interpreting

[niger 0]

Just wondering if there are any interpreters or translators out there? I am just about to graduate university with a Japanese major and have spent a bit of time in Japan over the last few years. Both in Tokyo and in Hokkaido. I just want to know how people get into that sort of field? Any advice would be very welcome.

[Ocean11 0]

I don't know about interpreting, but starting out translating shouldn't be difficult.

 

Consider which fields you are qualified to work in and want to work in, then do a few translations to build up a portfolio (for want of a better term). It doesn't matter if you don't get paid for these. The choice of fields is huge, and many don't require much study to become proficient.

 

After calling yourself 'Translator', you then have a choice about going to work for a company, or working for yourself. While the former has the advantage that nobody questions your qualifications and that you can learn your field in a safety zone, it just delays the day that you can go it alone and have a life.

 

If you want to become freelance straight away, look for agency clients and direct clients on the Web, and make some promotional materials. The more professional looking they are, the better they'll work. For Japanese clients, get a competent

Japanese friend to help you prepare the materials.

 

Also check out www.jat.org for some more advice and to get a feeling about the life.

 

As to how people get into translation, many of them fall into it from other jobs, primarily teaching. But you have the advantage of being able to skip that purgatorial step, so be sure to skip it.

[niger 0]

Thanks OCEAN11. You seem to be the man on this forum!

 

I actually finish university in November and am thinking about coming to Japan on a working holiday visa and mucking around for a year or so with mates and in the snow. But it has sort of come to the time where I am thinking about what after that. There is not much sign of jobs like that in Australia so I suppose Japan is the place. Well for a few years anyway.

 

So is that how you got started? I read somewhere else that you are an "industrial translator". What does that entail? I also have a commerce degree so I might be interested in doing some negotiating work for companies and that sort of thing but I have no idea if there is much work in that area.

 

Anyway, thanks

[Ocean11 0]

I think I'm probably what's called a 'technical' rather than 'industrial translator' but it's a fair description. I translate technical and business documents of the sort generated by industrial companies. That covers a lot of subjects. I got started translating documents for the teacher's union I started - our employer was not kind enough to give us them in English. Then I parlayed that experience into technical translation.

 

Negotiating is not something to be undertaken lightly. In most cases, you'd either have to be a full-time company employee with a responsible position, or be a registered freelancer with an interpreting agency. In either case, you're definitely in suitland, working on their chosen time, not yours. I've known a couple of American lawyers negotiating for Japanese companies, and they've been frustrated by the general lameness of their employer. For snowboarding and working at the same time, translation jobs with long deadlines are obviously good.

 

But it sounds as if you've got some time to look around and think about it. How Japan's economy works out in the next few years is anybody's guess, but it looks grim. Good luck.

[NoFakie 45]

Unless you've specialized in interpreting at somewhere very good, I imagine that it would be nigh-on impossible for a foreigner with limited experience of Japan to find regular interpreting work.

 

Speaking two languages alone does not make you an interpreter. Special training is usually required. Also, many long-term contracts are at places like manufacturers who wish to train engineers from their overseas plants. Without specialized knowledge of that field (automobiles, heavy machinery, electronics, etc.) your job prospects are very low. If your employer is Japanese, they will be looking for someone who can speak perfect Japanese as Japanese is what they will hear. This puts Japanese interpreters at a strong advantage. Western people are more used to listening to non-native English than Japanese people are to listening to non-native Japanese, and I think many visitors to Japan are so happy to hear anything approaching English that they will cut a Japanese interpreter far more slack than a Japanese employer will cut a gaijin interpreter on the Japanese side. In that sense, the odds are stacked against you.

 

On the positive side, the lack of gaijin interpreters means that if you are good enough to satisfy Japanese customers, you'll have no difficulty getting work.

 

You should note that lots of more general interpreting-type jobs, such as gaijin helplines, police interpreters, and people helping during the World Cup, are done by volunteers or people working for such low rates as to be virtually volunteers. I've seen police jobs that pay only 7,000 yen a day. Seeing how much money is being generated by the World Cup, it's a real shame that more money isn't going to people doing the day-to-day stuff. Volunteerism is fine, but it would be better directed to the less advantaged members of society, not David Beckham and Sepp Blatter.

