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Jennifer O'Donnell & Wesley O'Donnell – Japanese-English Game and Media Translators

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Further Education

Balancing Japanese-English Translation

Balancing Japanese-English Translation

I recently mused about the career path of an aspiring entertainment translator and the tendency to move from direct word-for-word translation to a creative translation before settling somewhere in the middle. Gauging this “somewhere in the middle” can be tricky

Jennifer O'Donnell September 27, 2024September 27, 2024 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Literary Translation, Localization, Manga Translation No Comments Read more

The Common Career Path of Media Translators

sakura blossoms Career Path of Media Translators

I was chatting about how to get good at game translation with an aspiring translator the other day when I noticed there is a common pattern in how successful translators approach their work throughout their careers. Beginner translators stick incredibly

Jennifer O'Donnell August 9, 2024August 9, 2024 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Localization, Personal No Comments Read more

My Dream Translation Course

My Dream Translation Course

When I’m in my 50s and game localization is too much for me, I want to become a lecturer in translation studies. I would love to create a post-graduate equivalent translation course that teaches aspiring translators effective and useful translation

Jennifer O'Donnell March 29, 2024March 29, 2024 Further Education No Comments Read more

Top Tips for Language Students Interested in Translation

Top Tips for Language Students Interested in Translation

If you’re studying a language (whether that’s in school or on your own) you might be thinking about a career in translation. Whatever the language and whatever field you’re interested in, there are a few things you can do to

Jennifer O'Donnell March 2, 2024March 2, 2024 Freelance Business Advice, Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Industry No Comments Read more

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

Jennifer O'Donnell September 30, 2023January 19, 2024 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Industry 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

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

Jennifer O'Donnell November 18, 2022June 10, 2023 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills 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

Jennifer O'Donnell September 30, 2021July 8, 2023 Freelance Business Advice, Further Education, Improve Translation Skills 7 Comments Read more

Awesome Game Localization Blogs You Should Read

Awesome Game Localization Blogs You Should Read

The world of video game development is astronomical. Video game localization is just a small part of a much larger process, but it’s often a lot larger and more complicated than you might think. One way you can learn more

Jennifer O'Donnell April 2, 2021February 19, 2022 Further Education, Link Roundup 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

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

Jennifer O'Donnell December 5, 2020April 2, 2021 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Translation Review 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

Jennifer O'Donnell April 13, 2020September 19, 2021 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Japanese Language, 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

Jennifer O'Donnell February 23, 2019 Further Education, Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

What Qualifications Do I Need to Become a Translator?

What Qualifications Do I Need to Become a Translator?

Spoiler Alert: NONE! But read on if you’re interested in why… Do I Need a Degree? A Brief History in Translation Studies Translation as a field of academic study seemed to emerge in colleges and universities around the 1950s. Initially

Jennifer O'Donnell January 3, 2019September 21, 2024 Freelance Business Advice, Further Education, Localization No Comments Read more

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

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

Jennifer O'Donnell April 8, 2018January 3, 2019 Further Education, Personal No Comments Read more

What a Course in Translation Should Include

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

Jennifer O'Donnell January 28, 2018January 30, 2018 Freelance Business Advice, Further Education 4 Comments Read more

Two Japanese Jabberwocky Poems

Japanese Jabberwocky Poems

This is one of my favourite essays from my MA in Translation Theory and Practice. The MA certainly focuses more on the theory side of translation which is evident from this essay. The point of the essay was to compare

Jennifer O'Donnell April 20, 2017September 19, 2021 Further Education, My Translations No Comments Read more

What an MA in Translation Doesn’t Teach You

MA in Translation

I completed my MA in the Theory and Practice of Translation at SOAS last September 2015. I was eager to learn a subject that would be useful to my career, yet by the end of the year was disheartened by

Jennifer O'Donnell May 10, 2016September 19, 2021 Freelance Business Advice, Further Education No Comments Read more
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