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Literary Translation

10 Japanese to English MANGA Professionals – Women in Translation Month

10 Japanese to English MANGA Professionals – Women in Translation Month

The other week I talked about Japanese to English female literary translators for Women in Translation Month, 2020. But as a counterpart to this, I wanted to shed light on some of the amazing female manga professionals. They aren’t just

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Jennifer ODonnell August 23, 2020 Manga Translation No Comments Read more

10 Must Read Japanese to English Literary Translators – Women in Translation Month

10 Must Read Japanese to English Literary Translators – Women in Translation Month

It’s Women in Translation Month! This event, that began in 2014, spans the entirety of August. It brings awareness to the gender imbalance of writers from other languages that are translated into English. But I also saw someone say that it

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Jennifer ODonnell August 11, 2020August 23, 2020 Literary Translation No Comments Read more

10 Modern Japanese Authors That Aren’t Murakami

10 Modern Japanese Authors That Aren’t Murakami

I often get the impression that people interested in Japan and literature only know of Haruki Murakami. Of course this isn’t actually true (at least I hope not), but if you search for “Japanese literature recommendations”, every single one of

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Jennifer ODonnell July 18, 2020August 11, 2020 Link Roundup, Literary Translation No Comments Read more

My Manga Translation Process

My Manga Translation Process

I’ve been thinking a lot about how people go about translating lately. Everyone’s different, we all find our own ways to approach translation. Not just how we translate something but how we translate it; the process from being given a

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Jennifer ODonnell March 28, 2020March 28, 2020 Freelance Life, Manga Translation No Comments Read more

Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2020

Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2020

Japanese – English translation competitions are a great way to improve your translation skills and get your name out there. They can be particularly great for people new to the industry for putting on resumes. If you win one you’re

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Jennifer ODonnell January 12, 2020October 5, 2020 Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

Manga Translation Pitfalls

Manga Translation Pitfalls

A manga translation can vary drastically when handled by different people. Not just the translator, but editors, adapters, and of course companies, have their own approaches and preferences (hence why styles guides are a thing). I (Jennifer) teamed up with

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Jennifer ODonnell November 16, 2019November 16, 2019 Literary Translation, Localization, Manga Translation No Comments Read more

Never Assume – The Importance of Research in Translation

Never Assume – The Importance of Research in Translation

One of the best pieces of advice I received as a beginner translator was “never assume”. Never assume a kanji reading or a word meaning. Never assume you know what someone said. Basically, never assume the Japanese and never assume that’s

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Jennifer ODonnell May 2, 2019May 4, 2019 Advice, Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

8 Exercises To Teach Yourself Japanese-English Translation

8 Exercises To Teach Yourself Japanese-English Translation

Novice and aspiring translators are often hit with this seemingly impassable wall when they start. You may think Japanese-English translation is doable as long as you know Japanese, but it’s not that simple… Translation is a skill separate from Japanese

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Jennifer ODonnell February 23, 2019 Advice, Education, Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2019

Japanese - English translation competitions

[Updated: 14-Oct-2019] Japanese – English translation competitions are a great way to improve your translation skills and get your name out there. They can be particularly great for people new to the industry for putting on resumes. If you win

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Jennifer ODonnell February 8, 2019October 13, 2019 Link Roundup, Literary Translation, Localization, Translation Business No Comments Read more

Kansai Cats Manga – Being the Straight Man – Chapter 5

Kansai Cats Manga – Being the Straight Man – Chapter 5

Kansai Cats Manga – Being the Straight Man – Chapter 5           Artist: MakiART @ccmakiart Translator: J-EN Translations Editor: WaterFlame Original 関西弁にゃんこ Manga

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Jennifer ODonnell September 9, 2018 Kansai Kittens, Manga Translation No Comments Read more

Kansai Cats Manga – Leave it to Chiro! – Chapter 4

Kansai Cats Manga – Leave it to Chiro! – Chapter 4

Kansai Cats Manga – Leave it to Chiro! – Chapter 4         Artist: MakiART @ccmakiart Translator: J-EN Translations Editor: WaterBlogs.net Original 関西弁にゃんこ Manga Chapter 3 Chapter 5  

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Jennifer ODonnell September 9, 2018September 9, 2018 Kansai Kittens, Manga Translation No Comments Read more

A Short Exercise in Accents

A Short Exercise in Accents

In an attempt to push my own translation capabilities I want to try translating the same information into multiple accents. Neutral American (more direct translation) Southern American British (upper class) British (lower class) The challenge with this exercise is to

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Jennifer ODonnell June 19, 2018 Literary Translation, Localization, My Translations No Comments Read more

Kansai Cats Manga – Lazy Tora – Chapter 3

Kansai Cats Manga – Lazy Tora – Chapter 3

Kansai Cats Manga – Lazy Tora – Chapter 3   Artist: MakiART @ccmakiart Translator: J-EN Translations Editor: WaterFlame Original 関西弁にゃんこ Manga Chapter 2 Chapter 4  

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Jennifer ODonnell May 28, 2018September 9, 2018 Kansai Kittens No Comments Read more

“The Professor of Magic” by Edogawa Ranpo

“The Professor of Magic” by Edogawa Ranpo

I recently won 2nd place in a literary translators competition! The person who held the competition was kind enough to give feedback. Taking his advice on I went through my writing and tweaked it slightly. Here is my translation for

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Jennifer ODonnell May 4, 2018May 22, 2018 Literary Translation, My Translations No Comments Read more

Read Well to Translate Well

Read Well to Translate Well

Translators are constantly honing their skills. Both in their source and target languages. As such, it is important for any translator to read a lot. Reading can expose us to new ways of thinking, new information, new language in multiple

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Jennifer ODonnell April 29, 2018April 29, 2018 Freelance Life, Literary Translation No Comments Read more

I got 2nd Place in a Literary Translation Competition!

