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How long would I have to go to college for if I'm interested in American Sign Language interpretation?
I am interested in a career involving ASL, particularly being a translator or working in Deaf Education. How many years would I have to go to college? I researched it a bit and came up with about twelve years. This isn't an automatic deal breaker for me, but that is a very long time, and I want to consider it before applying to colleges. I am a high school junior by the way.
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Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Myles !
I am happy to provide advice for a career serving the Deaf Community. This is a super awesome career choice !
At the foundation of this career is the ability to speak and receive/understand American Sign Language fluently. You are in the 11th grade, so you can start now if you do not know it yet. Learning ASL as a teen may be much smoother than learning it later on when one is older. If you haven't begun learning ASL yet, do not worry. It's a lot to learn, it's a foreign language and it is not English as we know it as you will learn when you start. So your first step is to get to at least an intermediate level with ASL before you enroll at college. Currently contact the following places to be referred to ASL Instruction: Howard Community College, Community College of Baltimore County, Montgomery College and Frederick Community College, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, in partnership with the Hearing and Speech Agency of Baltimore. Call as soon as possible for any community based, non-college credit ASL classes or see what can be arranged for dual enrollment if your current high school offers dual enrollment for ASL.
If you are a hearing person, you may find that being instructed in ASL is much smoother having a hearing teacher than a Deaf instructor. I had both and since I am hearing, I found it easier to grasp nuances with a hearing ASL instructor, then again I started when I was older. Inevitably in the path for this, you will have both hearing and Deaf instructors.
Now to your questions, and most importantly, you do not need to go to college for 12 years to work as an American Sign Language Interpreter or to teach Deaf Culture or to teach the Deaf Community. You will need a Bachelors Degree - 4 years to learn Deaf Culture and sharpen your ASL ability. It's all going to depend on how fluent you are, that's the thing you will have to demonstrate. You need to have clear knowledge of the deaf population because it's a whole culture onto its own and lots that hearing people do not know. I have had ten years training in it because when I was a social service case manager, I was assigned deaf clients.
As an ASL Interpreter, you will have one of the best careers there is. It pays very well and you register with agencies that serve the deaf and are sent out on assignments. To my knowledge, you even get transportation fee paid to you if it's beyond a certain mileage.
If you want to teach deaf students, research what your state requires for a teaching credential for colleges and high school and the other levels. At most, you may need a Masters Degree and the teaching credential so that is a total of 6 year in college. That's it.
But your biggest help with this is contacting and interacting with the premiere top notch well known Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. That's a one hour plane ride, but there is a regional center to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Gallaudet University Regional Center East, located in Haverhill, Massachusetts, which is about 50 miles from Pittsfield. Contact either place - or both - and request and schedule an orientation. Make a strong connection with them as they are THE people for deaf studies.
If you want to teach, you will probably want to aim for a position at Gallaudet. But don't over think it too much because during your path in Deaf Culture, you will learn of various opportunities. Boston University is the actual prime college that offers a Bachelors Degree in Deaf Culture. You can explore the University of Massachusetts and the University of Massachusetts Lowell which do not offer a Deaf Culture program, but may have related courses. Gallaudet is the actual perfect place, however.
If you haven't seen the film "Children of A Lesser God" yet from 1986, watch it to get an idea of what deaf school is like. The school used in that film is the Rothesay Netherwood School in Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada. Another good film is "CODA" which came out in 2021. Try to find them online.
Myles, definitely follow through with this career - you will not regret it. If you have more questions, definitely return here. I wish you all the best in all you do !
I am happy to provide advice for a career serving the Deaf Community. This is a super awesome career choice !
At the foundation of this career is the ability to speak and receive/understand American Sign Language fluently. You are in the 11th grade, so you can start now if you do not know it yet. Learning ASL as a teen may be much smoother than learning it later on when one is older. If you haven't begun learning ASL yet, do not worry. It's a lot to learn, it's a foreign language and it is not English as we know it as you will learn when you start. So your first step is to get to at least an intermediate level with ASL before you enroll at college. Currently contact the following places to be referred to ASL Instruction: Howard Community College, Community College of Baltimore County, Montgomery College and Frederick Community College, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, in partnership with the Hearing and Speech Agency of Baltimore. Call as soon as possible for any community based, non-college credit ASL classes or see what can be arranged for dual enrollment if your current high school offers dual enrollment for ASL.
If you are a hearing person, you may find that being instructed in ASL is much smoother having a hearing teacher than a Deaf instructor. I had both and since I am hearing, I found it easier to grasp nuances with a hearing ASL instructor, then again I started when I was older. Inevitably in the path for this, you will have both hearing and Deaf instructors.
Now to your questions, and most importantly, you do not need to go to college for 12 years to work as an American Sign Language Interpreter or to teach Deaf Culture or to teach the Deaf Community. You will need a Bachelors Degree - 4 years to learn Deaf Culture and sharpen your ASL ability. It's all going to depend on how fluent you are, that's the thing you will have to demonstrate. You need to have clear knowledge of the deaf population because it's a whole culture onto its own and lots that hearing people do not know. I have had ten years training in it because when I was a social service case manager, I was assigned deaf clients.
As an ASL Interpreter, you will have one of the best careers there is. It pays very well and you register with agencies that serve the deaf and are sent out on assignments. To my knowledge, you even get transportation fee paid to you if it's beyond a certain mileage.
If you want to teach deaf students, research what your state requires for a teaching credential for colleges and high school and the other levels. At most, you may need a Masters Degree and the teaching credential so that is a total of 6 year in college. That's it.
But your biggest help with this is contacting and interacting with the premiere top notch well known Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. That's a one hour plane ride, but there is a regional center to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Gallaudet University Regional Center East, located in Haverhill, Massachusetts, which is about 50 miles from Pittsfield. Contact either place - or both - and request and schedule an orientation. Make a strong connection with them as they are THE people for deaf studies.
If you want to teach, you will probably want to aim for a position at Gallaudet. But don't over think it too much because during your path in Deaf Culture, you will learn of various opportunities. Boston University is the actual prime college that offers a Bachelors Degree in Deaf Culture. You can explore the University of Massachusetts and the University of Massachusetts Lowell which do not offer a Deaf Culture program, but may have related courses. Gallaudet is the actual perfect place, however.
If you haven't seen the film "Children of A Lesser God" yet from 1986, watch it to get an idea of what deaf school is like. The school used in that film is the Rothesay Netherwood School in Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada. Another good film is "CODA" which came out in 2021. Try to find them online.
Myles, definitely follow through with this career - you will not regret it. If you have more questions, definitely return here. I wish you all the best in all you do !
Thank you so much! This is SO helpful!!!
Myles
You're very welcome, Myles. I am very passionate about the deaf community and they need people like you who really care and are interested in helping them be part of a community !
Michelle M.