Speak Arabic? £100,000 could be yours...

By Duncan Walker
BBC News Online Magazine

A shortage of Arabic speakers has seen earnings for the best translators and interpreters reach £100,000 a year. Demand, driven by the War on Terror, is set to continue - but what lies in store for those offering their services?

Listen and earn

First thing if you are after the big money is that you will need to be fluent in colloquial versions of the language; a knowledge of Farsi, Dari and Pashto would help your case. Military experience and expertise in political or economic affairs would also look good on your CV.

The top earnings also mean going freelance and finding enough short contracts to work full time, says Henry Pavlovich, director of the Institute of Linguists.

But, he says, the work is there for those with the right skills.

"Good Arabic speakers are very, very heavily in demand and because of that a lot of them are very highly paid."

Those who want the security of a staff position earn far less, but still a respectable £30,000 or so.

Spies

With MI5 set to employ an extra 1,000 staff as it increases in size by 50%, there may well be a few vacancies for spies in the security services.

Indeed, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told the BBC the recruitment drive, to counter the threat from al-Qaeda, could last years.

It's still something that's waiting for the rest of the world to catch up Henry Pavlovich

He said: "I think an awful lot of our spies might speak Russian but they are not so much for Arabic."

There is also work for the police, particularly at Scotland Yard, and with the Army.

During the trial of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbasset al-Megrahi many people worked for the Scottish court specially set-up in the Netherlands.

Dangers

Translating and interpreting from behind a desk in the UK or Europe shouldn't prove too hairy.

But the Institute of Linguists is concerned there is such a shortage of suitable candidates for the wide variety of jobs available that some people are being put at risk.

The Army's decision to send 16 Arabic language students to help troops in Iraq talk to local people and translate documents is a point in case, says Henry Pavlovich.

"I wonder how many other professions are willing to provide such assignments to inexperienced and not fully qualified practitioners after a crash course in local issues," he asks.

"Will we have undergraduates taking part in cardiac surgery, Cessna trainees helping to drive a jumbo jet to New York, or Army cadets being sent out on patrol in Basra?"

Studying

Learning Arabic usually takes at least three years of university study, with most students spending an extra year abroad to refine their skills.

Universities admissions service Ucas says more people are applying to learn Arabic. Between 2001 and 2002 the number of successful applicants rose by 22%.

But despite the prospect of more graduates, the War on Terror means jobs should still be relatively easy to come by. "It's still something that's waiting for the rest of the world to catch up," says Mr Pavlovich. "This situation came quite quickly."

So where does this leave linguists whose skills lie elsewhere? It all depends on what language they speak, but generally speaking the outlook is considerably less bright.

Someone fluent in a European language like French or Spanish would earn £25,000 to £30,000 if they landed a staff job, but they would be lucky to do so well as a freelance.

"People in the EU can come over here and many are fluent in English," says Mr Pavlovich.

But just as Arabic is in demand now, other languages may come to the fore.

"In the 60s there was a big demand for Russian and many people went to university to study that," Mr Pavlovich adds.