Blog

What Makes a Good Translation? – Translation Link Roundup [March & April 2018]

This last month (April…and arguably March because I forgot to post a link roundup) has had a lot of articles about good translations. Specifically answering the question: What makes a good translation? Despite what some may think translators are constantly

Interpreting for Ryo Horikawa

I had a crazy weekend that I never imagined would happen. A few months ago my friend Stacey messaged me asking if I wanted to join her interpreting at a Dragon Ball event in Texas. This was the first ever

“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

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

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 This competition was for novice translators who are unpublished to translate a short literary

An Exercise in Research – The Extremely Hard Take Home Anime Quiz

The Extreme Hard Take Home Anime Quiz is a fun fan-made quiz. It is held twice a year at a few anime conventions in the US, and has been for about 10 years. It’s an open-book quiz that you have

Female Translators Kicking Butt on International Women’s Day

Happy International Women’s Day! Did You Know There are More Female Translators and Interpreters Than Men? Did you know there are more female translators and interpreters than men? The translation industry is one of those rare fields that is dominated by

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

New Goals and Improving Skills – Translation Link Roundup [February 2018]

Translation Industry & Business New Year, New Goals – An short inspirational article from NOTIS, the North West translation association, about improving yourself as a translator this year. LinkedIn Profile Mastery for Freelancers: 10 Steps to Get You Hired

February 2018 Goals

I want to be better at setting myself monthly goals for self-development. These are things I keep saying I want to do but kept putting off. I hope to set myself just 3 goals a month and the will update

All The Video Game Localizations – Translation Link Roundup [January 2018]

Translation What We Talk About When We Talk About Translation – Deborah Smith talks about her translation of The Vegetarian. And how translations are so heavily rooted in the source culture. Exclusive Interview: Award-winning translator Hiroaki Sato on literary translation and ‘The Silver

What a Course in Translation Should Include

In September 2015 I finished my Translation MA at SOAS University in London and was… disappointed to say the least. I felt it had been sorely lacking and wrote What an MA in Translation Doesn’t Teach You. It’s been a

2018 Goals and Challenges

The new year is always a great time to set self-improvements and self-development goals. But I’ve always found that calling them “resolutions” and aiming for the end of the year never works. I much prefer to set monthly and three

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

Translation Link Roundup [December 2017]

Translation Books on Translation and Interpreting – A list of pretty much any major book about translating and interpreting out there. How to Be a Better Translator – Some book recommendations for improving quality control in localization. “How Long Will It

“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

Translation and Dyslexia

In secondary school (middle school) we had to learn French and Spanish. I really hated these classes because I just couldn’t do them. In all my classes I struggled with spelling and reading, but languages were the worst. I got

“Flying Grandpa” – Short Story Translation

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

New Video Game Translator – Beware the Jabberwocks

Are you a new video game translator? Many beginner Japanese to English game translators struggle to find work. It’s the ever frustrating catch 22 of “you need experience to get the job, but need the job to get experience”. It’s

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

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