I got 2nd Place in a Literary Translation Competition!

On March 12th 2018 J. D. Wisgo of Self Taught Japanese announced a literary translation competition for promising translators. (Japanese Translation Contest Announced: Promising Translators 2018.) This competition was for novice translators who are unpublished to translate a short literary

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Jennifer ODonnell April 25, 2018April 30, 2018 Literary Translation, Personal No Comments Read more

TED Talks On Translation

TED Talks On Translation

TED Talks are always great resources for various information and new insights. But sometimes it can be hard to find subjects that interest you. I love watching TED Talks about science, computing, new ideas, learning and, of course, translating. Here

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Jennifer ODonnell March 7, 2018 Literary Translation, Localization, Translation Business No Comments Read more

Termbases for Manga Translation

Termbases for Manga Translation

Manga translation is an interesting job. It involves a lot of creativity as you create discourse which reflects the individual characters in the appropriate setting. One great example of this is YenPress’ publication of the popular manga Black Butler. Set

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Jennifer ODonnell January 12, 2018January 13, 2018 Manga Translation No Comments Read more

“Deaimon” – Manga Translation

“Deaimon” – Manga Translation

    In September 2017 entries opened for the 6th Manga Translation Battle, where anyone can enter at least one of three manga translations. The winners for each manga may get a chance to translate the final manga officially. So

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Jennifer ODonnell January 1, 2018January 3, 2018 Manga Translation, My Translations 2 Comments Read more

“Flying Grandpa” – Short Story Translation

Flying Grandpa

A while ago in Translate Like No One’s Watching I mentioned how I was translating a short story. Specifically for the 2017 Kurodahan Press Translation Competition. I had a fantastic time translating this story. And although I didn’t win, I’m still incredibly

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Jennifer ODonnell December 13, 2017May 22, 2018 Literary Translation, My Translations 1 Comment Read more

Education for Literary Translators

Education for Literary Translators

I attended a round table discussion on education for literary translators organized by NOTIS last night, and it was fantastic! I wanted to write my own thoughts regarding education for literary translators with resources and points that were discussed. A

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Jennifer ODonnell November 9, 2017January 21, 2018 Advice, Literary Translation, Translation Business 1 Comment Read more

NOTIS – Roundtable on Education for Literary Translators

NOTIS – Roundtable on Education for Literary Translators

I will be on the panel for a roundtable about education for translators this week (11/8/2017)! The panel is being held by the literary translators branch of the Northwest Translators & Interpreters Society (NOTIS) in conjunction with the private library

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Jennifer ODonnell November 6, 2017 Literary Translation, Personal 1 Comment Read more

Come for the Sights, Stay for the Poetry – Pikes Market’s Japanese Book Store

Come for the Sights, Stay for the Poetry – Pikes Market’s Japanese Book Store

If you live in Seattle, or have ever visited it, you probably know about Pikes Market. You’ve probably even visited its maze of shops and crowds of people. But have you even ventured deeper in? Did you know that if

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Jennifer ODonnell October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 Literary Translation No Comments Read more

Kansai Cats Manga – The Great Tora – Chapter 2

Kansai Cats Manga – The Great Tora – Chapter 2

The Great Tora – Kansai Cats Chapter 2             Artist: MakiART @ccmakiart Translator: J-EN Translations Editor: WaterFlame Original 関西弁にゃんこ Manga   Chapter 1 Chapter 3

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Jennifer ODonnell October 11, 2017September 9, 2018 Kansai Kittens, Manga Translation No Comments Read more

Kansai Cats Manga – Hey’ya! – Chapter 1

Kansai Cats Manga – Hey’ya! – Chapter 1

  Hey’ya! – Kansai Cats Chapter 1 Welcome to the first chapter of Kansai Cats! This is the official release of the adorable manga written by ccMakiArt, a Kyoto artist and illustrator.           Artist: MakiART @ccmakiart

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Jennifer ODonnell September 21, 2017September 9, 2018 Kansai Kittens, Manga Translation No Comments Read more

[Unofficial] The Deer King by Nahoko Uehashi (Prologue)

[Unofficial] The Deer King by Nahoko Uehashi (Prologue)

This is an unofficial translation of the prologue of 【鹿の王 – 生き残った者】 “The Deer King – Those Left Behind” by Nahoko Uehashi. This is just the synopsis and prologue, both of which are short. I hope to release chapter 1 at

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Jennifer ODonnell April 4, 2017April 4, 2017 Literary Translation, Localization, My Translations No Comments Read more

Soft Power and Manga Translation

manga translation

The head of the Theory and Practice of Translation program for my MA was an elderly Chinese man who often made snide remarks about how translating manga wasn’t a “real” form of translation. A view I worry is often shared

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Jennifer ODonnell May 10, 2016May 23, 2016 Literary Translation, Manga Translation No Comments Read more
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