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Editor's Notes
I first met Jenny at the first Yokohama IJET (I forget the number) in 1996 and was very pleased to see her again earlier this year at IJET again.
What is your education and experience background? How did it lead to translating?
My college degree was a bachelor's degree in English literature. I've always been interested in writing and publications, and for the 7 or so years between graduating from college and moving to Japan, I worked at editorial jobs. Then I moved to Japan, prompted by my lifelong interest in foreign languages and travel (plus the availability of teaching jobs).
For two years, I taught English at companies, while at the same time teaching myself Japanese. After two years in Japan, I landed a dream job: an in-house position that included both translation AND editing! After a little under three years as a SEI-SHAIN at that company, I took the plunge into freelance life.
How long have you been a translator?
Since April 1992; freelance since January 1995.
What was your first translation job?
As a in-houser: Can't remember! A short article about some trend in popular Japanese culture. As a freelancer: Hair product users' manuals for professional hairstylists.
Why do you live in the States and not Japan?
My reason for moving back was that I met (then later married) some translator guy who lived here in the U.S.!
How many languages are you familiar with? Do you translate into or from those languages?
I'm fairly proficient in Spanish but have never translated it.
How did you learn Japanese?
I am mostly self-taught, with a few lessons when I could squeeze them in. I used MANY different textbooks (some with accompanying tapes), as well as television, the radio, and magazines. Taught myself kanji out of a kanji book; figured that was something I could teach myself as well as anyone else could teach me. I didn't know any Japanese to speak of until I got to Japan, but for my first two years in the country, I studied up to 4-5 hours a day using really old-fashioned methods like drills, rote memorization, taking dictation from tapes, etc. (I didn't get out and socialize much during those two years. But the studying was my idea of a good time.)
What are some of the challenges you face as a translator with regards to Japanese?
Some slang terms, marketing-ese, etc., in the Japanese manuscripts throw me for a loop on occasion, but my main challenge is producing what I consider to be nice-sounding English.
How do you get your clients?
Mostly luck, word of mouth. (I'm lazy about marketing.) I have met two or three people at IJETs who went on to become steady clients. Several agencies have obtained my name from the JAT directory.
The other day, a great part-time job fell into my lap by word of mouth. It's about 10 hours a week, consulting for a translation agency here in town. This job adds variety to my working life and pays me in good old U.S. dollars -- a hedge against my yen exposure!
What are your fields of specialization? Why? How do you keep up with new developments?
Marketing/advertising/PR; business (articles about companies' business strategies, etc.); popular Japanese culture. Because these fields FASCINATE me. I keep up with them by reading EVERYTHING (newspapers, magazines, product catalogs, ads, event posters ...) and watching TV and movies. Because the business/marketing materials I translate are for all sorts of different companies, I never know what kind of terminology a job is going to throw at me next, and literally any piece of communication I encounter can come in handy later as a source of information or verbiage.
Is your translation style "loose" or "literal"?
Yes!
-- What I mean to say is, I'm obsessed with producing great-sounding English that also somehow manages to scoop up each and every last little bit of the Japanese. (I find this task somewhat akin to trying to pull a large moose through a screen door, leaving both moose and screen intact.) But I guess that if anything, I tend to go toward the "loose" side because it's hard to produce idiomatic English otherwise.
Do you read other books or magazines written in the source language in your spare time?
Not often enough, I'm sorry to say! Now that I'm living in my home country, the volume of native-language material alone is usually more than I can get through in a day! But when I can, I read manga and popular magazines. Also would like to watch Japanese TV every day, as soon as I can figure out how to get Japanese cable here in the hinterlands.
What are some of your favourite reference materials? What's on your bookshelf within easy reach right now?
On my desk are Green Goddess, Kojien, Nelson's, homemade cheat sheets for converting between Japanese and Western calendar years, and for translating big nasty numbers (1,000 oku, etc.). (I titled my number cheat sheet "OKU JIGOKU.") Another key reference, also on my desk, is my computer with full-time Internet connection, so I can surf the Net for info.
What is the singular (or more if you can think of any!) most important piece of advice you can give to people just starting out in translation?
Well, nothing very ground-breaking here:
What do you think are the most important elements or skills necessary in translation?
Target-language expressive ability, source-language comprehension, and research skills.
Will these change in 5 or 10 years?
No.
Are you still going to be translating 5 or 10 years from now?
Yes, though I might also engage in other kinds of work.
Do you think the profession will change and how?
Hard to say. Maybe MT will assume a greater role, even in the kinds of materials I handle, but I don't feel particularly threatened. And I imagine that more and more translators, agencies, and end clients will be connected to the Internet, resulting in greater efficiencies but also possibly putting downward pressure on rates. (Recently I got an email from a Japan-based individual seeking to "use the Internet to find low-cost, high-quality translators worldwide." My rates gave him sticker shock.)
How much time per day do you spend translating (and editing and related activities) versus doing administrative work, clients relations, and other "running-the-business" type of activities?
Translation, etc. -- average of 4-6 hours. Sometimes zero, sometimes 12. I may work any time between about 7:30 a.m. and midnight, any day of the week, and almost always intersperse translation work with chores, errands, socializing, and exercise. "Running the business" occupies an average of 15 minutes of my day.
Please describe your work area.
I work at a cozy L-shaped desk with several reference books, a calendar, a pencil holder, a phone, and a computer on it, plus a small pile of random detritus such as magazines, clothing catalogs, etc. My husband Adam occupies another desk in the same room. (This workroom measures about 14 feet by 14 feet.) Our work spaces face away from each other, but we can easily turn around to consult each other for advice or feedback while working.
Our workroom also contains:
What do you like about translating?
I get paid to pick up random tidbits of fascinating information. Most of which I promptly forget.
What do you dislike about translating?
This is more a complaint about industry practices than about translation per se, but ... Some clients have unrealistic financial or temporal expectations, making it unprofitable or unhealthy (or sometimes even downright physically impossible!) to take certain jobs. And some clients can't stand up to THEIR end clients; this may send translators into a time crisis or result in mediocre quality.
What was your most interesting or unique translation job?
Translating the script of a kids' quiz show on animals and insects. The show was full of colloquialisms and dialect, as well as songs (spanning many genres, from jazz to reggae) that had to be translated into catchy English. This job was a blast, but despite the intense creative effort involved, the end client (a major TV network) was only willing to pay a pittance. (I didn't find out until later; the agency and I had a slight miscommunication and we wound up compromising: The agency paid me more than it had planned but less than I had initially asked for.) I felt angered and discouraged by the fact that this TV network had apparently always been able to get hold of outstanding creative talent at a far cheaper rate than I could afford to work for.
Nonetheless, the job itself was, as I said, truly a blast!