 

As for translation, most of Ocean11's advice seems sound. He doesn't mention the biggest issue for many people who want to work freelance (translation, teaching or otherwise), which is how to get a work visa. In simple terms, unless you can get a contract saying someone will give you 250,000 a month of translation work, you're not going to get a visa. 250,000 yen isn't much work at half-decent rates, but for someone with no experience, it represents a lot of trust from a translation provider. Of course, some Japanese people are very kind and they may pull some strings for you, but such actions go beyond the scope of what I can give as advice.

 

Even if you set up a company yourself, you can only sponsor your own work visa if you employ two or more people eligible for work without a visa (Japanese or people with Japanese spouses). Unless I've got it wrong, people who claim to be sponsoring themselves (English teachers of private lessons included) do it through work contracts. Of the people I know:

 

Freelancers with Japanese spouse: dozens

 

Single freelancer or freelancer with non-Japanese spouse: one (he employs a few Japanese people full-time and rents an office separate to his home - his wife is Chinese)

 

Rather than trying to start out as a freelance translator, I would recommend getting an inhouse job somewhere and seeing what the job entails. Coming to Japan, setting up a SOHO, and suddenly producing (alone) translations that are good enough for someone who gives out work on a per-job basis to give you a guaranteed contract - I think that's beyond what can be reasonably expected of anybody. Inhouse translators at a big securities house like Mizuho earn good money (the starting salary is supposedly 10 million yen p.a.) so it's not as if all inhouse jobs are terrible.

 

If you're outside a Japan and would like to go straight into a non-English teaching job where you can use Japanese skills, maybe a CIR on the JET scheme is the easiest way. I know that several CIRs contribute to this forum; maybe they can tell you more. Otherwise, you could always get another job (teaching etc) and try translating a bit on the side. The visa category is the same (humanities/int'l relations), so I believe it's okay for you to do it.

[Ocean11 0]

Visas... Ah, that little detail. I forgot about that. What do you do about a vias NoFakie?

 

I would suggest that you find something not related to the JET program. Having talented people joining that just encourages the exploitation of young and inexperienced foreigners in general. Better to go to Mizuho and rake it in, if you can. I would expect though that for a 10 mil salary, they'd expect you to have your top button done up and not take too many sudden vacations.

 

Like the man says though, making a start with a company is a good way to learn the business.

 

How many translators have we gots here, anyway. C'mon, hands up now...

[NoFakie 45]

I can't type with my hand up

 

Despite writing so much in that last post, I didn't mention what is probably the best advice I can give to budding translators. That is, you don't get the deference offered to English teachers, for example. You have to be aware that however good you writing is, some people will still amend your translation, sometimes into incorrect English. This can be very infuriating.

 

[This message has been edited by NoFakie (edited 13 June 2002).]

[niger 0]

All really interesting stuff NoFakie and Ocean11. As I sort of expected it doesnt seem like the easiest thing to get into. But then what is these days apart from English teaching? Definitely sounds like it is a better idea to get some training somewhere first before taking the step of setting up solo. If you can excuse my ignorance, what is this 'Mizuho' securities company? I havent heard of it before. Do they have a big translating/interpreting division?

 

The JET program is always an option but I am not so keen. If there are any CIRs out there who could share some of their experiences that would be great.

that would be great too.

[Ocean11 0]

Just a last thought on interpreting.

 

I looked into joining the company Simul a long time ago. They were looking for people to teach English to interpreters. If you have some field-specific knowledge like commerce, they might be interested in you from that point of view. Once inside the company, there may be opportunities to practice actually interpreting, besides teaching.

 

Don't know anything about Mizuho personally. Their site is here http://www.mizuho-sc.com but their employment page is being built.

[Wizz 11]

This thread makes for a nice read. No sarcasm intented (!)