't you try being a tutor on Italki? That certainly would be a good experience.
Personally I'm not sure if translation is a good field to get into unless you need only a small investment. I think that because I don't see it as a viable long-term option, what with automatic translation tools getting better fast (sure they can't replace any human yet, but the progress is impressive). It's kind of like starting work on a farm 20 years ago, which are mostly automated now, or becoming a taxi driver now, with autonomous cars being around the corner.
Well, sorry for making you more depressed... On a more cheerful note, a lot of things that don't seem fun and that aren't fun the first time can become quite enjoyable after you become just a little good at it. Otherwise, become really good at language and the necessary soft skills and defeat the competition for some language job! Or learn AI and help make the first paragraph a reality.
@Nico: I think language teacher jobs pay okay in China by young-people standards, it's surely not the way to get rich but you can live comfortably... Maybe it's because I'm comparing it to the pay and pressure of a postdoc position though, but still. Perhaps you're right about the reputation.
You already prepared many things for your future, I don't think you need to decide something in a hurry, today you're a teacher, maybe tomorrow you will be a translator, a professor or any carriers you want to have, that's all can be true cause you are capable of handle that, it's only a matter of time.
In my opinion, there won't have any conflicts in your case, people like you always have a happy ending. But teacher is a good job in a long run, don't you agree that?
I think your life is full of excited, but sometimes only others can tell.
