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Post by emilytiger on Jan 13, 2015 16:51:37 GMT 9
Hello. Landed here via the SCBWIJapanTranslation email list and have been lurking since last week.
Not entirely sure what kind of stuff is most useful to say in this introduction, but I'm an American living in Tokyo, don't have a Master's (just a BA in Japanese with a minor in film studies), although I consider it regularly, to the point of distraction. Most of my professional translation experience is picture books (samples only so far) and anime subtitles, but I've also done some manga and videogame projects. My literary [translation] aspirations are so big they hurt.
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Post by smith on Jan 13, 2015 19:14:53 GMT 9
Welcome. It's always good to see a new face on the forums.
Manga and video games are awesome. I was actually about to set up a similar site to this one that focused on translating Japanese freeware games into English. Most of the game creators I contacted liked the concept, but found that inserting English scripts into their games was too problematic, and in some cases not possible. I know a few people who hack games and modify them as a hobby, but they weren't always available, so the whole thing fell apart before I even put it together. Maybe one day when I've got a bit more time on my hands and a little less hangover in my head I will give it another shot.
I think we're all in the same boat. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine.
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Post by elipsett on Jan 13, 2015 21:50:24 GMT 9
Academic and professional qualifications have very little meaning when it comes to literary translation. And, fortunately, there is no "right" way to do it. There are, of course, a number of clearly incorrect ways to do it, however.
If you can make the your interpretation live and breathe, it's a good one. Welcome! Post something so my freshly whittled pencils so won't go to waste!
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Post by emilytiger on Jan 15, 2015 0:14:50 GMT 9
Yeah, the main reason I mention education is that I'm curious what other people's experiences have been, but I admit that I daydream about it as a way to spend way more of my time focused on translation, meeting people who care about the insanity of it as much as I do, etc.
Smith, the videogame website sounds cool. Keep us posted ;D
Incidentally I heard about this site right as I was trying to start a literary translation study group (whatever that means) in Tokyo. If you would like to meet up irl for this kind of thing, or know someone who would, let me know. I have one super interesting guy onboard so far.
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Post by smith on Jan 15, 2015 10:01:59 GMT 9
When I created this site, it was actually little more than a glorified blog. When I got together with Edward (elipsett) to turn it into something meaningful, one of the core concepts was that it would be open to anyone. The literary world can be quite snobbish and very difficult to break into. I hate that. It's for that reason that there are no real pre-requisites for joining and contributing. Don't worry about your qualifications, just worry about the soul-crushing craft of literary translation.
I live in Osaka, so going to Tokyo is a bit of a stretch, but good luck with the literary translation group. Let your super interesting friend know that he's welcome here as well.
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Post by emilytiger on Jan 15, 2015 13:36:30 GMT 9
Thanks! I have let him and another translator acquaintance know, so I'm hoping to see them around here, too I'm glad to have a chill place like this to bounce translations around. Osaka! I still have never been. I really want to go. Maybe I should make that a goal this year.
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Post by emilytiger on Jan 20, 2015 15:44:07 GMT 9
Mike, so far we are two non-Japanese (translating Ja>En). Looks like our first (casual) meet-up will be in February. It would be cool to have people who do En>Ja in the group, and I personally have been interested for a while in creating a kind of network where Ja>En and En>Ja translators could pair up and exchange native check-type Q&A. If that's what you mean. If that's not really what you mean, it's still okay with me to bring English lit Qs to the group ^^b
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Post by emilytiger on Jan 21, 2015 10:48:08 GMT 9
I originally considered online, but decided I would actually like to go through the pain of leaving my house to meet physical beings. I spend enough time on the computer (so, so, so, so much) and thought it would be cool to find some like-minded people (i.e. translators who want to push themselves to get out of the house).
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