How My Brother Became a Korean Translator

After graduation, my brother went traveling. No matter where he ventured in the world, someone was sure to ask him if he wanted a job teaching English. They pay a lot of money in Korea and Japan for the American or British accent, so there were several jobs for the taking if he wanted one. One of the jobs countries were looking for besides a Japanese or Korean translator, was a documentation specialist and a website localization specialist. A website localization specialist, would be impossible for my brother to get, since they usually only hire website localization specialists of people who are from either Japan or Korea and know all of the cultural, political and ethical ins and outs of each country.   My brother loved traveling so much and new that he couldn’t travel forever unless he got a job. He was lucky in the fact that he was good at foreign languages. Some people are easily able to speak many languages besides their native tongue. He gave it a shot.   My brother majored in Korean studies, including Korean language, so he not only could he speak Korean, he could write it as well. Therefore, being a Korean translator would be a perfect job for him. He knew that he could always teach on the side. The third job, as a documentation localization specialist had a lengthy job description and required a lot more education then just speaking Korean or being able to teach English. The job description said a document localization specialist would be responsible for: Prepare translated documents and files for publication or on-line presentation Participate in maintaining technical glossaries, terminology databases and style guidelines Translating, editing and doing linguistic evaluation of user interfaces from English into the target language. The specialist is responsible for ensuring that translations comply with cultural and industry norms.   Besides having to know two different languages perfectly well, the candidate must know a computer program called CAT, computer, assisted translation tool. He also said the document localization specialist must know HTML, XML and Java and have a bachelors degree from a reputable school.   My brother didn’t have a wife or kids so he wasn’t committed in America to anyone or a mortgage either. He called me the night he was approached with the opportunity. I told him it was a great idea and to go for it! He would also be well paid and he would meet a ton of new people. Plus, he would come back to the states with so many new skills, that any documentation localization company would scoop him up in a second.   My brother didn’t get the documentation specialist job, but he did get the Korean translator job, with training to learn other skills. He was there for three years. He met so many people and traveled to so many places in Asia. He learned more about a culture and their customs which greatly helped him advance in his position at work and build a resume only some people would dream of having.   He came back after that time and tried to find a similar job. There were plenty of small Korean translator jobs, but big companies he said wanted translation companies specializing in software localization, were where companies were headed. Although, it is true, localization software cannot replace humans, but it drastically reduces the need to hire a huge staff. He eventually got a job working for one of those translation companies where he was quickly hired to advance software localization because of his fantastic resume and experience abroad.   My brother often wonders where he would be if he hadn’t traveled after college. I told him he would have found his calling some how, maybe teaching Korean at a school or working for a travel agent. He just smiles, glad to be where he is today.