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Jennifer O'Donnell – Japanese-English Translator and Localization Director

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Improve Translation Skills

Everything You Need to Know About Mentoring for Translators

Everything You Need to Know About Mentoring for Translators

There is a distinct lack of education and support for aspiring entertainment translators. Most translation related degrees and university courses cater towards more lucrative fields or offer very generalized courses to appeal to as wide a variety of prospective students

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Jennifer O'Donnell September 30, 2023September 30, 2023 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Industry No Comments Read more

Writing Tools for Translators – Book Review

Writing Tools for Translators – Book Review

Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark   If there’s one book all translators working with English should read, it’s Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark. Most translators are not taught how to write and

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Jennifer O'Donnell August 15, 2023August 18, 2023 Improve Translation Skills, Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

Translation is a Spectrum

Translation is a Spectrum

Translation is a spectrum. That’s it. That’s the article. Okay, let me explain in more detail why translation is a spectrum, why translators use all parts of the spectrum within a single translation project, and why it’s important.   The

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Jennifer O'Donnell July 21, 2023July 28, 2023 Improve Translation Skills, Industry, Localization No Comments Read more

The Translation Process

The Translation Process

The translation process is fundamental to translation but it’s often overlooked when people talk about translation. Everyone assumes everyone else knows it, so doesn’t feel the need to talk about it. As a result, the vast majority of translators have

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Jennifer O'Donnell July 8, 2023July 8, 2023 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Dazzling Dialogue for Translators — Book Review

Dazzling Dialogue for Translators — Book Review

How to Write Dazzling Dialogue: The Fastest Way to Improve Any Manuscript by James Scott Bell How to Write Dazzling Dialogue is a book written for English writers looking to improve their novel/screen play/comic, etc. by improving the dialogue. But

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Jennifer O'Donnell April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills 1 Comment Read more

Effective Self-Editing for Terrific Translations

Effective Self-Editing for Terrific Translations

Your translation is done! It’s finished! Time to send it off! BUT WAIT!!! Did you edit it? Edit? I’m a translator, not an editor, why would I need to edit my translation? Why indeed! In this article we’ll be going

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Jennifer O'Donnell April 8, 2023April 24, 2023 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2023

Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2023

A list of translation competitions for Japanese to English translators in 2023. I’ve also posted a list of articles at the bottom which should help!   Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2022 Materials Provided I’ve been keeping an eye on

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Jennifer O'Donnell January 5, 2023April 24, 2023 Improve Translation Skills, Literary Translation No Comments Read more

Becoming a Translator—There Is No Magic Button

Becoming a Translator—There Is No Magic Button

From talking to aspiring translators lately it feels like many want to know what the magic button is to become a translator. But, there is no magic button. There’s no one way to gain experience. There’s no one company that

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Jennifer O'Donnell December 9, 2022December 11, 2022 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

What is the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA)?

What is the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA)?

There is a lack of comprehensive educational programs for Japanese to English translators. The vast majority of programs available are post-graduate degrees or evening classes for professionals. Which is all well and good if you already live in the city

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Jennifer O'Donnell November 18, 2022June 10, 2023 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

What Skills Do I Need to be A Game Translator? (Part 1: Translation Skills)

What Skills Do I Need to be A Game Translator? (Part 1: Translation Skills)

From my experience, the skills every translator needs can be broken down into two categories: translation skills and soft skills. Which precise skills are ideal will vary depending on the field of translation, but this article is specifically focusing on

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Jennifer O'Donnell September 22, 2022October 16, 2022 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Translating Character Voice

Translating Character Voice

Character voice is not accents or dialects. Although accents might play a part, character voice is instead imagining how a character would say something in a natural way given the greater context of the setting. What words would the character

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Jennifer O'Donnell August 20, 2022August 20, 2022 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Persistent Pitfalls in Media Translation and How to Avoid Them

Persistent Pitfalls in Media Translation and How to Avoid Them

A guide to navigating the jungles of media translation. How to avoid direct translation traps, handle tricky false friends, squeeze text into tight spots and more in manga, anime, and games. This is the summary of a talk I did

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Jennifer O'Donnell July 6, 2022July 6, 2022 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

How to Make Entertainment Translation Entertaining!

