Working as a translator/interpreter

[MMM]

I work mostly as a freelance translator, and have noticed that there are a few others here. I just wanted to start a thread so that people interested in the fields if translation and interpretation could get and share information.

I have been translating Japanese to English for a couple years now, but only went freelance at the beginning of this year. I started doing lots of manuals and rather boring stuff, but have been lucky enough to now do more novels and manga work...which is still hard, but a lot more interesting and rewarding.

I am wondering how translators in Japan "survive"? I know there are plusses and minuses to being a J-E translator in Japan, as some companies want their translations FROM the USA (or whereever), and, of course, living expenses are higher... Are there non-Japanese E-J translators around?

[pandayanyan]

yeah i would like to know that also...
are there good jobs for these translators?(ie enough to live off of)

[MMM]

That's what I would like to know, too. (I assume you mean in Japan...)

It's certainly possible to live off it in the US, but it takes skills and a little luck...

[pandayanyan]

yes in Japan. I think Jasonbvr would know but he gets on only a few minutes these days to check his thread.

[Lilongyue]

I'm planning on working as a translator as well, but from Chinese into English. I'm also considering working as an interpreter. Would you be wiling to share more of your experience MMM? Such as how you got started, broke into the field, etc.? Could you elaborate on the types of things you were translating (the boring ones) and what you're doing now? How do contracts work? And the payscale? Did you major in Japanese? Any special translation certificates?

Thanks!

[Nyororin]

I`ve been doing the boring stuff, J to E, like manuals etc...
Most of the E to J I`ve done has been interpretation - The most fun of that was back during the expo when I did interpretation for various people with too much money. Really though, it seems that 90% of the work out there is manual and database translation stuff.

The thing that really blasted me into paid translation/interpretation was the expo. Lots of people wanting lots of things translated, and not all that many translators willing to leave Tokyo. I was close to the expo to begin with, and could hang around to follow dirty old men around and translate their pick up lines into Japanese.

As for getting by, well, we certainly wouldn`t have been able to live on my crappy pay. Sure, I got 300,000 for one big job, but the rest were so sporadic that there is no way I would consider it "making a living"...

[MMM]

That's interesting Nyororin...

I started out at a small translation company. There are many Japanese companies with offices around Portland, Oregon, so there was fairly steady work. Only a lot of it wasn't very interesting to me, personally. Lots of factory equipment manuals and things like that. The more interesting stuff was promotional material, a dating service website, some advertising text for toys and cosmetics, but those didn't come in so often.

At the same time, I started writing a monthly article in a local Japanese/English newspaper. The column is on Japanese media available in English. This got me talking to publishers, and eventually, asking about translation work.

I got to get to know the folks at a major manga publisher that happens to be HQ'ed close to my house. Once they got to know me and knew my work, they asked me to do a job for them, and it has led to pretty steady work. At the same time I work with a "pool" of translators that share work and so I get some work that way, but it isn't very steady (but a lot of the clients are in Tokyo, so pays well).

I did major in Japanese in college.

Contracts are a tricky thing... I am probably not good with that. For soft documents (jobs that are in a computer file) I usually as for a per/character scale. (it averages to about 2 Japanese characters to 1 English word). That way I know the rate before I begin, and there's no fear of me padding the translation to increase the pay.

I have no special certification, but experience is the best in. That means you may need to do some volunteer work to get practice.

[robnixd]

what does it take to start out as a translator? how many jap characters (and which ones) does one need to know? where does one look for translation jobs? how many hours do you need to devote per day/week for the job? can you do it on a part-time basis? and where do you get those volunteer work (and is that the best training for you to get the ball rolling)?

[MMM]

A safe place to start might be at a larger translation company. I did a lot of proofreading first (and still do some now) but translating pays better. I was doing a lot of J to E proofreading that had been done by a native Japanese speaker, so most clients want a native English speaker to make sure it makes sense.

If you are studying, you need to take a lot of Japanese, obviously, but also a lot of English classes. Take a variety, from technical writing to creative writing. You have to love English as much as you love Japanese for it to work.

How many hours I work varies on what I have (I am double-booked now, and come to JF for breaks...) so now is very busy. Knowing your own pace is important, and comes with practice. I was asked to do a gigantic project that I really wanted to do (a series of books) but when I heard the pace that they wanted them at, I knew that it would be impossible for me, and didn't end up doing it. Being able to keep to a deadline is the key to being asked to do work a second time.

A lot of the translators I know do it part time to supplement their income. They might be a stay-at-home mom or have a spouse who works full time, so they do it for the extra cash.

[Lilongyue]

Thanks for sharing your experience MMM.  I think the translation opportunities are different for someone going from Chinese to English, or vice-versa.  China doesn't have the whole manga scene, and also isn't innovating in any way (in terms of software or hardware), so there's no need to translate manuals of any kind.  There is a need in import/export companies for bilingual people, but that kind of work is very uninteresting to me.  I'm interested in translating some Buddhist and historical texts, both of which I know there is a limited market for, and I don't expect to be able to make a living solely from translating that kind of material.

When you were working at an established translation company did you work in the office?  Do you work out of your home now?  Ideally, I'd like to be able to work out of the home (for translations), and am considering court interpreting.  I'm not yet sure if I have the particular skill that is required to be a court interpreter, it sounds very demanding.

Do you think an Japan-based international company, one doing business with China, would be interested in someone who could translate from Chinese into English, but not speak Japanese?  Do you think a company like that would be wiling to hire someone who was also willing to learn Japanese while working there? Have you ever heard of someone doing this?