Which country is better for an interpreter?

Mariam Moaz wrote:
I wonder which of the following countries would be better for me as an interpreter: Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, other Gulf countries ...

My native language is Arabic. I speak English, Spanish and Portuguese (still need to perfect them anyway). I also speak some Italian and French. I started to learn German a couple of months ago. I'm not an interpreter yet, but I'm planning to study for a master's in interpreting. I am willing to perfect any of my weak foreign languages or learn Turkish for the sake of living in a good place for me as a future interpreter.

Sheila Wilson wrote:

I haven't any idea, but bear in mind that as an interpreter you can only take on one assignment at a time. You don't need to be in a place that needs 10 court interpreters on a given working day, as well as another 30 in hospitals, police stations and immigration offices, plus a couple of hundred in various business settings: conferences, meetings, telephone calls, guides...

Sheila Wilson wrote:

Surely, questions that are more to the point would be these:
- Can you legally move to any of these countries and take up work there?

Sheila Wilson wrote:
- Can you legally work in the various official circles (courts etc) that interpreters normally work in?

Sheila Wilson wrote:

I imagine you already know that to be an interpreter you have to have a really high command of both languages. "Getting by" in a language just isn't good enough. Your output can be a little less polished than that of a translator, polish being traded in for speed, but it still has to be totally accurate and understandable, and of course the output will need be in your B language as well as your A one (something I'm glad doesn't happen in translating as I certainly couldn't guarantee to write perfect French). So, your "some Italian and French" probably isn't worth anything professionally, and your German certainly isn't. You should be thinking in terms of several years of intensive study - preferably living and working in it rather than sitting in a classroom - to have any hope at all of using a language as an interpreter. I'm sure that will come across very clearly in your training.

Tom in London wrote:

Qatar looks good. I have clients there, at the Italian University. Not only is there a lot of money sloshing around; as compared to other Gulf states Qatar is very liberal, with a sybaritic lifestyle, and there are large numbers of foreigners living and working there, or flying in and out, who presumably require interpreters on a regular basis. There are also major international events and conferences. Go for it (if you're good enough and can perform under pressure without making mistakes)!

[Edited at 2017-01-31 16:46 GMT]