Going to school to be a French major

You can hang out with this guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKdn4tV4kzc

Doubtful. But that would be a sweet job.

It might be viable if you have a strong interest otherwise in French culture, literature, history, politics. I doubt there's any actual scarcity of French speakers available for translation though - far more valuable would be Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, etc.

These are the sorts of majors probably most appropriate to people either highly motivated & brilliant, or from affluent families. Unless you become an analyst, or an academic (tough tough road), its the sort of credential that can get you booked at Starbucks.

Here's one alternative, absolutely free : Join the French Foreign Legion - they'll teach you French, and give you an EU passport after cinq ans - and you WILL be studly.

Here's another option - if you have the smarts, join the armed services w/ a guaranteed assignment to Language school, if that is still possible. They offered it to me in Marine Boot Camp, years ago, and I (foolishly) turned it down in favor of electronics. Thing is, you won't have total control of what language you get assigned to learn - but, presumably, after a few years of listening in on foreign conversations you should be fairly fluent, with a bit of conversational effort among your peers.

Maybe have a backup major in underwater basket weaving.

Can you translate this for me
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/d__nUJ-RQAg

Ok jokes aside, my sister worked at the U.N. for over 25 years, starting out as a translator and eventually becoming an editor. She was already fluent in French as she took it pretty seriously since middle school. She got a BA in European history and sometime later earned an MA in French studies. I never asked her her salary, I just assumed that she was making good money with great benefits.

It depends on the field you plan on translating in. The most valuable translators in general are people who work for major companies, the medical field, diplomacy, as well as accurately working on written materials that will be used internationally. Even cooler, you could get a job over in French-speaking countries and possibly earn enough to travel between the US and those nations.

Absolutely, with translators and AI in every pocket for free you should have no problem