How to Make Entertainment Translation Entertaining!

What makes a good translation depends entirely on the type of text and medium. Technical translations should be fairly direct with wording, formatting, and style appropriate to the type of technical document. Marketing translations often involve complete transcreation, the wording

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Jennifer O'Donnell December 3, 2021December 16, 2021 Improve Translation Skills, Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

FAQ for Aspiring Japanese to English Media Translators

FAQ for Aspiring Japanese to English Media Translators

Happy International Translation Day! Just like any career, a career in translation can be rewarding and exhausting. You have your highs and your lows. Your days when you feel like you’ve created the best piece ever, and the days when

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Jennifer O'Donnell September 30, 2021July 8, 2023 Freelance Business Advice, Further Education, Improve Translation Skills 5 Comments Read more

Maintaining Your Japanese as a Translator

Maintaining Your Japanese as a Translator

I’ve been studying Japanese for a very long time. Roughly 14 years (I honestly lost count.) My decision to follow a career in linguistics and work in localization means it’s a never-ending journey of learning. But I also have a

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Jennifer O'Donnell May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 Improve Translation Skills, Japanese Language No Comments Read more

How Do Judges Judge a Good Translation?

How Do Judges Judge a Good Translation?

Every year I post a list of upcoming Japanese to English translation competitions. A lot of these competitions are really great for aspiring and experienced translators to practice their skills. But it’s often hard to know what the judges are

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Jennifer O'Donnell March 13, 2021September 19, 2021 Improve Translation Skills, Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

Can You Learn Translation from “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”?

Can You Learn Translation from “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”?

The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation is based on a decade of Yoko Hasegawa’s experience teaching translation theory and practice at a University level in the US. It’s designed to be a complete guide for aspiring Japanese-English translators, but is

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Jennifer O'Donnell December 5, 2020April 2, 2021 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Translation Review No Comments Read more

A Summary of “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”

A Summary of “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”

This is a breakdown summary of The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation. If you would like a review into how useful this is for translators please read Can You Learn Translation from “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”?   The

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Jennifer O'Donnell December 5, 2020April 2, 2021 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Translation Review No Comments Read more

Working on Your Niche – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

Working on Your Niche – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

This was one of the biggest things I struggled with when I started out as a freelance translator: What is my niche? This was something I struggled with because what I wanted to do and what was available to me

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Jennifer O'Donnell August 6, 2020September 19, 2021 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Improving Self-Editing – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

Improving Self-Editing – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

Some people don’t realize how important self-editing is to a translation. Even if you know an editor will look over your work it helps to have at least two or more passes of your work before submitting it. As a

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Jennifer O'Donnell May 28, 2020September 19, 2021 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Learning from Others – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

Learning from Others – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

How can translators learn from others without taking a degree or class in translation? This is a question I have struggled with over the years. However, I’ve noticed that over time, one of the biggest impacts to improving my translation

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Jennifer O'Donnell April 30, 2020September 19, 2021 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Improving English Writing – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

Improving English Writing – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

I explained in part one of this series how experienced translators will tell aspiring translators that they need to practice. However, that can be easier said than done. How does one practice and improve their translation skills? Translation isn’t just

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Jennifer O'Donnell April 23, 2020September 19, 2021 Improve Translation Skills No Comments Read more

Understanding Source Texts – How to Improve Your Translations Skills

Understanding Source Text - How to Improve Your Translations Skills

Translation is a highly skilled career, yet the majority of translators are self-taught. Perhaps a class at college or a seminar here and there, but the majority of translators don’t tend to go to school for formal training. Even those

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Jennifer O'Donnell April 13, 2020September 19, 2021 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Japanese Language, 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 O'Donnell November 16, 2019August 20, 2022 Improve Translation Skills, Literary Translation, Localization, Manga Translation No Comments Read more
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